Building Character and Keeping Secrets with Family Meetings
"Building Character Starts with Getting Your Kids To Talk."
Parenting Tips by Jean Tracy, MSS, for grades K-6:
A brother and his sister were talking to their neighbor. She had just commented on how well they get along. "Sometimes we argue," said the boy. "We always make up," said the girl. Then she added, "Sometimes our parents fight." "Yeah," said the boy. "But you don't want to be in the same room when they do."
Do your kids tell tales out of home too? Would you like them to keep quiet about what happens at home? Inside you'll find a way to help them remember that what happens in the home stays in the home. You'll be building character too.
Parenting Tips for Keeping Family Secrets:
I remember getting scolded when I was a little girl for being a blabber mouth. It didn't help. I still wasn't sure what to keep private and I still blurted out family secrets.
Unfortunately, my parents didn't know about family meetings. They didn't know that a family meeting discussion could have solved the problem. They didn't know how to include our ideas in the discussion. They didn't know that my brother and I could make commitments to keep the family business quiet. They didn't know that we could post our commitments on the refrigerator as reminders. If they had known about family meetings, I wouldn't have been such a blabber mouth and I would have kept my commitments because I loved my family.
The next time your kids announce to the neighbors what you don't want them to know, consider holding family meetings. You'll be building character in your kids too.
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Best wishes for your parenting success,
Jean
Jean Tracy, MSS
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