Family Negotiation Nights
The key to family cooperation, effective communication and deeper connection.
I want you to picture this. Fast forward ten years, your kids are teenagers, it’s Sunday night, the smell of a delicious dinner is wafting through your home and all of your teenagers pull up a seat at the table.
It’s family negotiating night.
Attendance is a non negotiable.
But you wouldn’t know it’s not negotiable because everyone happily attends.
It’s not a battle because you’ve been building this into your family culture for years.
The kids know what to expect and actually, they enjoy it.
Everyone laughs, everyone feels appreciated and they even challenge each other, but it feels good.
It’s respectful, it’s kind, it’s safe.
And at the end of it, everyone feels better.
Everyone feels like they know each other a little more deeply.
This is what I’m weaving into the fabric of my family home and I’d love to show you how.
Negotiating Nights started as a ritual in my home about 12 months ago and they have since become a powerful way to teach my children (aged 5 and 8) how to:
Hold their frustration until the right time to express it (a skill most adult marriages lack!)
Learn how to express what they desire while listening to what others in the family prefer
Practice the art of true negotiation
Articulate themselves in times of intense emotions
Understand the true meaning of family cooperation
We have problem solved all kinds of challenges at these meetings, from bedtime battles to my 5 year old negotiating that he should have the right to swing on his chair without anyone else nagging him!
This is the evening where we welcome it all - anything that doesn’t feel good is up for negotiation.
But that doesn’t mean they always get what they want!
I am sharing the ins and outs of this ritual, the pieces that are important and how to cultivate this practice within your own family culture so your teens pull up a seat at the table in years to come too.
May 25th 730pm Brisbane Time
Replay is available for those who can’t attend live.
I’m Ashleigh…
I'm a Family Psychologist from Australia and I'm mother of two young boys. I've helped thousands of parents learn respectful ways to feel confident and clear in their approach to their kid's aggression and challenging behaviour. I have a Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology and I have also studied Family Therapy so weaving creative ways to connect families and communicate is one of my top priorities. I can’t wait to share this with you!