What are principles?

In my previous blog, I wrote about the importance of principles in parenting. But what are principles?

In their book, The Biggest Job We'll Ever Have, Laura and Malcolm Gauld write about "raising our children to prepare for a higher purpose in their lives." They say that principles are like ethics: "What do you stand for? What do you hold sacred?"

Understanding what our own personal principles are will help us decide on the principles we want to use in raising our children. Is the truth important to you? Respect? Kindness? Integrity? Courage?

Recognizing what we personally stand for will help us in our parenting; it will help us look at what's important to teach our children. It may even keep us from being totally focused on rules...