Teaching your kids to have an opinion doesn't always make life easier, as Johanna Griggs recently discovered.

One of the main things Todd and I share in our approach to parenting is consistency - consistency towards discipline and the rules we set. One thing we're really big on is sharing family decisions - if something affects the whole family then we either all agree on it or if that fails, we go to a vote and the majority wins.

We like to include the boys in nearly all types of decisions - it makes them feel their opinions are valued and teaches them skills for life. They learn things won't always go their way and to accept life is about give and take. Occasionally, things can come back to bite us on the you know what.

After nearly five months of living in our house it's finally starting to look lived in. We're gradually finding furniture that suits each room - we now have a lounge suite, coffee table and side tables. I'm very excited about this - heading into the cooler months the idea of sitting on a small cushion on the floor to watch TV was wearing thin.

An interior designer friend, Romy, has been helping us choose the bigger pieces. I struggle to find the motivation to walk around shops measuring and pricing furniture. Even though I can appreciate - and love - really nice pieces, Todd and I tend to walk around stores like zombies.

Then we struggle to agree on what we both want. Somehow the knack of seeing something in a showroom and knowing it will suit our home is beyond us. Romy's made the process easier. She has a wonderful sense of style and loves spending her life in furniture stores. She finds a few pieces for us to look at and then lets us choose.

Last week she called about some rugs she'd seen that she thought would work in our lounge room. After spending days trying to coordinate a time when both Todd and I could look together, we gave up. Another month would have passed without a thing being done, so Todd told me he'd trust my judgment. But when I arrived at this rug store I was overwhelmed by how good nearly every rug looked.

The more rugs I looked at the harder it became to choose. Being a true Libran who is useless at making decisions, I was torn between a few. There was one, however, that
I had an instant reaction to. Despite seriously considering a few others, I kept coming back to it. The owner was lovely and managed to stifle his giggles and impatience at how indecisive I was.

He told me I should trust my gut instinct and go with the rug I'd fallen in love with first. He kindly let me take the rug home to show Todd and the boys and get their approval before buying it. I raced home and once I saw it in the space I felt it was perfect. I loved it!

You can imagine my shock when Todd and the boys walked in and started laughing. They all disliked it. No matter how much I tried to talk them around, they thought it looked terrible. As a last-ditch attempt I arranged to have family and friends casually drop by, hoping if they walked in and loved it that it might sway Todd and the boys. That plan backfired too. Mum told me she thought it would be suitable as a bedspread.

Two friends thought it looked daggy. And despite a couple of other lone voices agreeing it was beautiful, the debate ended when Joe pointed out it was a family decision and I just had to accept I was outnumbered.

He was right. I had no other option than to take a bit of my own advice and move on. Needless to say we're still looking for a rug!

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