Kristi Johnston Today's Date is:
days 'til the end of class!
Definition of Family:
A family can be defined differently for different people and situations. What is considered a family to me, may not be considered a family for another. But, since we all have our own definitions of what a family is, my definition of a family depends more on love and nurture than blood-line. A family is when one or more people, male, female, or both male-female, female-female, male-male, raise one or more children in a loving and caring home environment. I think that a family to a child is whoever is going to be there for them in their life. According to the legal system, the biological parents raising one or more children may be considered a family, but according to those parents and children who were brought up in non-traditional families, their grandparents, god-mother, adopted parents, gay-lesbian parents, may be viewed just as much of a family as biological parents raising a child. Anyone who can provide a loving and safe environment to a child or children should be able to call themselves a family, no matter if they are the biological parents, extended family, stepfamily, single-parent family, gay and lesbian family, or non-married couples, because what the child is going to remember when they grow older is who was there for them during their childhood years, who cared for them while they were sick, and who loved them unconditionally through anything.
Who my families are:
My family of origin includes my mother and father who have been together since age 18, my sister (oldest and recently married, no kids), two brothers (both no kids), and myself (the youngest, no kids)). My family lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana with the exception of my brother who lives in Burbank, CA and myself who lives in Madison, WI. My parent's marital type would fit the traditional family because my dad worked and my mom stayed at home and raised the kids, which would describe a nuclear family. Later, when the kids were grown, she went back to school to finish her bachelor's in Elementary Education and is currently pursuing her Master's at IPFW, and works as a teacher at Croninger. My father has worked at the same place since the age of eighteen, and is the director of pricing for North American Van Lines. Communication has always been open in my family, and I never saw my parents fighting while growing up. The book describes the communication for nuclear family members with those family members in nontraditional families to be difficult. I think it all depends on the person and how willing he or she is to opening their thoughts to others' backrounds. I was raised in a nuclear family, but do not find it diffult in forming relationships or communicating with others in nontraditional families because if I were to shut my doors to everything besides what I know, I would never discover anything new with other people and others' experiences.
My own family includes myself (20 years old) and Tiger (my 9-month old kitten). I have never been married and do not have any kids. I guess I don't have much to include yet in my own family, but I am hoping one day after I get married to start a family of my own. I don't plan on following the traditional family roles that were taught to me from my parents growing up. I see myself as an independent woman who would most likely follow the independent marital type. I feel that I would waste all of my schooling if I graduated to stay at home all day. I have one year left of my bachelor's and I plan on starting a career and waiting for the right time to have kids.
For the Systems Diagram:
