Family Meetings

When I taught parenting classes there was always a session on family meetings.
I never tried them, started them but lost focus as we adjusted to the taking in the girls.
 Tonight we held a family meeting. My older daughter took the notes,
the youngers made desert. We are going to hold them bi-weekly.  Any one can add an agenda item. The agenda will be on the refrigerator.

This week we talked about starting allowances, as suggested by Kevin Lehman, the rules and expectations of an allowance. We established a new cleaning process, with each child taking ownership of a public area in the house and our plans for Fall Break.  Everyone gave input and the first meeting with the new family went well :)

Here is how ours flowed:

Meeting called
Compliments
Agenda Items discussed and decisions made
Opportunity to share and get support or ideas.
Allowances handed out
Desert.
Meeting ajourned.

After the little ones went to bed, it sure was nice to enjoy a movie with the older children. We went to the library and found a nice selection of dvd's, as well as books and magazines to enjoy this week. I love how excited the kids get when they find their treasure of a new book or a movie.  Its been another nice weekend.
If you hold family meetings, I'd love to here your ideas. If you haven't try one, keep the first few short, positive and simple before you tackle more sensitive topics.