I didn't grow up in a house that held family meetings.  Being an only child it was basically "This is what your father and I have decided and the way it is going to be."  Like it or lump it and sure, go ahead and smoke out your bedroom window.  You'll get tired of that bad habit some day.  Yet it was clear that in our home, a family of five, we need to do things a bit differently.  We are working with a lot of personalities, a lot of schedules and a short supply of patience more often than not.  Between school, work, activities and just life we were all feeling disconnected and discontent.  When my Mom gave me a Parents magazine a few weeks ago with an article about holding family meetings I sort of wanted to groan out loud and throw it in the recycling bin.  As it happens insomnia … [Read more...]