Family Meetings with 4 year olds?

Can a 3 and 4 year old follow through with agreements?

Can a 3 and 4 year old appreciate each other?

Can a 3 and 4 year old solve problems?

The answer is: yes to all those questions. This is what has happened since we have made family meetings a regular part of our lives.

The situation: 4 year old goes to pre-school three days a week. We had to cut the 3 year old to two days a week. Both of them have rebelled by not getting ready for school, whining, crying, asking to stay home, wanting to go to school with the older sibling when they can't. This has disrupted the morning routine since Santa came to town which was also the time when we cut the 3 year old from one day of school.

The 4 year old came to me and said, "Mommy it is a problem for me when Sadie gets to stay home and I have to go to school."

"Put the problem on the problem page!" I replied with a huge smile on my face and a sense of serious relief. We had an"emergency" family meeting to solve the problem and the outcome: we are going to give the new school routine two weeks while Daddy and I figure out how to solve this problem. They nodded and smiled!

Bingo that was it, 10 minutes and I was back to drinking my wine and talking with Steve about how this family meeting thing might pay off when they are teenagers!

Here is what this morning looked like after our agreements. Thank you Parenting On Track for inspiring me to continue family meetings.