Family night

About six months ago, our family began something new. We introduced a new concept that I had heard from various people and read in various places about.

It is also something that was triggered by a program I went on that I posted about last year Not your usual training course.

Family night.

It can take on any format. Yet the principle remains the same. It is a weekly event where the family get to together to talk, to exchange ideas and to tell each other how things are going. It is combined with treats and something fun at the end.

Each "meeting" had an owner who organizes the venue (picnic in kitchen, snack in a "den" made out of blankets or on cushions with candles in the basement).

The duration is about 20 minutes, I dont know about your kids, but mine get very bored and distracted by sitting still and having a conversation.

Each meeting has a theme and we talk about that, it can be Pippi Longstocking, Money or whatever the kids pick. We once discussed Gangnam Style.

The idea is that we research something and chat about it. We also ask everyone how they are doing. Are they feeling fine in the family and ask everyone, adults included, to say what's not going well.

It's not easy for the kids to understand the exercise, but sometimes something unexpected comes out.

Mainly this meeting is about building a platform for the future, where anything can be discussed and ideas can be generated for the good of the family. I don't want to be in the situation with teenagers where we are unable to find an effective way to communicate. My hope is that we can find a way now to talk about stuff. Now when the issues are small.

In one meeting, we once debated how to leave the house on time in the morning without mum or dad screaming at the kids, to hurry up. The solutions came from the girls and they really worked. All they wanted was Mammia Mia played really loud on their alarm so they can get up when they hear it. The radio just wasn't compelling enough for them, to leave their warm and cuddly bed.

So as I write this, I shamefully have to confess, that this tradition has lost its way. Since our move, we have not found the time and space to do this.

I make a committment to host another one in the next week. Traditions start somewhere.