While talking to another parent yesterday we were sharing "Family Meeting" stories. What resonated with me more than anything is how Family Meetings teach our children and ourselves how to appreciate people's actions because these actions help the family move forward in positive directions. Kids learn to find the best in themselves and in others. This is the foundation of the Parenting On Track Program and if you let "it" be the teacher kids will start to contribute and become caring, responsible, independent young adults.
When asking and talking to other moms and dads about, "How do I get my child to..." I realized that the program teaches us that there is only one problem: we all want to belong. When we belong we feel loved and contribute to the success of the group.
Here is a short list of things parents ask: "getting" kids to, pick up toys, clear the table, say please and thank you, share, eat at the dinner table, dress them selves, get into their car seat, eat healthy foods, and be nice to others.
Stop asking that question and start implementing the family meeting as part of a 20 minute weekly routine. Learning how is the key as we have learned with 3 kids of our own and three jobs between us and selling a house and starting a business and holding on to our lifestyle all with help from Family Meetings.
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How are the family meetings going? Do your children have chores yet? Are they old enough to run a family meeting yet? Make sure and take notes - they are precious memories.
ReplyDeleteHi Raising Able!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay. Blogging is new for me. Yes my children have chores, yes we do have regular family meetings but no they can't run a family meeting yet. They are mastering appreciations and the agenda.
I should keep a log. We used to have a family meeting book and I think I will start that up again. For now we use a white board for our agenda which gets erased every week.
Thanks for the comment!