There once lived a father, mother and five children. The first born was a boy, then two older daughters and two younger daughters.

They all lived together in their big house in Stone village.

The two older girls were almost the same age. They always competed with each other and argued about who would cook or wash utensils.

They wondered why they had to wear similar clothes or go to the same school.

Their fights seemed never to end.

The two younger girls were five years younger than their older ones. From the time they were small, they formed a strong bond of friendship.

They did their tasks together and played with their friends together.

Father and Mother watched how the older girls behaved and they were concerned. They decided to call a family meeting to help their children to learn to live together in unity.

Father talked about the importance of respecting one another's views.

He went on to say, "Always ask for permission if you need to use someone else clothes or shoes. This will help to reduce the cases that I have to deal with in the evenings."

Mother added, "I have created a duty roster for each of you to follow."

The duty roster listed all the tasks each child was supposed to do every day. The tasks included cooking, washing clothes, cleaning the house and fetching water.

If anyone needed help, they were to ask the others politely.

Each child was asked if they were happy with their duty. They were also asked if they wanted anything else to be added on the duty roster.

Father and Mother also came up with family rules. All the children were happy with the new arrangements.

Father finished the meeting by saying, "We should always help one another. Let's try to understand one another so we can be a happy united family."

Questions

1. How many are you in your family?

2. What can you learn from this family?

3. How do you solve challenges in your family?