Growing up my house was pretty hectic. I am the second oldest of eight children so my parents had their hands full throughout my entire childhood. I remember when my parents decided that we should start holding family councils or meetings weekly to make sure that nothing in anyone’s life was overlooked or to plan an upcoming vacation. They were always loud and not much got done but it was a good way to get us all in the same room communicating. We did have some successful meetings planning trips or weekends and I think it helped all of the children with working with large groups of people trying to accomplish something. We had a great example of leadership from both of my parents. My dad as the priesthood leader and patriarch and my mom as the home keeper, peace keeper and kept everything running smoothly. They always seemed on the same page and worked really well together despite the many struggles that having a family of ten can lead too.
In my own small family of my wife and I we tend to just have conversations as things come up instead of setting aside time to discuss everything. Occasionally for big trips we do both come up with things we want to do separately and then come together and discuss the best use of our time so that we both get to do things we want to do and that becomes for of a family council. I do think after reading Elder Ballard’s “Counseling With our Councils” and my own experience with family councils growing up as well as participating in church council meetings that we can probably benefit from setting aside a set time every week to meet together to go over what we have coming up and make sure that we are both on the same page and to make sure that we both feel we are meeting our expectations of each other.
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