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Original poster

Do any of you have a "Family Mission Statement"? And if so, what is it?

81 replies

LittleBella · 22/08/2008 15:19

Am reading a book where it suggests such a thing. Am thinking it sounds mad and more suitable for business, but does anyone have one in the RW and if so, how does it work and what effect does it have on your family?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
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WideWebWitch · 22/08/2008 16:00

I was sent something at work years ago about knowing you've been at work too long, just searched for it and couldn't find it but this is similar:

You know you're living in 2005 when...

  1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
  1. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
  1. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
  1. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
  1. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
  1. You go home after a long day at work you still answer the phone in a business manner.
  1. You make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial "9" to get an outside line.
  1. You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.

  1. You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.

  2. Your boss doesn't have the ability to do your job.

  3. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.

  4. Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom
    of the screen.

  5. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a
    cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

  6. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your
    coffee.

  7. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.

  8. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

  9. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

  10. You are too busy to notice there was no # 9 on this list.

  11. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a

9 on this list.

WideWebWitch · 22/08/2008 16:00

omg at your dad!

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 16:01

hatty, omw, i've just realised we instigated a similar thing - no whiteboard, no minutes but doing a recap of the day's events in the bath.
dd1 what did you achieve today that was good?
ds1 what way could you have improved your performance in the hitting dd2 incident?
dd2 wait your turn, that's a verbal warning. once more and it'll be written.

i need to go back to work, don't i?

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SqueakyPop · 22/08/2008 16:03

I did a 7 Habits course when I was working for a big corporation 20 years ago. So much of it is common sense.

Surely sitting down as a family to discuss roles and goals is something you do when you sit down to eat together? It's not something that has to have a special name, nor is it a novel way of parenting.

One of the phrases that Stephen Covey uses that sticks in my mind: "Clean and green". I try to follow this with my kids. It's frustrating otherwise. Also "begin with the end in mind" - aaargh, it's all flooding back!

squeaver · 22/08/2008 16:03

"let's all just try not to kill each other".

Works for us.

hattyyellow · 22/08/2008 16:04

I know, I remember looking around the table when I was about 10. My youngest brother was about 5 and was sat looking utterly bewildered, chewing on the ear of his favourite toy rabbit - not really an ideal candidate for such a business style of meeting.

My oldest brother was about 15 and was staring into space, quite clearly thinking about his girlfriend. I think my dad at that point was "inviting us to table proposals for the family summer holiday"!

I don't think he ever really grasped the boundaries between work and family..he did work a bit too hard perhaps! I have a real aversion to corporate speak now, I'll go out of my way to use plainer language at work.

Original poster
LittleBella · 22/08/2008 16:07

LOLOL did you live in a BBC sitcom Hatty? [grin

OP posts:
Romy7 · 22/08/2008 16:08

interestingly, at work i'm more of a 'oh, bunny, i'm so sorry, let me make you a nice cup of tea' girl.
social communication issues?

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 16:08

and damn you for the number 9, www

WideWebWitch · 22/08/2008 16:09

lol squeaver

hattyyellow · 22/08/2008 16:11

Laughing out loud at your bathtimes Romy!

Sadly no, LittleBella, not much canned laughter at our family meetings! Just lots of sullen/confused faces. Am trying to think back to where my mum stood on all this..I don't think I'd let DH get away with dealing with our kids like a boardroom..

Original poster
LittleBella · 22/08/2008 16:14

Romy's DS1: "I could have hit her harder and more effectively Mummy"

That kind of thing?

OP posts:
WideWebWitch · 22/08/2008 16:15

snort LB

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 16:17

dh is in the army. i do occasionally have to point out that disciplining a small child may be a different kettle of fish.

i suspect your mum was hovering by the sink hatty, with rubber gloves, lots of bubbles, and a pinny, and a forced beatific smile, wondering how on earth she came to be there, or if she hadn't in fact been kidnapped by aliens.

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 16:18

littlebella - have you met ds1?

Original poster
LittleBella · 22/08/2008 16:23

No but I suspect he has a lot in common with my DS!

OP posts:
WideWebWitch · 22/08/2008 16:24

romy you're very funny
are you new? or a namechanger?

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 16:26

3 months ish? so practically virginal.
not a namechanger, sorry...

WideWebWitch · 22/08/2008 17:07

No, no, I just wondered if I knew you that's all! Welcome!(belatedly)

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 17:13

been making myself at home...
(did enjoy that ruined holiday thread. gets lively round here...)

pointydog · 22/08/2008 17:15

Yes, we have one.

Fit In or Fuck Off.

Romy7 · 22/08/2008 17:16

oh, i could use that for work...

do you think it would stand up at the ensuing employment tribunal?

mrsmalumbas · 22/08/2008 17:20

We don't have a mission statement, too corporate for me. But we do have goals, written ones, in different areas like finance, health, etc. Some are just simple like "plan a family holiday for 2009", others are big ones like "decide where we want to live"! Some of them are shared and some are individual e.g I have some to do with work and so does DH - one of his is to work a 4 day work instead of 5 by next year. We do write them down, and every now and again DH and I will go over them. It might be a bit anal, but it keeps your mind on them, and when we look back at previous years it is amazing what we have actually done. We don't really involve the kids in this process yet but I have been thinking that it might not be a bad idea - nothing scary, just sit down together on a Sunday morning now and again and talk about what we want to achieve as a family.

pointydog · 22/08/2008 17:21

That was actually the unofficial motto of a very well-known boss of mine once

pointydog · 22/08/2008 17:22

lol @ what we want to achieve as a family. I cna't think how we'd break the silence at that confab.

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