Families Matter

My beautiful dysfunctional family This week I want to start off with a couple questions to ponder: Is parenting really necessary? What is the purpose of parenting? In class and through my studies I have discovered that parenting helps us learn to become more like God. With parenting comes responsibility and hard work, and without parenting comes a failed society. Wait, did you read that right? How on earth can parenting be so important that is has an influence of society? That's right. Families influence society, so I would say parenting plays a huge role in the way the community is run. Overall, the purpose of parenting all boils down to protect and prepare children to survive and thrive in the world they will live in. Parenting protects children from themselves, physical objects such as sharp things, illnesses, etc. It also prepares children to become adults because as children grow up they learn habits and lifestyles from watching their parents. Could you imagine goi

Communication is the key to any successful relationship. This includes spouses, friends, and familial relationships. The three main channels of communication are the use of words, tone, and non-verbal. The most important form of communication is using non-verbal cues. One type of communicating may come about because of a conflict or disagreement. Communicating in this case is often easier said than done, so a good practice to use is the EAR skills. This includes channeling your best E mpathy skills, A ssertive skills, and R espectful skills. The E mpathy skills are used to prevent fueling the fire of a heated argument. This includes the disarming technique. The disarming technique prevents defensiveness by finding and focusing on the kernel of truth - especially the ones that seem unreasonable. Even if you feel like the other person is in the wrong, there may be some truth in the opposing side. Then, it is important to actually express empathy through your response. Finally, the la

"Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten" -Lilo and Stitch When an individual goes through trouble they are usually the only one affected by the stressor. If a family is troubled, everyone in the family is affected. It is important to understand that having a crisis is not the end of the world just because family crisis mandates necessary change in the family system . A crisis is a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. There are a few potential outcomes on the family after a crisis. They either: a.) don't recover b.) recover little by little with a few dents in the system c.) recover to their original state d.) recover and rise above their original state. The outcome of a family's crisis depends on the family and the stressor. A stressor is something that puts a strain in the marriage. For example, unemployment is a stressor. Sometimes in the midst of a crisis family members may try to assign blame, feel shame, find

http://clipart-library.com/marriage-proposal-cliparts.html So you've dated around, became exclusive with "the one," and now you're engaged. Engagement is the commitment to become one forever . Not just for the wedding day. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who tend to prepare more for the wedding than for the marriage, and that is only preparing those couples for a divorce. Being engaged is a golden time for couples because there are opportunities and challenges you can work through together to prepare yourselves for marriage. For example, one of the biggest challenges that engaged couples face is money. The average wedding costs around $30,000. Now, where does that money come from? Especially if you're still a college student? Well, you take what you can from mom and dad, use your savings, and use credit. Even that may not be enough, so where does that land you? Weddings are so expensive that people may decide to delay their wedding which leads to co

How do you feel about the word "dating?" Does is make you anxious, want to roll your eyes, or excited? In today's world, dating is becoming more of a burden than something fun to do to get to know someone. At some point the dating culture changed where all of a sudden asking someone out seems to be too forward or something. It's like we worry that if we ask someone out on a date they'll think we're in love with them which is nonsense. We need to stop and realize that it's just a date . Dates are great. They are an opportunity to do an activity with someone and get to know them better, and since it's just a date you can go out with as many boys or girls that you want to before narrowing down your options and becoming exclusive with a special someone. That's the beautiful thing about dating: you are allowed to date different people based on your attraction to them without the pressure of marriage. Of course attractiveness plays a part in wanting to d

Growing up I recognized who to turn to for honest advice: my parents. However, each parent has a different advice style. My mom is a very feelings oriented woman, so naturally I take after her. We often joke about how this is a curse because our tendencies to cry are common, but without this trait my family just wouldn't be the same. My dad on the other hand is a very logical man. He sees things as they are and only thinks about the task at hand. As a society we joke about how this is common in males; they focus only on one thing at a time because that's all they have the capacity to do. However, in a sense it's true, and it's not a bad thing! My mom and dad have always balanced each other out. When I need compassion for my emotions or just want to talk through my feelings I naturally go to my mom. However, when I need a subjective point of view and some logical sense I can turn to my dad. This is the important role of not only a mother and father, but also a man and