I am a little late on my post, but better late than never, right? I enjoyed our discussion on divorce and how to handle a blended family. So often media makes blended families look like a piece of cake to manage. That is clearly not the case in real life. I think the thing that struck me the most is that in order to make the family function, the parents must be willing to work together. We discussed how many of the issues that blended families deal with are the same as "regular" families, but blended families have even more issues. The parents need to be prepared and willing to work through whatever issues come up. Anyways, since I do not know much about divorce, I was glad that we got to spend a week on
So close to the end!! I am quite excited for this semester to be over, but I will be sad when I am done with this class and that is not just me trying to brown nose! Anyways, this week we had a discussion on the purposes of parenting. It is my belief that parenting is a refining process for parents and that they can become divine through parenting practices. We also discussed the effects that parents have on children. A parent's responsibility to a child is to teach the child to survive and thrive in real life. I think this is important. There are many instances where survival is difficult, but thriving is nearly impossible. I believe that if I can help my children survive and thrive then I will have done what every parent should do. Sorry for the short post this week, I will try to do better next time!
This week we learned about managing finances as a couple and then as a family. We also learned about how the average American household in which both parents work generally makes less than a single income family. I found it interesting that many women feel like they are wasting their college education to be full time homemakers. I loved Dennis Prager's article on how homemakers can be intellectually stimulated even though they do not spend as much time around other adults. I have always enjoyed the pamphlet One for the Money, so having the opportunity to use that pamphlet as a resource in our class was fun. My post must seem extremely jumbled tonight, but I think that might be because my mind feels extremely jumbled
Well, this week has been quite crazy for me! I did not go to class on Wednesday because I was so ill that I thought I might die! I came home for the weekend, but unfortunately did not have time to do a family council. So, I have been thinking about how our family home evenings generally go and what I could do to help improve them. Something that is difficult for my family is that our age range is a fifteen year spread. So, there is my sister who is 19 and then my little brother who is 4. My parents have a difficult finding a lesson that will hold the attention of all of the participating parties. I really like how the Apostles first start out by expressing their love for each other. That is something I would like to do with my family. Also, I would like each person to be able to tell the worst part and the best part of his or her's week. I think this would bring us closer because we would not only be sharing what was going on in our lives, but how we felt about these events. I also think that we should try more as a family to have the Spirit throughout the meeting. We can get quite rowdy, especially with my brothers around. Lastly, my family always shares refreshments. Of course, eating the treat is fun, but I like helping the little ones make a treat because they are always so excited to share with the family. My family is not perfect, but we love each other and sometimes that is all I really need.
This week we learned about families dealing with crises. The best thing I learned from our discussion is that open communication is extremely important when handling a crisis. Sometimes a family will shutdown and shut each other out of each others lives. This is hard because then each family member feels alone and can fall into depression quickly. Another important factor I learned was that when a crisis is viewed as an opportunity instead of some awful trial, the outcome can be more positive instead of negative. I have seen that applied in my own life crises. When I look at the glass half empty then life becomes that much harder. Everything seems to be full of sadness and darkness. But, when I look at the glass as half full life is so much easier. I know that that is a really old cliche but it is applicable to this situation. Since I am almost falling asleep while typing this, I think I will go to bed. Just remember, a crisis can be a blessing in disguise, not just a punishment that we sometimes see it as.
So, for this week, I am just a little glad that nobody appears to be reading this blog. The subject of our readings and discussion this week was sexual intimacy. I admit, I have no experience whatsoever in this area, so some of the discussion was way over my head. The most important part that I learned was that a couple needs to not make assumptions about each other. Most problems in a relationship happen when one thinks that the other does not like or want them. This can lead to more problems in a marriage. To make a marriage work, the couple should be willing to talk to each other about what is and is not working. Communication, even about this sensitive issue, is key because without it, people make false assumptions. I have decided, not just from this class, that I want to be able to talk to my husband about anything. This has become an important selling point for me. Anyways, marital intimacy is more than just physical. It can and should be physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and any other
Well, I missed class this week because I was ill. So, I decided to discuss some of the different concepts that were on the midterm. I really liked how the midterm was structured. The questions were posed by a "roommate" and led to a discussion about different topics. I enjoyed this because it taught me how to be able to answer real world questions using the material I have learned in class.
