flikr photo: sara.atkins
As you may have assertained, we tried something new tonight, the family meeting. It’s something J had known about from her teaching days in Seattle. I was introduced to the concept during my Alfie Kohn parent-license classes. It goes a little something like this: After dinner we each got a little Haagan Daas vanilla ice cream cup – perfect size for our son, 3, and daughter, 5 – just enough enticement to get ‘em to/keep ‘em at the table. We introduced the concept to the kids, and lickety split we were off to the family meeting races. They did great. J even better. She mind-mapped the brief meeting. It was a last minute addition, and I think it was a really good idea. The mind-map becomes the minutes from our meeting that even our kids, F & R, can comprehend. Family meeting minutes? Seriously? It sounds way more regimented than it should or than it is. It was neat to document the conversation, calling ‘em minutes was my label.
The whole thing lasted about 5-7 minutes; a solid first family meeting. I’ll scan the mind-map and post it for reference.
Good night.
