our house rules

if we truly love our children, we'll develop our courage to discipline them.
without discipline they are like monkeys, at the best like savages.
-unknown


 

every parent wants good children.
children that are respectful, patient, kind, gracious, use please and thank you, etc.

c and i are not exceptions.
we figured the earlier we start the better.

we started disciplining with simple timeouts,
(1 minute for each year) when finn was a toddler.
discipling him was easy then and distraction worked wonders.

as he grew, he began challenging us in ways he hadn't before.
we've had to modify our disciplining techniques and i'm sure we
will be doing this again and again as he grows until he goes off to college.

c is a fan of the television show supernanny.
he doesn't watch it every night but if he's not watching a tennis match or something on KPBS,
he will often tune in.

he thinks jo frost (the nanny) is amazing, and since he's a big believer in routine and discipline,
he suggested we adopt ''house rules' because the supernanny advises this of all the parents she visits.
finn is a big rule follower and at the perfect age for this. he's still receptive and eager to please us most of the time. 

last month, we sat down together at the kitchen table as a family and wrote our house rules.
christopher cut out a simple house from construction paper and these are what we came up:

1. listen and do as your told

2. no hurting one another

3. no whining

4. be kind with your words

5. use please and thank you

finn and scout are still young so we figured five rules were plenty for now.
it's only been a little over a month now, but these rules are helping!