AppleApple took photos. We’ve chosen Thursday evenings as our regular meeting time. Ice cream has been incorporated into the event.
But Kevin and I are not committee people. That’s an understatement. Our impatience with committees knows no bounds. Nevertheless, we’ve named our family meetings: The S-C Family Committee Meeting.
Albus volunteered to be secretary for this last one. This is quite extraordinary, as he greatly dislikes any task that requires writing. He perfected his short-form. We went over the minutes from last week’s meeting, and added some new items to this week’s minutes. I think the children were a bit disappointed by what happens (ie. very little) at the meetings. We introduce a subject, briefly discuss it, then move on to another one. The two older children kept reading and re-reading the minutes. “But we haven’t really DONE Dad’s friend party,” they would say. And we would say, “Well, is there something you’d like to add to what we’ve already talked about?” And they’d say, “No, but we haven’t really DONE it!”
Proposed item for next meeting: figuring out what it would take for any item to be DONE.
Kevin and I are so far mostly chairing the meetings ourselves, though I can actually imagine one of the older children taking over down the road. We are not using a “talking stick,” or other very formal organizational devices, but already found the children more responsive to the phrase: “Let’s let [insert sibling’s name] take a turn to talk, and then you can have your turn.” It’s definitely been a fun addition to the week. So far, everyone seems to look forward to it.
My most difficult task is clearing time and space for the meeting. There can be no multi-tasking. I can’t be doing the dishes or making tomorrow’s lunches while participating in the meeting. But we can all eat ice cream.