The Family Meeting
In a busy family it is very easy to rush around and not have meaningful time for one another. A day can easily go by and then another and another until it has been a week or more that a mama has really connected with her children unless she makes deliberate time to do so. It is even easier as a family unit to let a lot of time go by without gathering together to discuss family issues.
In order to combat this problem of busyness I began implementing weekly meets with our family. This is a time on either Saturday or Sunday depending on our schedule for us to gather and discuss how the past week went, what the upcoming week looks like, and then to connect and touch base with each other. (We do have a family hour each day, but that is geared more towards doing an activity together verse all of us talking about the status of our family.)
Every Thursday I type up an agenda and we use that to go over things we are currently working on. I also have a question prepared each week that we all need to answer. Last week's question was: What two goals do you want to accomplish as an adult? I try to make the questions something that requires some thought on each member's part. As you can see below the answers are varied. (And yes, I really do dream of living off the grid entirely.)
I also ask the kids what they liked best/least about the previous week so that we can improve upon our system.
We also read a book as a family. I chose to start with a book of virtues. Each week we read about a virtue and then we discuss what it means and how we can apply it in our own lives. Once we have finished with that we will pick another family centered book and read and discuss that.
Our family meetings are a time in which everyone has a voice and a fair say in all that is going on in our life as a family unit. Everyone is allowed to speak his/her mind. I find the family meeting to very useful and helpful in making sure we are all on the same page in terms of goals and values.
Chore Packs
Since I knew that I was going to be implementing consistent chores and I did not want to have to explain the chores 5000 times to the kids. I decided to make a chore pack for each of them. They are color coded and each kid has all of his/her chores on the chore packs along with directions on the back of each card on how I expect the chore to be completed. The first week I told the kids to ask as many questions as they could think of because I really wanted them to be able to handle these chore packs on their own from week 2 and beyond.
I love having these chore packs. They were easy and cheap to make and they allow the kids the ability to complete their tasks on their own, but with all of the information that they need to get the job done right. I will double check their work once it is completed, but in the future I can see myself getting to the point where I just check their work a couple of times a week. If something isn't being done to my standards I just go back with the child and show them what I want and how I want it done and point out the directions on the back of the chore pack. I don't know why I didn't do this before because this is hands down one of the best things I have implemented. Plus the kiddos feel good because they know that they have completed a task and done it well. I make sure to praise them on their jobs when they are done well.
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| Andy is blue, Josh is orange, Sarah is purple, and Elizabeth is red/pink. The arrow on Sarah's pack means that there are specific directions on the back that tell her exactly what I expect. Obviously, with her I just read the directions, but everyone else has the same thing on their cards when there is a chore that I want specific things done in order for me to consider it complete. |
The Recipe Box
Because so much of what we eat is homemade I hear more often than I would like, "Mom, what is there to eat?", or, "Mom, there is nothing to eat!". Bob had a great idea which was for me to write down all of the things that I make and put them on recipe cards. This way when the kids want a specific snack/meal and I do not have the time to prep it they can just pull out the recipe from the recipe box and make it themselves. This was a brilliant idea. I do struggle with remembering to put each day's recipes in the box (and also to write them out), but I am working on that. Eventually, there should be a ton of different recipes that the kids can pull out and use to make their own things when they are hungry. (Obviously, I am still prepping and planning for their meals, but sometimes they will get hungry during the day when I cannot stop and make something. Some nights I don't want to cook. A 15 and 13 year old are fully capable of preparing a meal on the rare night I just need a break from doing so.) This is good training for them as well as they will be preparing meals for themselves sooner rather than later. I want to make sure that they are eating more than cereal and ramen noodles for every meal.
Well, I think that sums everything up. If I think of anything else I will be sure to let you know. I would highly recommend this system to anyone looking to simplify and organize their lives!
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I love it! Sounds like you have a great system going for your family!
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