One of my favorite mentors in college used to say that great leaders are kind of like those vintage toy monkeys with the cymbals. (You know the ones—wide-eyed, jittery, slightly creepy.) His point? Good leaders cast vision over and over and over again, until it sticks.

(And if you now have terrifying flashbacks of that monkey or a Furby blinking at you from a shelf… I sincerely apologize. 😅)

But creepy toys aside, he was right. And I’d argue the same principle holds true for great parents—especially those raising young kids.

When it comes to instilling values in our homes, we’ve got to keep it simple so we can say it often. And we’ve got to be strategic about weaving those values into our everyday life so they don’t just become empty words—but are lived out (over and over and over, again).

Moses Said It First

In Deuteronomy 6, right after delivering the Ten Commandments, Moses doesn’t tell the people, “Well, good luck! Hope you remember these!” No—he gives them a plan:

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
(Deut. 6:6–7)

Talk about them… over and over and over again.

In other words: Be the monkey with the cymbals.

And Moses didn’t stop there. He went on to tell them to get radical about their reminders:

“Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
(Deut. 6:8–9)

Thankfully, you don’t need to tattoo your values on your forehead (though… if you’re in a particularly intense season of parenting, I won’t judge). Instead, here are a few modern ways to live out Moses’ charge using your Family Creed:

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1. Frame It

Print your Family Creed and put it where your family will see it often—by the kitchen table, in the hallway, on a bedroom door.

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2. Sing It

Put your values to music—or create a catchy jingle. Bonus points if you can get your kids to sing along in the car.

My husband is weirdly good at this. The only catch? His songs are usually set to early 2000s rap tunes. Let’s just say our delivery needs some refining. 😅

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3. Stack It

Pair your values with habits you already have. This is called habit stacking, and it’s a game changer.

• Say your values during school drop-off.
• Recite them at bedtime.
• Review one at dinner and ask where you saw it lived out that day.

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4. Plan a Family Summit

Set aside time—once a year or even quarterly—to review and revisit your Family Creed. Talk about what’s working, what you’ve seen God do, and what values you want to focus on next.

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5. Celebrate It

Catch your kids living out your values? Call it out!

“You helped your sister without being asked. That’s compassion—way to go!”

Values become culture when they’re celebrated, not just spoken.

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Final Thought

We don’t need perfect creeds or perfectly behaved kids. We just need to keep showing up with intention, saying what matters, and trusting that God is at work in the repetition.

So…be the monkey with the cymbals. Say it again. And again. And again.

Because in time, those words become rhythms.
And those rhythms? They shape a family legacy.