Family Science

So far I've really enjoyed this class. It makes me realize how awesome my family is. We've always been very supportive of each other. We may not be perfect but we live harmoniously. I'll use what I learn in this class to make my own family with my fiance just as successful. By applying what I have observed in my family and what I learn in this class, I can teach my children how to have positive relationships with the families they create someday.

~Cynthia J

Families and Roles

So far, I have found this class to be very interesting. Some of the things that we have learned in class have helped me understand my family a little better, and understand myself more. My parents got divorced when I was a baby. My mom remarried right away, and a couple years later had a little girl. Although my biological dad was still in my life, my stepdad has always been my dad. He has always been there for me and would do anything for me. He doesn't treat me any differently than his own daughter, and I am so thankful to have him in my life. My biological dad eventually remarried, and they now have two little boys. I have always considered my family to be my mom, my dad, my sister and I. Though I do have another family, consisting of my biological dad, my stepmom, and their two boys, I rarely get to see them, and that makes it very difficult. They live in Minnesota, and I maybe get to see them once a year. This class has made me realize what a family really is. Also, learning about the different roles that each member of the family has is interesting and makes me look at my family a little differently. I never really thought about the different roles that each of us plays, but it really is interesting to think about. For instance, because I am the oldest child, I have always been the test child. My parents test all of their rules on me and figure out what works and what doesn't work to make it easier on my younger sister. I think my parents are now realizing that they had it easy with me because I never really resisted the rules, but my sister likes to see what she can get away with. Thinking about the different roles that my family has makes me appreciate each member of my family a little more. I'm sure that as the more we learn in this class, they more I will reflect about my own family and understand them a little more.

Hey guys. My name is Zhou Heng, enrolled as a freshman from China. Well, I am the only daughter in the family. This is because once there was a rule in China. Each family only allows having one kid due to over population in China. I love my family, and would love to know more about characteristic about family. I have read the article ‘Strong Families around the World’ by John Defrain. To be frank, I really learnt a lot through it and would think about whether my family is strong enough or not. My family is a typical Chinese family which has four old folks, parents and me. I always think that my family is perfect however there is no such thing– Everything is perfect. Last summer, my parents have decided to divorce. I have been told that they wanted to divorce since I was a kid but due to my age was young, so they just dragged the issue till last summer. I was terrified and my mind gone blank. I ran away from the home which used to be full of love, for two days. I was lost, totally lost. I kept on thinking and recall back all the memories that we had together. Then only realized that there were few times something happened which would cause them divorce. After that incident, my parents decided not to divorce for that moment. Well, from all these, I think that parents just having the responsibility to maintain the marriage and also to the kids. Overall, I do think that kids are a bridge that connecting both parents. To have a strong family, they should have love one another. For one thing I am sure, my parents love me more than everyone does, but I am not sure whether my parents do loving each other anymore. Perhaps to solve my family problems, I should seek some help and solutions before my parents get divorced. This subject is helpful to me, helps me think and understand more about family issues. Hope you and me have a good family. Cheers. :)

Continue to learning about what is family?

What is family again? ummm...it has truly been on my mind because my family consist of me, my mom, my step dad, and my three brother. I don't claim my step dad as step dad because he has been the father there for me from the very beginning! Every time people ask me if he was my real dad I would say yes. It always hurt for me to think of him as my step dad. I don't even call my biological father dad.

Can I call that a family? If so, what kind of family because I want to be original like some other people who has both parents and they don't have to call anyone step dad or step mom.

I just wish it was easier you know?

Family Science Interactions

I have what I would assume is a strong family, but when we talked about the characteristics in class, I really began to wonder how strong my family really is. I have two brothers and my parents, who have been married for almost 25 years. My parents joke about being separated during the summer when all of us are going in different directions, its not so crazy now with one of my brothers and I in college.

One major way my family stays in contact with each other is email. I have always thought we have had good communication, but my family is VERY sarcastic, even through email. Even my 10 year old brother knows how to be sarcastic and has for a long time. It amazes me to know how much sarcasm can really hurt communication.

I agree with many of the others about this class. It is one of my favorite classes I have had the privilege to attend. I like the class interaction and being able to bring the information back to relatable things. I'm excited to learn more and be able to apply it to my life and my future, where ever I end up.

