With today's hectic pace of life for both parents and children, families rarely have time to sit in groups to talk about important family decisions. As a result, programs are often dictated by parents without sufficient thought and without consultation with other members of the household. Meetings with the whole family are a great way to get everyone involved in the decision-making process. Family gatherings provide a visual reminder for children to realize that mothers and fathers are still working with their children and working together to help them grow. These gatherings can be used as a tool to decide how to spend time together and also to prevent problems, where all family members can talk about their daily issues and problems and get advice.
If you have not already held family meetings, you can schedule a meeting today. Try not to have a special problem in the first session and raise a general topic and socialize more in this session. In this case, everyone will be more relaxed and your children will be more eager to participate. In the next sessions, you can raise issues if needed.
Family meetings can help children and parents get closer and communicate more clearly. By engaging in group decision-making and problem-solving, children feel responsible for creating a good life at home and are more likely to feel that they are an important member of their family. The message of these meetings is that spending time together and respecting each other is one of the priorities of your home. The skills that children learn in family meetings, such as compromise, cooperation, and openness to the opinions of others, help them to communicate effectively in other aspects of their lives. Through family meetings and following the example of parents, children learn to look at issues, suggest solutions, and evaluate results. Eventually, children's problem-solving skills and resilience to cope with life's problems will increase.
Gathered by: Sarah Masoumi, Educational Psychologist