Family Meetings are the answer to the quandary: how do I stop nagging at home every minute of every day?
Having some guidelines and rules for family meetings can ensure that they are a success.
Rules for Family Meetings:
Family meetings should be held once a week.
Decisions should be made by consensus.
Family meetings should include a review of the next week's activities.
Family meetings should not end without planning a family fun activity during the coming week.
End the meeting by doing something together as a family, like play a game together.
Sitting in a cleared table is conducive to staying on task for problem solving
Are there any rules for family meetings you employ that aren't mentioned here? Let us know in the comments.
Why Plan a Weekly Family Meeting?
Parents can avoid many hassles with their children by suggesting that problems be put on the family-meeting agenda so they can be solved after a cooling off period. Parents can also add items to the agenda that they've felt were overlooked or perhaps not communicated well.
The primary benefit of a family meeting is for children to have the opportunity to learn and practice their problem-solving skills on a weekly basis.
Plus most families find that the conclusions drawn from the weekly practice carry on into the week.
Family meetings can also be a successful method for enhancing family cooperation and closeness. They provide an opportunity to enhance family values and traditions and to teach children valuable social and life skills for good character, like listening skills, mutual respect, concern for others, brainstorming skills, etc.
These principles about Family Meetings are based on the book: Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen, Ed. D. Chapter Nine: Family meetings.