Can You Hear Me Now?

Last night - after reading tons of material on communicating with your kids - I had a heart-to-heart talk with dh about sitting down as a family. The idea is that as a team:

a) everyone presents things they think could be improved around the house (for instance, I'll say that the house is too messy and I can't do it all myself)

b) everyone contributes solutions (kids say things like "hire a maid", or "pretend not to see the mess", while the parents talk about chores and allowance)

c) we discuss said solutions and hammer out a plan to implement them (set time for chores each day, with bonuses for doing chores each week without reminders)

The idea is that if the kids are part of the problem-solving, they'll be more likely to participate than if being yelled at to "pick up your room!".

So, the kids roll into the kitchen after I've made my case to dh, who, by the way, just nodded and tried not to laugh. I start telling the kids about the plan for the meeting and what we'll do and how wonderful it will be to have open communication with each other. And . . .

Nobody's listening to me. Daughter's talking to dad about the game she's playing. Son's watching TV and not hearing me. Dh's still trying not to laugh.

So much for communication. *sigh*

What's everyone doing this weekend?