FAMILY

So what is a family? First off I'll tell a little bit about my family. My mom and dad separated when I was in 3rd grade and they divorced years later because I think my dad was seeing other people. My mom raised my younger sister Christen and I by herself even when my parents were together pretty much. They went through a kind of messy divorce where my dad got half my moms retirement and he got to have my sister on his taxes so he has 5 more years of tax breaks even though he never raised us. My dad remarried in 2003 to a lady my sister and I didn’t really like. She never gave us anytime alone with our dad she always had to go with and she knew we didn’t like her. They have recently legally separated..

So for me I never considered my "step mom" family even though my dad was with her for maybe 9 years. I would really call her my dad's new wife when I talked about her and it was because I would pry never consider her family. Even her kids were never my family to me. I haven’t talked to them once since they separated. Right now i would consider the person I’ve been dating for over 14 months and her family more my family than them maybe even a little more than my dad. I have lived like a block from my dad for 3 years and i hardly ever see him or talk to him but I talk to my mom and sister everyday and I see then at least once a week and they live in Ashland. Well anyway i just wanted to show that in some cases step families aren’t your family at all and even your own blood can seem like less of a family member than someone that’s not blood.

What is a Family?

I've been thinking about this question for awhile now....

Recently, my dad told us he cheated on my mom, and he is now living with his girlfriend, and my parents are getting a divorce. I always thought I would be one of the few people in the world to have a normal family, with 2 parents, a sibling, and pets. I lived 18 years of the "perfect life" per say. I never thought that it would happen to me, but it has which makes me wonder: what is a family?

Is it when you have a mom, dad, and sibling in a 2-story house with a dog? Is it when you have only one parent and live in an apartment? Is it when you are adopted and taken into a loving home where you find out people actually do care for you?

There are so many different ways to describe a family these days. And I've come to the conclusion that my idea of a family now is completely different from what I thought of a family growing up. I don't mind just having a mom and brother and our pets. I could care less if my dad is in my life. Of course I wonder, who is going to walk me down the isle when I get married, but that is just something I will have to worry about when the time comes.

Family to me is having people who support you no matter what happens, and for me right now that is my mom and brother.

Family Characteristics

On the first day of class we were asked the question, "What characteristics are necessary for a group of individuals to be considered a family?" I went out of town this past weekend with my family. My aunts, uncles and cousins all reunited in the moutains for our annual ski trip. A few days into the trip I had asked my little cousin, Colten, where his mother was. He responded with "She's technically not my mom but she's up in the lodge." To my suprise I had never approached his situtation until that very moment. Colten's dad has been dating my older cousin, Erin, for years. They will most likely never marry. They have a child, Jace, between them. Erin also has another son, Tyler from an earlier time. So there is a total of 3 boys. They are a great family of 5. Technically, Erin is not Colten's mother but Colten's real mother is not consistantly active in his life. Throughout the rest of the trip I happened to pick up on a few more intriging comments that triggered me to question what is family?

My uncle said he was going to buy all the grandchildren ice-cream one night. Colten sat down when all the other children ordered their treats. My uncle asked Colten why he wasn't choosing what he wanted and he responded with, "Technically, I'm not your grandchild." Colten is only in 5th grade and it's hard to see a kid that young feel excluded the way he did when the entire family accepts him as one of our own and has never given him the impression that he is any less then any other family member. My uncle strictly said, "Colten. You are my grandchild."

Do children believe they have to be blood to feel accepted? I have a half brother and I have always looked at him as a "full" brother. I spent my entire life with him and when I think about how we have different dads it becomes an awkward thought because I never approached our situation like that. Colten has been around almost his whole life. No family member looks at him differently but he tends to looks at us in a interesting way. Is it my cousin, Erin, who makes him feel unaccepted since the other two boys in the family are hers by blood? On certain weekends, when Colten is with his real mother is she filling his head with nonsense about having another mother-figure in his life? Or is it the things he learns in school that maybe don't compare to his lifestyle at home?

With out last weeks lecture I wouldn't have been able to catch on to the comments that Colten had made. I have always looked at him as my little cousin. Blood doesn't consulate a family in my opinion. I look for the care, support and intimate bond when I decide what family is. But for some, it must take a little more.

Trying the test..

