Family First

I enjoyed reading Richard Miller’s article, Who is The Boss?  There weren’t too many new ideas that I found, though (remember, I’ve been around a while).  One thing I want to point out is the parents’ responsibility to set limits for their children and use the word NO.  One of my pet peeves is when parents look their child in the eye tell them no, and then let them go and do whatever they want.  Are the parents doing it to show those watching that they’re trying to be a good parent?  Do they think that their child should understand the word just from them saying it?  Miller shares the quote by President Kimball that says, “setting limits for children shows you care.”  I think it’s very important that when a parent tells their child no, that the parent then has the responsibility to follow through with that and make sure their child learns the meaning of the word.  It’s a lot of work for parents to follow through and make sure it happens, but that is part of being a parent. 

One other idea from Miller’s article that I liked was that the husband’s role as patriarch gives him the responsibility to serve his wife and family.  He also points out the leader-servant example that Jesus set.  When a husband is serving his wife and family, and leading by serving, there is more love all around.  The wife feels like she’s valued and the children have a better relationship with their father, too. 

As far as councils go, we’ve never had an official husband/wife council but we do have family councils when the need arises.  Someone has an issue that concerns the whole family and they call for a family council.  We start with prayer and discuss the issue.  Everyone voices their opinion and we come to a consensus.  We had a 5^th Sunday- Sunday School lesson about family councils and have done them this way ever since.  I liked this quote from Elder Ballard, “No man is capable of judging a matter unless his own heart is pure.”  I think that’s important for parents to remember.  We might have our minds already made up when it comes to something our children want to discuss, but we need to keep our hearts not only open, but also pure so we can truly understand where they’re coming from.