As Mattel Unveils a Special Edition of #ThankYouHeroes From Fisher-Price. I Ask: Are Our Values Shifting Because of Covid-19?

I saw a really interesting post on LinkedIn.

Mattel have launched a new ‘Thank You Heroes’ line of collectible action figures for children to play with called #ThankYouHeroes, a special edition of 16 collectible action figures.  This lovely collection of action figures and Little People Community Champions honours frontline workers with proceeds going to communities in need.

The Fisher-Price #ThankYouHeroes collection includes 16 action figures — four each of doctors, nurses, EMTs and delivery drivers in varying genders and skin tones.

As a former Deputy Head and Head of PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education) in a past life this got me thinking about how our values are clearly shifting due to Covid-19 and lock down.

The unsung, often ignored, and certainly often taken for granted people, that work tirelessly on our behalf from supermarket workers, dustmen, postman as well as care workers, teachers, nurses and doctors have come into the limelight due to the Coronavirus and our appreciation every Thursday evening at 8pm where we clap outside our homes to honour their commitment to keeping us safe and keeping us serviced with the all the things that keep society working, has become a new ritual.

So, what does this mean to our world post the Coronavirus Pandemic?

I think it means that we will see a shift in what children look up to and aspire to be and we will see a generation of children perhaps changing their choice of careers towards the caring professions.

We will see society appreciating different jobs as our values change.

Your decision to clap at 8 pm & speak highly of the unsung heroes of Covid-19 will be passed on consciously and unconsciously to your children.

This could be a turning point in their lives.

Defining Your Values

To be honest it wasn’t until I trained as an NLP Master Practitioner & Life Coach that I actually wrote down my values.

Not many people actually do,  but when you do define your personal values, you discover what’s truly important to you & the characteristics and behaviours that motivate you and guide your decisions.

When you have children your values around work and life often change.

So, the first place I start with the parents I work with is to find out their core values so that they have clarity, direction and confidence in the bigger picture to their parenting.

Kids learn so much from you as their first role models- they learn, respect, tolerance, resilience, tenacity, a work ethic, having another go, the importance of education,  bending not breaking through adversity, kindness, empathy, doing the right thing, honesty, fairness, courage to say “No” and the ability to do the right thing in important moments.

They learn how to treat women, the elderly, people with a disability or people of colour.

They learn how to treat people less fortunate than themselves and what’s really important in life.

Our children during lock down are learning about real heroes and they don’t always wear capes and drive fast cars.

Grab a Coffee to Ponder.

Grab a coffee and a pen and paper & ‘Pause to Ponder’ what’s important to you and what you want to pass on to your children.

What are your values – your family ethos, your philosophy and the messages you want to teach your kids?

Do you want your kids learn their values from East Enders, Geordie Shore, Glee, or from you?

Just relax and jot down all the key values you want to pass on to your kids.

Heroes, Role Models and Captain Tom Moore – being a super hero to your kids.

I wrote another article about ‘Heroes, Role Models and Captain Tom Moore – being a super hero to your kids.’

where I wrote that I think it actually matters who your kids choose to be their heroes because it says a lot about them.

Today as I write it is Captain Tom Moore’s 100^th birthday & we’ve just seen his remarkable achievement where he’s raised 30 million pounds for the NHS – really remarkable.

We don’t all have to do extraordinary things, but we can all look for the simple moments to ‘talk & teach’ our children about what’s actually important in life & maybe that’s what this forced & unprecedented time of lock down has given us as a gift a  ‘Reset Button’ around our core values.