I totally agree with what you guys are saying. Having a teacher that makes class interesting and useful is very important. Semester has just begun and I can already tell I will be picking up a lot from this class. I recently made a trip home and spent the weekend with my family and the day I left I tried the switching my role in my family. I am usually the more independent one. My mom and dad know that I'm the one kid they don't have to check up on as much because i like to do my own thing and I handle things on my own. When they day I was getting ready to head back I started acting needy to see what their reactions would be, I even tried it with my younger brother. When I was sitting in the kitchen I asked my mom if she would poor me something to drink, she looked at me with this confused look and goes when did you become so helpless. Later I asked my brother if he would take my bag to my car as I sat at the computer perfectly able to do it myself. His response made me laugh when he said since when did I become your slave? :) I did a couple little things like that, just to see my families reaction. I observed how the System Theory works. I realized how my part in my family as the independent child normally keeps the conflict level at a normal but when I act helpless more conflict arises. I realized my parents are so use to not having to do anything for me. Since I was little I always told let "let me do it" so when I acted this way they weren't quite sure how to react and what made me so helpless all of a sudden. My brother on the other hand made more conflict arise because he isn't use to having to do stuff for me either and with his stubborn personality he got upset every time I would ask him to do something for me. Personally I noticed how I allow my parents to focus on other things when I act in my independent ways. They have more time for other worries and I'm able to do things the way I want them done. I noticed I am so independent because if I want something done right in my ways I have to do it myself. It's very interesting to me to see how the different roles in my family compliment each other. I realized when I went home I was more alert to the different topics we've been learning in class.g

Family Characteristics

I agree with Lowrennice about the interesting class part. So far I really love this class and I think I will learn a lot from it. I always love taking those classes that actually pertain to your life and give you tips about how to make things better in your life. I've taken a couple Human Development classes but I really think this class will be beneficial to me as a person. I can't wait to grow up and have a family and I just love learning all that I can about it before it happens. I want to make sure I'm doing the right things in order to have successful and healthy relationships with my family members. I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with my family right now but I know that we can improve in a lot of ways. My family has done pretty well with the strong family characteristics. My parents have been married for 25 years and we are a very tight-knit family when it comes to the commitment issues. My family has expresses the right amount of appreciation and affection for each other. We have always been a very close family that hugs and kisses each other a lot. My parents always make sure to hug us everday if not multiple times a day. They feel that it is important in our relationship with the communication and affection. My parents have always made a point to make sure we have good communication within each other and we always try to talk about things when they are bothering us. We use a lot of sarcasm at my house but I feel like we only use it in a good way, we never try to intentionally hurt someone else. My parents have always made a point to make sure that we have a lot of family time. When we were younger we always hung out as a family and had game nights all the time. We like to go out to eat as a family as much as we can when everyone is home. We always go to church together on sundays. After church we try to have lunch together and be together as a family. Our spiritual relationships are important to my family and we like to go to church together. My family has a pretty good idea of how to cope with stress. There have been some stressful life events during my life and I think we have handled them pretty well. I feel like my family has a pretty good idea about the different aspects of a stuccessful family. We have lots of problems just like any other family but we tend to get over them quickly and with good communication it can be done well.

Families in other parts of the world

Monday, January 19, 2009

explore families around the world
I want to participate in level 5 -(These postings will relate an experience, tell why it is related to professional development and how it impacted you as an individually as a professional.) I made a couple of trips to Africa this summer. I stayed in a home of a family in Malawi. I hitch hiked from Malawi to Mozambique and then on to Zambia ending my first trip with a flight back to Malawi rather than hitch hiking. I was there 21 days.My second trip was to Johannesburg, South Africa for seven days. These experiences have greatly impacted my life and made me more appreciative of my family and friends here in America and our way of life. As a professional it has changed my perspective. I am now driven to travel, get more education, and see more of the world and the way families function.
Posted by lowrennice at 7:46 PM 0 comments
Labels: Africa, families, travel

This is got to be one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken in my life; this is because I am a international traveler and I now have an instructor with personal experience, love for the family unit and teach from the heart.Needles to say, I have had instructors who's voice tone would break glass and did not know the information as well as he/she should have, not to mention their delivery. All of my children are adults and my wife and I have been married for 30 years and we have 2 grand children; this means a lot for me to have a good instructor.
Posted by lowrennice at 4:10 PM 0 comments