Whenever a bunch of humans hang out for a period of time, they create a culture of norms - ways of behaving that are expected and desired. When I found myself saying the pretty much the same thing three times in three different family situations, I got thinking about our family’s culture.
What sort of culture were we creating?
How much of this was deliberate and not?
What does it mean for our futures - the kids' and ours?
The thing I found myself repeating was ‘put yourself in positions where you can play to your strengths’. It’s something I didn't discover until later in life and would have loved to have known sooner, hopefully my kids will take it on board.
Other things we’ve deliberately made part of our family culture are:
Go out of your way to be kind and look out for others
Be open and honest
No one rests until all the jobs are done and everyone can rest (for things that we’ve all been part of like after a meal, or unpacking the car)
Life is better if you have at least one book on the go
Take opportunities to play
And they've added some into the mix:
There's always time stop to stroke a cat, no matter how much of a rush you are in
Everything can be climbed (as in, if you look, you'll find something in your environment to play with/on/over/through)
What kind of culture does your family have?