Stars: ****
Subtitle: A Modern Approach to Family Values and Household Structure
Summary: Your Family Constitution guides the reader through a personalized journey of introspection, visioning, household observation, prioritization, and ultimately the creation of manageable boundaries coupled with consistent rewards and consequences. The product of their labor is a Family Constitution, a clear and consistent set of rules customized to the needs and circumstances of their household.
I originally got this book through Bostick Communications but then signed up for a book tour through Pump Up Your Book Promotion. I’m not American and Canadians don’t have a constitution but I knew the basics of what it meant and figured (correctly) that the information in the book would be useful to anyone, no matter where they live.
I’ve read books that include help on making chore charts or talks about family meetings but this is by far the best book on household structure I’ve seen. The front of the book says it’s a step-by-step guide to:
“Reconnecting with your kids, anticipating and resolving common family issues, enhancing family communication and enjoying parenting to the fullest.”
The author, Scott Gale starts by telling a story of his Black Sunday. It’s basically when everything in his family his rock bottom and he realized something needed to change. He slowly came up with this idea of a family constitution and it came together. He tried it out, scrapped it and tried again and with his family’s help eventually altered it to come up with what they have now. His family constitution is in the back of the book for inspiration and guidance. He explains why you can’t just use his. It’s not just about chores and rewards but also about house rules (for parents too), way to manage common problems (in the Gale household it’s sharing TV and video games) and ways to keep the system working (such as monthly and yearly meetings and family input.)
The book is set up simply so that you can find the part you need if you are referring back to it and you’re never unsure about what’s being talked about. Also the book is littered with funny comics depicting situations being talked about. There are tons of the cartoons and they are pretty funny. I laughed out loud at a few of them. There are also a couple of hand-drawn cartoons of his family which are great too. The comics and cartoons make the book a bit light-hearted, even when it’s tackling difficult issues.
The best part of the book is that he doesn’t just tell you WHAT to do, he tells you how he did it, why he did it and what happened when he tried to put it into place. Not everything worked at first which is why he stresses working together to come up with your plan.
Tomorrow I’ll share a guest post from the author. In the meantime, you can buy Your Family Constitution for your very own.
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