The Importance of Family

I read a story a while ago in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey that has stayed with me, and I thought I'd share here as a reminder of how important our families are in the lives of our children. I do not have the book in front of me, so forgive me if some of the details are incorrect! One of the book's main ideas is to develop a family mission statement, a sentence or paragraph that guides your family's actions and sets your priorities. Covey tells a story of one particular family who planned a big road trip as part of their plan for togetherness and family time. All the family members were involved in the planning and it took lots of effort. The family even had t-shirts printed up with a special family slogan they had written, and planned special activities to prevent arguments in the car! They had a great trip and created plenty of memories to enjoy after it was over.

A year or so afterward, one of the family's youngest children (I think he was around 3 or 4) was diagnosed with some type of cancer or other medical condition, something that would require a number of treatments in the hospital. There were times when they weren't sure he would make it, and times when they thought he'd turned a corner only to have his condition worsen again. Do you know what he insisted on wearing to every treatment and hospital stay? His family t-shirt. By the time he had battled through the treatments, the shirt was stained and threadbare, but the love and connection it stood for was stronger than ever.

I think the story is a great reminder of how much the families we create mean to our children, and how much comfort and strength they can offer when times are good and when times are tough. You just really can't overestimate the importance of connection and family climate in raising emotionally healthy, resilient kids!