The Twelve Unbreakable Principles of Parenting Except When Necessary

Everyone knows that good parenting requires the strict and constant use of rules that can never, ever be broken — except when necessary, of course.The Twelve Unbreakable Principles of Parenting was inspired by the problems encountered by author Ann Lang O'Connor when deciding how best to raise her children with a strong faith foundation. In her attempt to find a sense of direction, she developed twelve core principles to provide a systematic way to make decisions on tough issues and day-to-day questions.She writes in her introduction, "I determined that, out of the thousands of things that I could choose to focus on as a parent, these were the principles on which I wanted to center my energy and attention, so I could let all of the rest go without regret."The twelve principles are:

• The Acceptance Principle
• The God Principle
• The Structure Principle
• The Home Principle
• The Community Principle
• The Responsibility Principle
• The Earth Principle
• The Reading Principle
• The Art Principle
• The Forgiveness Principle
• The "Yes" Principle
• The Humor Principle

ANN LANG O'CONNOR is a freelance writer, bookbinder and paper artist. She works the "twelve unbreakable principles" in Chicago with her husband and three children.