With combined inspiration from
Game of Thrones and a
recent article from
The Art of Manliness about creating a family mission statement, I decided that I wanted our family to adopt a family motto. To reach this end, I sat down with my daughter, Lily, and asked her if she knew what a motto is. She did not, so I explained that it's a short saying that's easy to remember and that reminds you of what it is that you value or want people to know about you. I then asked her, "What does our family value, or think is important?"
Lily and I began talking about how everyone in our family goes to school, or has gone to school recently. We talked about the importance of reading and spending time together and helping each other. It didn't take long to see a theme emerge from all of our ideas, and that theme was "togetherness". We then talked about some of the things that we do together, and in less than a minute, we had our family words:
Work together
Learn together
Play together
There's an obvious emphasis on the togetherness idea, and since that day, we've said our family motto (either in part or all together, and in varying order) many times to each other. What this has done is establish a sort of paradigm for our family to see the world through. Our motto can apply when we're all together as a family, and it can apply when we find ourselves in a different group - whether classmates, co-workers, or strangers in an emergency. The important thing is that it articulates our family values in a short phrase that's easy to remember when decisions need to be made.
Coming up with a family motto together can be a fun family activity that helps shape the culture of your home. If your family already has a mission statement or motto, please share what it is and how and why you chose it.
Cheers!
