Yesterday we had a family meeting.
Lauren called the meeting. The topic: how was 2013 for each of us and what do we want to do better as a family in 2014.
There were no arguments or debate allowed for this meeting. The idea was just to let it rip.
The stuff that came out of the kids (ages 14, 12 and 7) touched me to the core.
I’ll leave out some of the very private topics but some of the others included
-one daughter not feeling she gets enough time with her sister
-someone not happy with my travel schedule
-philanthropy as a family effort vs individual
-better ways to communicate vs just “tattling” to the adults
It’s hard to get this level of discussion happening around the dinner table during the year sometimes. Things are busy and with 5 people it can get into a free for all much of the time.
I’m so glad we had our family meeting yesterday. Much for all us to reflect on and how we can get stronger together next year.