Family Meeting

I am not sure if it is because school is out but my children seem to have forgotten the rules. My husband and I feel like all we have been doing is disciplining and we are tired of hearing each others voices. Trace is now 4 and is in the whiny, screaming when mad, talking back phase. Nathan is in his "I want all the attention and if I don't get it I am going to do bad things to get attention." He also is in the I want to be first all the time,not be nice to my brothers and talking back phase. So we had a family meeting last night and here is what I did. First I took my son's art easel and set it up in our living room with a message on the white board that we would be having a family meeting at 7pm

I then pre-made sheets for our discussion that said: rules, consequences for your actions, schedule, rewards for good behavior, and foods I like. I first talked about the rules and had the kids and Ron tell me what our rules are. The kids did great....see I knew they knew what the rules are.

We then went over what privliages would be taken away for bad behavior. After we made that list I then showed the kids the naughty buckets. They each have a bucket with their name on it. In the center bucket is Popsicle sticks that have consequence on them such as no TV for a day, 30 min in your room, clean up your brothers toys, no friends over for 2 day and so on. I explained to the kids Ron and I will only correct their bad behavior once and after that a stick will be added to their bucket. I also explained that talking back will not be tolerated in our house and that will add a stick to their bucket immediately. 

Now I don't like to always focus on the negative so I let the kids tell us what they would like for their good behavior and we made that list as well. I think positive encouragement works wonders! We also discussed our schedule. The kids and I have been goofing off a bit since school got out but we have to get back on somewhat of a schedule. I am still in school during the summer and need to have homework time. Trace is not done napping and obviously needs a nap during the week. This was also to let my husband know our schedule as he sometimes works from home and he needs to adapt to our schedule. The last thing we talked about was foods we like. Trace is giving me a terrible time with eating dinner. Last night he hardly ate, goes to bed and wakes up starving. I have always been one to say I will not make separate meals for everybody but I think I might have to break this rule. It kills me to know Trace is going to bed hungry. He is just so picky with his food right now. So I asked him to tell me what he does like to eat and I will have to make him those items. I will continue to make him try things but I will need the food he likes as a back up. 

This morning the kids woke up and have been great.....so far! Ron and I hate getting upset with our kids and want to give them everything but we also want them to be the best behaved, polite, respectful, little boys. They are the loves of my life and I don't want to spend the summer getting upset with them. I want this summer to be filled with fun because before I know it they will be all grown up!