The Birth of the Family Meeting

Okay, the picture is somewhat deceiving. We don't have little monkeys yet. Also, we're not monkeys. But this little clan huddling together -- mostly likely talking about the Affordable Care Act or the taste of flies -- made me think of our new family meeting.

You might be asking: Why the hell do you guys have a family meeting? Can't you just, like, talk like normal people?

The answer: First off, relax. There's no need for profanity or attitude. We're all friends here. The truth is Bridget and I talk all the time, but a week ago, we started to realize we weren't really getting anywhere with some of our bigger conversations -- stuff like vacation destinations, money, and kids. Over and over, we'd just rehash the same conversation about "You know, we should do this. No, wait. We should go here!" We were like a drunk windsock with ADD. Perhaps you and your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other do the same thing.

Thus, we came up with the family meeting.

The five rules are simple:
1. Each family meeting must be planned in advance.
2. Each family meeting must be an actual meeting at a table.
3. Each family meeting can focus on only one topic.
4. Each family meeting must not exceed 30 minutes.
5. Each family meeting must have an outcome.

Before our first family meeting, we weren't sure all this was such a good idea. Meetings, traditionally, particularly in a workplace setting, are a giant waste of time. They take too long. There are too many of them. They aren't productive. In fact, there's even a book called Death by Meeting. 

But so far, in three meetings, we've been fruitful. We've decided where and how to invest our money in the next few months, where to travel this fall (not Hawaii -- booo!), and when to start trying to have kids. (Oddly, the middle debate was the most heated.)

The meetings haven't been perfect, but we've done our best to stick to the rules. And, more importantly, they've helped us communicate more effectively -- especially about little monkeys.