Another thing I liked learning about this week was avoiding the baby blues. Having children is very difficult and presents many challenges for all couples. One challenge can be dividing and sharing the responsibilities of raising children. Another can be including the husband in nurturing the child. This can be difficult because mom generally has more time to devote to the baby, while dad has to go to work and take care of other responsibilities. One way to include dad is to find a time that he Happy Valentine's Day!!! Okay, this is one day late, but whatever! On Wednesday, two of my classes focused on love; which I found ironic. In Family Relations, we discussed the true definition of love and dating. Dating is supposed to be broken into four different categories: Dating, Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage. Dating is trying to find the person you want to get to know better. Courtship is when you decided on that one person that you want to get to know better to find out if you want to marry him. Engagement is obviously the time before marriage when you have committed to marrying the person of your affection. And finally, there is the ultimate commitment, marriage. We discussed how dating can show you if the person you are dating can be what you are looking for in a spouse. I found it interesting that dating corresponds with the Proclamation to the Family in that women are better at nurturing a relationship and men generally provide, preside, and protect. Brother Williams encouraged us to "take back the date!" I would love it if dating became more prevalent on ca
This week was quite eye opening. We discussed same-sex attraction and gender roles within the family. I watched a video that had some very feminist ladies in it and I had to laugh. These ladies were so funny in how serious they were! They discussed that the firefighter's physical requirements were being lowered to accommodate women and what that would mean in the case of a fire. What if a woman was not physically capable of carrying someone out of a building? One of the ladies said, "Well, she can pull the person out by the ankles, it is probably better for them on the ground anyways because there is less smoke there. Plus, hitting their head on the stairs will keep them conscious." Do not get me wrong, I think women should be able to work in their chosen career, but I do not want to be dragged down a staircase because the firefighter is not physically capable of carrying me. Anyways, we also discussed how some, not all, people begin to identify themselves as gay or lesbian. A lot of it begins in elementary school, when other kids think they are weird, so they label the kid as a "sissy" or "gay." I discussed this with my little sister and she was so sad that it would start that early. She is in second grade and I think she has realized that making fun of others is not nice or even okay to do. After all of the discussions this week, I feel that I understand gays and lesbians more, but I still do not condon
Oh the fun we had in class this week!! So, we learned about the different social classes and cultures in America. I have never thought about classes in America because to have classes undermines everything that America stands for. I had the opportunity to watch some different videos this week. These videos were told from the people's point of view, instead of some celebrity. One video, Tammy's Story, was especially intriguing. Tammy was a mother of five and she worked at Burger King. She did not have the money to fix her car, so she walked ten and a half miles to work and then home every day. All of her friends told her that she should just draw welfare and not bother working, but she was adamant that she would continue to work. Tammy had always wanted to be a school teacher, but life happened, so she was doing the best with what she had.
Another interesting concept we briefly touched on in class affected me throughout high school. I live in a relatively small town, so finding work as a high school junior is fairly difficult. I was hired at Dairy Queen, worked there for eight months, then I worked at Carl's Jr. for four months. I had some friends that were extremely against working in fast food. They did not have jobs, but looked down on me for working in fast food. I had more money and resources, but I was somehow less. I believe this is an act of judging that we as Americans fall into often. Anyways, just some cool insights. Have a great week! |
Class Blogs
Brian Tait http://dafamilyman.weebly.com/index.html Jaime Shelton http://jamiepslifeisgood. blogspot.com/ Madison Dillon http://maddisondssweet dreams.blogspot.com/ Laura Espinoza http://espinozafamilyof7. blogspot.com/ Teralyn Young http://teralynsmarriagefamily musings.weebly.com Cierra Beck http://cierralifeisgrand. weebly.com Brittany Halstead http://marriagethoughtsby brittany.weebly.com/index.html Emily McIntyre http://ablogtotheworld. blogspot.com/ Shane Esplin http://johnshanesblog. blogspot.com/ Hailee Coulson http://haicoul.blogspot.com/ McKayla Weech https://plus.google.com/117251466845812670527 #1172514668458126 70527/posts Kiera Hinkson http://kieramachelle.weebly.com/ Marina Eliason http://threeblissfulmonkeys andamomma.weebly.com/ Angie Hendrix http://angiehendrix. wordpress.com/faml-160-a-few-of-my-thoughts-on-the-world/ Dave Walker http://davesfamilyrules. weebly.com Ashley Rupp http://ashbobash88. blogspot.com/ Heather Rupp http://heatherfeather23. blogspot.com/ Annelise Bean http://familythroughtheeyes ofannelise.blogspot.com/ Grace Skidmore http://graceskidmore. blogspot.com/ Cindy Pointer www.thefascinatinglifeofmoi. weebly.com Kelly Furrows http://mrandmrsfurrows. blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html Eryn Nelson http://sunnydaysatbyyu. blogspot.com/ Emma Rodrigues http://emmarodrigues. blogspot.com/ Josh Mitchell http://mitchellfamilyrelations. blogspot.com/ |