Family Meetings: 3 Tips For Bringing Your Family Together Each Week
Posted on: 12 September 2018
No matter how dedicated you may be, it can be challenging to try to strengthen the bond of your family. However, one of the most effective ways to attempt strengthening that bond is to hold a family meeting once a week. Doing so has proven to be beneficial for many families and has created greater harmony and increased communication among family members.
The goal of the weekly family meeting is to not just communicate better and bring everyone closer, but to also have some fun. Here are three tips to help get you and your family started on your family meetings.
Tip #1: Keep the Meeting Upbeat
The term "meeting" doesn't sound very cheerful, but when you think about the family coming together, it creates an opportunity for the family to talk about everything that happened during the week—and this includes all the great things that took place. In fact, these good things are what you want to focus on. Ask everyone about funny things that happened, and make sure to laugh as hard as you can if you find something truly funny.
Remember, the whole reason for the family meeting is to open up the lines of communication, as this will result in better connections among all family members—and if you are having a great time, it will be a lot easier to communicate with one another.
Tip #2: Get Creative with the Meeting Location
Don't assume that you have to meet in your kitchen, dining room, or living room every week for the family meeting. Get creative and go into the back yard, the local park, or some other location that you all agree would be interesting and fun.
If things have been a bit tense around the house, consider heading to the local bowling alley, pizza parlor, or something similar. Getting out of the house for your meeting will not only help loosen everyone up and lead to a much more positive meeting, but it may help get things back on track at home.
Tip #3: Help One Another Resolve Issues
The weekly family meeting can be an effective tool when used properly. While it is designed to help deliver better communication among family members and allow everyone to have fun, it is also designed to help everyone work together to solve problems that they are having, whether this is with one another or with someone or something outside of the household. If someone has a problem, keep talking about it until the problem has been resolved—or at least until everyone has agreed on some type of a solution.
While weekly family meetings can help you and your family resolve issues at home and create better lines of communication, there may be times when you have deeper issues that need to be addressed. When this is the case, you may want to consider reaching out to a professional therapist for family therapy sessions.
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