Mission statements are no longer a thing of board rooms and corporate offices. Mission statements are coming to a family room near you. That’s right, families across the country are creating and adopting mission statement for their families and displaying with prominence in their homes. Why a family would need such a thing, you ask. The reasons are similar to that of any organization or business: to state common values and goals. Even Jon and Kate Gosselin from Jon and Kate Plus 8 created one for their family. However, you don't have to have 8 children to need a mission statement. One is all you  need.

Defining the values and goals of your family and putting them into something tangible and visible is a valuable tool for raising children. In the day to day running of our homes, we don’t always get the opportunity to say explicitly “our family values faith, love and respect for all members;” although this is what we teach in the little moments of caring and discipline. These statements reinforce a sense of belonging and each family member has a responsibility behave in a way to help achieve a common goal.

The first step in creating your family mission statement is for the parents to decide the points/goals that are important to the family and then get input from your children on ways to help make them happen. This is vital because as the parents your job is to instruct and help guide your children to see the bigger picture. While you see how critical education is to your child’s success, they will counter that wearing a new pair of Sketchers to 4^th grade is all it takes to be a success at school. Parents have the wisdom and experiences of making mistakes to help guide this process, now is the time to use it.

Some common goals and values to think about including in your statement are: the importance of education, time spent together as a family, how money is spent and saved, what role religion will play in the family, and things that affect our health and well being such as exercise and outside activities. Your statement does not need to be long or in depth. Make sure the statements are positive such as “we will speak kindly to each other” instead of “we do not call names or talk rudely.” For younger children be sure to give a lot of concrete examples for each value and goal. “We will complete our homework, speak to the teacher kindly, raise our hand when we need help,” would be appropriate when addressing education in your mission statement.

The last step is to put your mission statement on paper to be displayed in your home. This act alone of hanging it in your home will reinforce its significance to your family. You can write it on poster board and let your children decorate and color it or you can have it printed and framed.In any case, it is there as a reminder of the common goals and values your family shares and can be referred to whenever any member gets off track. It promotes accountability for something concrete and the reward is family harmony.