Guideline #6: Hold Regular Family Meetings

As simple as it sounds, the practice of holding regular family meetings provides a great teaching tool for children (and parents) where everyone becomes accustomed to speaking about his/her feelings, listening respectfully to others, providing affirming feedback, learning to disagree without attacking, etc.

My name is Lane Lasater, a retired clinical psychologist. In gratitude for the life I have been given, I am sharing everything I learned during my career and personal life on my website http://www.LaneLasater.com and on my YouTube Channel Life Roadmaps from a Retired Psychologist  https://www.youtube.com/@lane205

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As simple as it sounds, following the practice of holding regular family meetings provides a great teaching tool for children (and parents) where everyone becomes accustomed to speaking about his/her feelings, listening respectfully to others, providing affirming feedback, learning to disagree without attacking, etc. As family life progresses, these meetings serve many purposes including:

• Preparing for Future Family Problem Solving
• Practice Effective Family Communication (coming up)
• Avoid Destructive Family Communication (coming up)
• Learning Resolving Conflict Fairly (coming up)
• Practicing expressing one’s feelings and needs
• Learning Respectful Listening
• Dealing with unexpected or painful news such as the death of a grandparent or relative.
• Developing Family Job Descriptions (coming up)
• Everyone in the family expressing gratitude for the important things they appreciate in their lives.

Your first family meeting is a good time to explain to the children that this is going to be a regular part of family life, ideally meeting at least two times per month. Explain that it will be scheduled at a convenient time for everyone and won’t go on too long, is something that the parent(s) value very much and is a good way of being in touch with everyone in the family, dealing with any problems or concerns, and sharing and honoring successes or setbacks that happen as part of life.

As family life progresses, these meetings serve many purposes including:

• Preparing for Future Family Problem Solving
• Practice Effective Family Communication (coming up)
• Avoid Destructive Family Communication (coming up)
• Learning Resolving Conflict Fairly (coming up)
• Practicing expressing one’s feelings and needs
• Learning Respectful Listening
• Dealing with unexpected or painful news such as the death of a grandparent or relative.
• Developing Family Job Descriptions (coming up)
• Everyone in the family expressing gratitude for the important things they appreciate in their lives.

Your first family meeting is a good time to explain to the children that this is going to be a regular part of family life, ideally meeting at least two times per month. Explain that it will be scheduled at a convenient time for everyone and won’t go on too long, is something that the parent(s) value very much and is a good way of being in touch with everyone in the family, dealing with any problems or concerns, and sharing and honoring successes or setbacks that happen as part of life.