These 2 family rules might work for your family too.

If you’re anything like me, you just spent the school holidays playing referee to your kids crap way too much. Sometimes I think the kids argue just to get me in the room. I also started to get really sick of having to explain everything over and over and over again. 

We don’t hit each other because ….

We share our stuff because…

Did you use your manners…

We say thank you in this house…

You can’t pick every movie we watch…

We clear the table because…

I got really sick of hearing the sound of my own voice. So I sat down, and I thought of a way to compartmentalise everything I was saying over and over again, and I came up with 2 basic family rules, and these are them:

1. Be Kind
2. Be Polite

That’s it. 

Go ahead and think about it. Almost every behaviour you need to remind them of or explain can be broken down into these two things Are you being kind? Are you being polite?

So I sat them down and said “ALRIGHT! It’s outside play time. There are only 2 rules you need to follow. Just two, that’s it. BE KIND and BE POLITE. Go.”

Did it work? Well no, not right away, of course not right away, I’m not a magician, or wizard, or lying. Of course they started bickering immediately. However, this time, (after an appropriate amount of time had passed to see if they would sort themselves out, which they didn’t), instead of giving a long winded speech about what they did wrong, and why and blah blah blah, I just turned on my mum voice, looked them straight in the eye and asked;

Are you being kind?

Oh, uh no.

Well then, you broke the rules, time out!

And the next time. 

Are you being polite?

Nooooooooo

Rule broken, time out!

And holy crap, it’s starting to work. When we go out I just warn them, remember be kind, be polite. When they go to play, I say remember there’s only 2 rules, be kind, be polite. 

I feel borderline genius, and be sure I know that I am not. But sometimes when you have a parenting win, you need to high five yourself like you just discovered Insulin. 

Do you have any cool family rules?  We have another one:

Jusy because you are being carrots, does not mean you can bite each other. 

I think that’s more of a situational rule though. 

I would love to hear yours, maybe I can use them. 

Cheers, Megan.