Include Children in Solving Family Problems
Mormon Doctrine / Teachings
?Parents need to draw the children into the problem-solving process by letting them be heard. For example, I came home at times to find that the children had not cleaned their rooms or done other things they were supposed to do. My wife had her hands full with seven children to raise. So I called the children together for a short council meeting. We talked about what needed to be done and decided on a course of action. Talking about the course of action makes all the difference. If it?s mandated or dictated, there will usually be resistance. But if parents will establish a climate conducive to openness, where every person is important and every opinion is valued, they can create a kind of spiritual synergism in the home, where the combined action or cooperation that results is greater than the sum of the individual parts.? and Barbara Ballard, ?Family Councils:
-- M. Russell Ballard,"A Conversation with Elder and Sister Ballard,? Liahona, June 2003, 15