Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Do You Have a Kids Team?

[Joelyn Malone (JKMalone]

At Monterey Cohousing, we have what we call a "kid's club" that is very 
similar to what people are calling a kid's team. One very dedicated 
adult that loves working with kids is the mentor for the club. We use it 
to resolve disputes between the kids (mostly by way of teaching and 
modeling healthy communication), to have the kids come up with their own 
solutions to problems like too-noisy hallways, toys where they are a 
danger to others, etc. Often kids will also be specifically invited to 
join the Board of Directors meetings. They are welcome anytime, but 
mostly only come when there's an item on  the agenda that will affect 
them. They know our process for meetings because they use it in their 
own meetings. They also decide to do things together, plan parties, and 
collect the community's aluminum cans so they can get the money for 
their own activities. They (subgroups based on age) decided how to 
decorate the Teen Room (this was when our oldest kids were about 14), 
and what items should stay and what should go out of the play room for 
the younger kids. They worked together with responsible adults to build 
the loft in the play room, and are all very proud of it as a result.
As the kids' ages have changed and we have fewer younger kids now, the 
kid's club is not quite as active as when we all first moved in. It 
still is used to give the kids a platform so they are heard on issues 
that affect them.
We're experiencing something of the "age wave" in our community. Many 
original founders, who had young kids 15 years ago, obviously don't 
anymore but have no desire to leave the community. So, there aren't a 
lot of units available for new families moving in and bringing kids. 
Fewer kids available means the community isn't as attractive for 
families, and so we are losing two households who are looking elsewhere 
for locations with playmates. We're hoping we aren't all going to be 
gray-haired as the units turn over, but we are noticing that most 
interested folk are baby boomers.