A Quick Tip to Improve Your Family’s Communication

Do you find you’re always having problems in your family keeping up with all the schedules?

There are softball and baseball games, soccer games, and all the associated practices. There are Scouts. Church functions. Youth groups.

That doesn’t even include all the events you and your spouse are committed to attending.

A number of years ago, I had enough. Too many places to be. Too many kids to pick up. And all at the same time.

I sat my family down, and I said, “We are having a family meeting from now on every Sunday evening. We are all going to attend with our calendars, and we are going to run through all of the events for the following two weeks.”

We are all going to attend with our calendars, and we are going to run through all of the events for the following two weeks

And there we were, sitting at the kitchen table every Sunday at 6:30 p.m. I didn’t care if you had an iPhone, Android, or paper calendar. You better have something in front of you that has your dates of commitment and some place you can write everybody else’s.

This meeting takes no more than a half an hour, and we have cut out 90% of the last-minute emergencies and the “Dad, I need you to take me to … ” We are literally all on the same page.

Some people tell me they have one family calendar, and everybody has to write their events on that calendar, which is usually located in the kitchen or the laundry room. I feel our family meeting system works better, however, because we are able to provide each other the context around the event.

I don’t care if you write on the one family calendar you have to be somewhere at a certain time; somebody still needs to get you there and pick you up. Just writing it on a calendar for everyone to see doesn’t mean the transportation and other logistics are handled. It doesn’t mean I know the address of where you are going to be and who you are going to be there with. Context is important. The family meeting allows us to discuss those details.

I encourage everyone I know to implement this type of system to avoid the surprises and the last-minute emergencies. It solves logistical problems and reduces stress. It’s also bonding time because we learn more about each other’s activities and interests. It’s been a wonderful system for our family.

Blog URL – https://peaceshark.com/post/162872747274/a-quick-tip-to-improve-your-familys-communication

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This article was submitted by a Guest Author of the Above Board Chamber.