I'm taking a parenting class and one of the suggestions is to do "weekly" family meetings (as "weekly" as possible).
It sounds terribly cheesy but the teacher kept stressing how much it helps families run smoothly, handle issues, etc. So I figured it couldn't hurt.
Last night was our first family meeting. We tried it over dinner, but Aaron suddenly got "full" and left the table (and thus the meeting). After dinner, I decided to lure everyone back by having the meeting over dessert.
We started by thanking or complimenting everyone at the table, including ourselves. Isaac thanked Aaron for offering a piece of gum, even though he didn't take Aaron up on the offer. Complimenting one's self is actually very difficult...a few of us couldn't think of anything, so we decided we'd try again next week.
We also planned a "fun activity", and it was interesting to hear what the boys thought was "fun". My favorite suggestion was "take a bath!" We decided on having one boy play on the computer with one adult, while the other boy takes a bath (with the other adult keeping him company in the bathroom), and then switching activities.
All in all, the meeting took about 5 minutes (about as long as it takes a 5 year old to savor a Peppermint Jo Jo cookie).
Posted by joe at December 8, 2008 12:02 PM