Final Blog

     I can't believe this is my last blog! I wasn't super enthusiastic about blogging for this class when we first started, but I have really come to enjoy it. I have loved having the opportunity of going to my class and then being able to share my thoughts and opinions that I got out of it. Today I have some thoughts and opinions on the topic of families breaking apart, new families being formed, how to avoid divorce, and the challenges and opportunities that are associated with blended families. These are the topics we covered this week, and I will try to give my thoughts on all of them but I might not be able to fit it all in this blog.

    First I would like to talk about how to prevent divorce. Divorce is a sad thing that happens fairly often in today's society. I want to make sure I talk about it first because divorce does not have to happen in a marriage. We talked about incompatibility. There is a definition of incompatibility that talks about people. It says "inability of two people to live together harmoniously." I disagree with this definition. Incompatibility does not have to be a reason for a couple not getting along! In fact I know multiple couples who are basically opposites, but it works because 1. opposites attract 2. Because they make it work. There may be some good reason for divorce. Maybe an abusive partner, or a partner that doesn't want to work. These are reasons that make sense to divorce, but I still think we should try to save the marriage. Now, incompatibility on the other hand is not a good reason for divorce. Talk with your partner and figure things out! Being religious is a great thing that can help save marriages. If you feel you are incompatible, look for something that makes you compatible. Or start sharing a religion and make it work, and soon you will love your partner again. Another thing it is important to remember are covenants and contracts. There is a difference between the two. When we are married we make a covenant of marriage with ourselves and God and if both partners keep that covenant then everything will work out.

    Now I would like to talk about blended families. The simple definition of a blended family is "a family unit where one or both parents have children from a previous relationship, but they have combined to form a new family." Blended families can sometimes have problems. Mostly it is with the children. If both partners had previous children then it might be hard for the kids to get used to each other and get along. Another factor is something we have talked about before, and that is the structure of the family. Most parents discipline their kids together and are on the same page when it comes to parenting, and the kids get used to the structure of parenting too. So if all the sudden the kids have a same parent but with a new parent then the structure of the family is going to change and they are going to have to get used to the new structure. This being said, parents are always the very best suited to parent children, even if it is a blended family. It is very important for the parents to keep an extra eye on kids in blended families, because it is gonna be hard for them and even if it may not seem like it they are going to be going through some challenges.

    I hope over the course of this class for those of you that have read my blog, that you learned a thing or two about families. I know I have. Families are so awesome and have so much potential, so don't waste the opportunity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 8 Blog

      This week we talked about the family being under stress. It was actually very interesting. We learned about what can cause stress and how stress in a family can sometimes actually be a good thing. This wasn't individual stress we were talking about either, it was family stress. Have you ever felt stress in your family? Maybe on a small level when your parents were getting mad at a sibling and you can feel the stress and  intensity? Or maybe on a higher level if a parent lost a job? Well let's talk about these things.      First I want to talk about what can cause stress. There are lots of things that can cause stress, some worse than others. Spouse has a drinking problem, or other addiction? Spouse is struggling holding and job and providing for the family? I have seen a friend go through this experience. I knew two kids in the family, they had both parents but the parents struggled, eventually the husband ended up taking his own life..then just ...
Read more

Week 2 Blog

     Last week's blog, was a little bit of an intro blog. I talked about the few things we talked about in class. It focused mostly on the pros and cons of studying family relations and I talked of the declines in population and declines of the average family size. Because we hadn't had much class last week this blog might cover some of the similar topics as last week, but we researched some different articles, so I will be covering those as well.      We read appendix A from Skogrand, and there was a section I wanted to share. It said "it has been argued that the family is the most difficult institution in human society to study. The reason for this is that families tend to be closed to outsiders; they often 'put their best foot forward.' To study important issues and to solve family problems, researchers and practitioners have to get below the surface and deal with both the positive and the negative aspects of family life." Even from a students perspectiv...
Read more