LLL meeting styles?

[redhotmama]

I worry about stale meetings. Hit me with your favorite meeting styles...

[DBZ]

we follow the schedule...life with a newborn, nutrition and weaning, etc. That part can get pretty lame especially if there are no newbies. I love hanging out with like-minded moms though.

[wannabe]

Series meetings bore me to tears. I prefer moderated discussion of breastfeeding and parenting issues we're having. Or even sharing funny anecdotes, etc.

[bandgeek]

The meetings I've gone to were usually moderated so we stayed on topic, but then as soon as we didn't have anything bf'ing related to talk about, we just kind of did our own thing. With smaller meeting, this meant we only talked bf'ing for like 15 minutes and then spent the next hour and 45 min chatting about other stuff. The bigger meetings I've been to we usually only had about 15 min left over. But that was the difference between about 4 moms and 25 moms.

[adtake]

Our best meetings are the ones that are more open discussion than planned speech type. We alwasy seem to get more info for each other that way.

Sadly our meeting are having to close Not enough moms to keep it going and Leader issues. Hope to get them back at some point.

[krystyn33]

The meetings I've attended have been flexible. The leader will start by asking if anyone has any issues, and it is generally an open discussion. If the discussion starts to lag, she will bring up the topic of that meeting in the series. It works well.

[Mama Poot]

I much prefer laid back, discussion style meetings. One of the things I really disliked about LLL was the structure of the meetings. My particular group was just anal about keeping everything in line and I often felt like I couldn't voice my opinion or speak when it wasn't "my turn". It was like being in freakin kindergarten. Lame. I think you can have a general topic for a meeting but keep the atmosphere open to change. If the topic is "supposed" to be newborns, but no one there has a newborn, talk about something else for pete's sake.

[Mama Poot]

I much prefer laid back, discussion style meetings. One of the things I really disliked about LLL was the structure of the meetings. My particular group was just anal about keeping everything in line and I often felt like I couldn't voice my opinion or speak when it wasn't "my turn". It was like being in freakin kindergarten. Lame. I think you can have a general topic for a meeting but keep the atmosphere open to change. If the topic is "supposed" to be newborns, but no one there has a newborn, talk about something else for pete's sake.

[Mama Poot]

double post

[redhotmama]

Originally Posted by Mama Poot

My particular group was just anal about keeping everything in line and I often felt like I couldn't voice my opinion or speak when it wasn't "my turn". It was like being in freakin kindergarten. Lame.

This is my general thought as well, but I do worry that introverted mamas may never say a thing if they aren't given a scripted opportunity. I am a loud mouth and can jump in any time, but mousy moms often get verbally trampelled. I try to cover this by specifically asking mousy moms what they think or if they have an anecdote....

[Kay11]

Originally Posted by redhotmama

This is my general thought as well, but I do worry that introverted mamas may never say a thing if they aren't given a scripted opportunity. I am a loud mouth and can jump in any time, but mousy moms often get verbally trampelled. I try to cover this by specifically asking mousy moms what they think or if they have an anecdote....

Some of us just very quietly say that we don't have anything to contribute, or say "What ____ said is the same for us" because we still don't want to speak. Ok, I am really introvert and shy, but there are a couple of regular members who verbally trample quieter people like me and I can't get passed that. The leaders are aware of the issues, but some people are just so forceful you know? Another issue for me is that my ideas are often wildly different from the other mothers at the meeting that I know that voicing my opinion or talking about my experiences will just further isolate me. for example, I don't know anyone in our very large (30+ on average) group who is CLW or practising anything close to it and I feel very alone when the conversation turns to night weaning and limiting nursing.

Anyway, to answer the original question, I prefer a semi-formal meeting where there is a topic to discuss and everyone gets a say, but people are free to chip in whenever they have something relevant to contribute.

[MommytoTwo]

I prefer the round robin, it gives everyone a chance. I find that in open format, some people dominate and others dont get a word in.

[annettemarie]

We've gone to "cafe style" meetings where we just talk rather than series meetings. I love it!

[JamSamMom]

I went to my first meeting in the U.P. michigan. I have been going to AA meetings for 18 years since the age of 16 so this was quite a change!!! I liked the meeting open discussion format and the leader had a topic but wanted to talk to about anyones questions or concerns first. It was friendly atmosphere and I wish I could have contined there in hancock. I moved right after DD was born to my parents house and there is no meeting in the area. I liked that it was informative with out being pushy and everyone got a chance to voice their opinoins/concerns. I agree with mamma poot laid back discussion style meetings are best and I really liked the laid back atmosphere of the houghton meeting. With being in AA so long I get turned off of the anal meetings that stay on a particular topic even if it does not pertain to someone. The nice thing about AA is that there are meetings everywhere, everyday of the week so I can just go to a different one. Not the case with LL. So I think the leader should be imformed of the need to discuss certain topics such as the benefits of CLW before the next meeting and give you a chance to respond Kay 11 to the positives of CLW. Sometimes in meetings we have a question basket with a Q&A session so people can ask an anonymous question. Redhotmomma that is great that you include the mousy mom in that way!

[runes]

i like going around the circle so that everyone gets to introduce ourselves and contribute. our group is still pretty free-form during that though, so i would say it's actually kind of a hybrid of round robin and discussion style. if someone brings up a point during the round robin, other people are encouraged to chime in. every once is a while the leaders will need give a prompt to move on in the interest of time and fairness to finish the 'circle', but that doesn't happen very often, as most of the moms in the groups are all pretty mindful of that.

after we've gone around the circle and no other questions or comments are made, we break to i guess what would be called "cafe style".

[MilkTrance]

Originally Posted by krystyn33

The meetings I've attended have been flexible. The leader will start by asking if anyone has any issues, and it is generally an open discussion. If the discussion starts to lag, she will bring up the topic of that meeting in the series. It works well.

This is what my leader does.

And can I just say that she is flippin amazingly gorgeous?

Oh, I can? OK then. She is.

[redhotmama]

Originally Posted by JamSamMom

Redhotmomma that is great that you include the mousy mom in that way!

Thanks Michelle! Hi When are you coming home?

[JamSamMom]

My husband gets home from Afghanistan next wednesday! But we do not have a new air force assignment yet. He is taking 2 months off so hopefully we will find out soon where we are moving. So your location says you are deep in snow where abouts?

[redhotmama]

I live across the street from the co-op

Praise God, he is safe!

[Samjm]

Our meetings are kind of a hybrid. We usually have some kind of prop/prompt for each mom, and then the group discusses each one.

So for example, "Reasons to Breastfeed" - we had a basket of toys. Everyone picked a toy and then we went around the circle and each person got to say what they thought their toy showed. A toy watch was "saves time" etc. Then the group has an open discussion about that subtopic. This way everyone gets to talk, and people get a chance to discuss and bring their personal stories in, but the meeting stays on topic.

I love the structure of the group - so much so that I'm now a leader!