Family Bill of Rights

I am on a vacation and as I type the the sounds of the gulf waters are in my ears. God's creation is enormous and amazing. This has been a great time of spiritual refreshment and family time.

While reading a book on healthy spirituality, I came across this Family Bill of Rights. The author claims to have posted it on his fridge a decade ago so everyone will have an understanding of family expectations on how they will be treated and how to treat each other. I like it, not out of a legalistic sense, but as a clear definition of a minimum standard.

Here it is for your perusal. Maybe it will be posted on my fridge.

FAMILY BILL OF RIGHTS

Respect means I give myself and others the right to:

1. Space and privacy. (i.e. knocking on doors before entering, respecting each other's needs for quiet and space)
2. Be different. (i.e. allowing preferences for food, movies, volume of music, and how we spend our time)
3. Disagree. (i.e. making room for each person to think and see life differently)
4. Be heard. (i.e. listening to each other's desires, opinions, thoughts, feelings, etc.)
5. Be taken seriously. (i.e. listening and being present to one another)
6. Be given the benefit of the doubt. (i.e. checking out assumptions rather than judging one another when misunderstandings arise)
7. Be told the truth. (i.e. counting on the truth when asking each other for information)
8. Be consulted. (i.e. checking and asking when decisions will affect others)
9. Be imperfect and make mistakes. (i.e. leaving room for breaking things, forgetting things, letting each other down unintentionally, failing when we've done our best)
10. Courteous and honorable treatment. (i.e. using words that don't hurt, asking before using, consulting when appropriate, differentiating from one another)
11. Be respected. (i.e. taking one another's feelings into account)