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Where do we begin if we want to make good citizens out of our young children?

For parents of preschoolers, mere mention of this idea may seem absurdly lofty. We're still mired in the minutiae of picky eating habits, playground supervision and bedtime rituals. Can't the civics lessons wait a while?

They can wait, of course, and for many they do. But some families find that cultivating a sense of the common good from an early age can do wonders for family life, if not for world peace just yet.

If you think about it, a great number of the parental admonishments that flow from our lips are some form of a plea that our little ones think of others before, or at least in addition to themselves. Table manners, picking up toys, sharing with siblings, using polite words -- they're all contributions to the common good of the household, not to mention parental sanity.

One strategy for families who are on a mission to get all of their members, small and tall, working together is to create a "family mission statement." Much like the classroom rules that adorn the walls of most preschools, a family mission statement posted in the kitchen can help keep everyone on track.

But the most effective aspect of such a document is likely to be the process of creating it. Simply sitting down all together to talk about "what is important to us as a family?" and "what things can help us get along with each other?" (and so on) can be a transformative experience. Discussing and jotting down your children's ideas along with your own shows them better than anything else that they too have some vote in and, equally, some responsibility towards the running of family life. Arbitrary rules are suddenly transformed into a common purpose -- hurrah!

For a lovely example of this idea, you can read one family's mission statement and a description of how they got there at CityMama, one our favorite parenting blogs of all time.

And if one side effect of family bonding is an early civics lesson, all the better. After all, there's no better preparation for global citizenship than being a good citizen of your very own family.