I've been binging a bit on parenting books. Not intentionally. But something that has come up in the last 3 books I've read is the concept of house rules. In particular, house rules should be written, not very many of them and everyone should follow them.
In this house...
Our house has had rules and an unwritten culture of what's expected and what isn't. But I've been thinking that the boys are old enough to help come up with a short list of rules that we should all abide by. Stuff like not being mean and respecting each other. I'm thinking we can brainstorm a list and narrow it down to 3-5 that we can discuss deeply - what the rules mean, why we all want to live by them, etc.
The more I've been thinking about this, the more I've been excited that a few simple rules may help me keep myself in check. I know my kids will call me out on things and I know they will think about areas where I need to improve my relationship with them as we write the rules together.
Rules are interesting. They are both limiting and freeing. They create boundaries and safety. In the case of rules that are decided on together, they are the foundation of trust.
I wonder if God decided to do the same thing with humanity. If coming up with a few "house rules" was God's way of helping to create a safe space for us. I've never thought of the 10 Commandments from God's perspective. They've always just been the "most important rules" or "God's rules" but if I were parenting all of humanity a short list of rules to help keep the peace among a couple billion relationships would be handy. And thinking of it that way, it's a pretty good list that if we could learn to follow we would avoid a lot of fight between siblings.
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