10 Rules to Live By

As a family we all agreed to these ‘rules’ to live by. This is not a diet or an exercise plan, this is our life. Admittedly many of these things are already in place and this is not a drastic change for our family. This is writing our ideas out and requiring accountability with the knowledge we do these things on purpose.

1.       Eat dinner together as a family at the table. No TV. No phones. (Oz has a hard time with the no phone rule but the girls are quick to tell on him)

2.       Buy ingredients with no preservatives.

3.       No processed foods.

a.       The foods we do buy should have 5 or fewer ingredients.

b.      The ingredients will be food and not chemicals.

c.       I should know what the ingredients actually are.

Exceptions to this include but are not limited to condiments, pasta and vanilla Jo-Jo’s from Trader Joe’s. Actually pretty much any food from TJ’s is exempt from this rule.

4.      Fast food joints are off limits. Fortunately for us there are no In&Out Burger’s in WA J

5.      Be good students and be helpful at school. Picking up trash and playground toys after recess. Stand up for those who are being picked on. Speak kindly to everyone you encounter.

6.      Be a good employee. Be to work on time and don’t call in sick when really you’re just tired. Do the best we can at the job we’re doing. Meet quotas and exceed expectations. Speak kindly to everyone you encounter.

7.       Volunteering together as a family every week.

8.       1 hour of chores together as a family every week.

9.       60 minutes of exercise every day. Preferably together.

10.   More reading, less TV. When our one TV is on we’re all watching together and discussing the show.  We do not have cable but we do stream Netflix. Our current favorite is The Cosby Show.

Now the fun begins. It was comical to watch how many of these rules we broke in the first 24-hours.

Let’s see,

#1 turned into 40 minutes and lots of ‘water’ breaks for the girls as we stretched, did crunches and used the rowing machine. We ladies agreed the exercise part was really for Daddy’s benefit and we were just there to encourage him. Ozzie may have felt differently as I caught him clipping his toe nails while he was supposed to be stretching.

#2 was a raving success with Taco Salad for dinner. YUM. 

#3 & #4, FAIL.  Fruit Loops for breakfast and Halloween candy for snack. Lots of snacks.

#5 was easy to avoid.

#6 & #7 I think we all did well.  Wait, does plotting to start a blog while you are at work count? I may need to revisit this one.

#8 & #9 are scheduled for the weekend.

#10 the girls and I read books in the afternoon after homework was done. We watched 2 episodes of the Cosby Show together as we worked out in the living-room/gym.

I’ll work on doing better tomorrow, once all the Halloween candy has been eaten.