“Star of the Day”

When my husband and I had our first baby, we decided we should make things as equal as possible for each of our children. But several years later, we found that our five children were becoming very competitive and were demanding the same privileges at the same time as their brothers and sisters. Trying to be fair exhausted us. We realized that matters would only get worse as our family grew. Equally disturbing was the fact that we realized we were trying to homogenize four unique individuals.

Things changed when we decided to designate one of our children, on a rotating basis, as “Star of the Day.” On a child’s “star” day, he or she gets to—

1. Sit in the front seat when we travel in the car.

2. Answer the telephone.

3. Help with meal preparation and dishes.

4. Run errands, such as getting the mail.

5. Say family prayer in the morning and lead us in a scripture and a song.

In addition to these privileges, at night we all gather and take turns telling what we like about that day’s star. The star also gets to tell what he or she likes best about himself or herself.

“Star of the Day” was easy to implement, and it has brought bounteous rewards. Not only has it helped us to establish more harmony in our home, it has also helped the children to feel that they are important members of our family.—Lori Naef Schall, Tehachapi, California