Family meeting 19 hangs in the proverbial rafters of my family’s lore. It’s the one where this became a “thing”. During our first 18 family meetings, we had fun, I taught lessons and even came up with fun concepts like “Great moments in sports”. We sang songs together, read Bible stories and learned about money, brushing our teeth and Roman numerals. Family meeting was a fun distraction as the pandemic wore on. Then Family Meeting 19 showed up and changed everything.
🎉 Opening Ceremony 🎉
"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."
- Seneca
Is there anything in your life you’ve begun lately? Is there anything coming to an end?
︖ Probing Question ⸮
What’s something you miss from your childhood? (Alternate if kids are too young to have missed much, what’s something you think will be fun when you’re older?)
🧠 Trivia Question 🧠
How many M&Ms would it take to form a straight line from the Earth to the Moon? Answer
📙 Word of the Week 📙
Impede - to interfere with or slow the progress of (source: Merriam-Webster)
🎙️ Main Event 🎙️
The main event kicks off with a classic show - American Gladiators. I grew up a huge fan of this show and was thrilled to share it with my kids.
Homemade obstacle course. Yeah - you heard me right. It will require a bit of effort on your part and I triple dog dare you to try top the experience my family had.
Have kids (and parents!) compete in a course for time ⏲️
Use everything at your disposal! Here was our course:
Run around the house
Make a corn hole throw
Catch a football
Make a basketball shot
Score a soccer goal
Balance walk around backyard trees
Climb up playhouse and come down the slide
Add a 10 second penalty for any failures like falling off on a balance walk
💡 Protip: Grab a 📸 and capture these sweet moments so you’ll have em forever!
🎶 Closing Ceremony 🎶
🤔 Matt’s Reflections 🤔
![kids playing on a homemade obstacle course](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcda033b3-2b2c-491b-9d11-999e0c993c4b_4032x3024.jpeg)
![kids playing on a homemade obstacle course](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11041798-3536-4aa4-9f15-09c2e717cd15_4032x3024.jpeg)
![kids playing on a homemade obstacle course](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F473c62a0-0695-41b7-ad95-20aa459bfbdb_4032x3024.jpeg)
🧐 Variations / FAQ 🧐
Struggling to come up with fun course ideas?
Don’t overlook anything! Have a hill? Run up it 3 times. Don’t have any sports items? Add pushups, wall sits, sit ups, blindfold portion, run to the mailbox.
Kids sad when they lose?
Yeah - that’s part of life. Also, encourage them to compete with their own time. They are the perfect standard to measure themselves against.
Parents sad when they lose?
Yeah - that’s part of life. Tell em it’ll be OK. 😭
Limited enthusiasm for American Gladiators?
I’m biased but you could substitute Wipeout, American Ninja Warrior or even some Tough Mudder footage.
Didn’t get enough American Gladiators?
Now we’re talking! I’d recommend spending a few more minutes down the YouTube rabbit hole watching highlights. If you’re really feeling it, break out the nerf guns and reenact Assault, Eliminator or Powerball!