In our kitchen, I began many years ago writing a whiteboard message to “The Brotherton kids”. As you read these, you will see that they are more or less an enunciation of what I propose to be values of our family; At least they are my values and I try to pass them on. The best way to pass on values is by behavior. There are two problems. The first is my behavior occasionally did not comport with my values. And secondly, with five children and active lives, there are many situations which could teach values that just never come up or only come up for one or two of the children. That was the genesis of the whiteboard. The idea is to say what you believe. My kids have always teased me about the whiteboard, but I have found it satisfying that some of their friends will refer to having read them whenever they came to our home as they were growing up. Each of the boards are signed “love Dad”. My daughter, Nan, has produced two books of whiteboard sayings and photographs which are amongst my dearest possessions. You will see one of the books is included here.
Click on any of the thumbnails below to read the whiteboard messages
