Family Patterns

This last week we submitted a family assignment that had us take a look at different trends and relationships within our family.  It showed me the trends I want to keep and the ones I want to break.  This week in class we learned about the dynamic a relationship may go through.  Studies have shown over and over again that when a husband and wife get married they have a great relationship when it starts out and they work well together and their relationship is strong.  Then as the first child comes in to the picture the relationship starts to drop and it will slowly rise but as child number 2 comes along it drops a little lower than before and this would continue with each child.  The relationship seems to stay steady as the children grow up and then as each child moves away the relationship becomes more loving and stronger until they get back to where they were when they first got married, or close to that. 

After I became aware of different trends within my family such as people being distant or controlling I look at the world around me and try to make my life the way I want it to be.  Despite all the studies that show this pattern in most people I want to try and do what I can to avoid it.  I want to keep my relationship with my husband strong and as we have children allow them to build us up instead of pull us down.  I know at times that they will take a toll on us but for the most part I want us to become more strengthened and develop more love towards one another. 

Those around us

This last week we discuss the social classes and the impact that they bring.  We watched a Youtube video that I would highly recommend.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8VXrHeLqBA&feature=related This is the video which is called tammy.  It really made me reexamine the way I look at people.  I think at times we all need a reality check in which we ask ourselves if we are giving those around us the benefit of the doubt.  I judged this family right off the bat and looked down on them but the more I learned about them then the more I felt for them and the more respect I gained for them.  I started to feel extremely guilty for judging them.  I told myself that I need to change that and not judge people from what I see.  There are so many people that have minimum wage jobs but they are working hard and while everything is pushing down on them they are fighting back and trying to make a living.  What I took from this was that we all come from different places in our lives and nobody is better than one another and we are all trying our hardest and have no right to judge someone and to categorize anybody. 

 

We took a look at different cultures as well.  Each culture seems to have their own positives and negatives.  We talked about how being minority may affect people.  They are categorized immediately and held to those assumptions.  There are more cultures than just our heritage.  It could be the culture of single mothers or pregnant teens.  We should be aware of all the different types of cultures their are and understand them.  We can learn why more teens are becoming pregnant and try to help them.