Day Seven – Team Meetings: The Weekly Check-In

When a family spends time together, they learn about each other.

One simple way is to ask the “what as good about your day? What was not so good about your day?” questions, going around the table at dinner. This facilitates conversation and gives everyone a chance to share. Even though our worlds are much smaller, you will be surprised at how everyone has had ups and downs. As parents, use this to stay in tune with what your kids are feeling, how they are experiencing this situation, and what they need from you and each other.

And YES, work really hard to eat together. It should be MUCH easier now, as nobody is going anywhere. Make eating together a top priority TODAY. A structured conversation will help identify holes and challenges in our family rules and values and will help you relax or tighten them up where needed.

Implement Structure

We have gone through the stages of grief in mourning the loss of our “normal” everyday.  We are now several weeks into this isolation, and my guess is, you are settling into the “new normal”.  

Most families suffer due to a lack of structure and routine.  Have a family meeting to build a VERY SIMPLE daily schedule. What needs to be included? Basic needs of course, but what about exercise, creative time, academics? Set and enforce a schedule, and don’t be afraid to use technology to help with this (family schedules, setting timers, making lists, etc.).  Don’t forget to schedule fun. Lots and lots of fun.