Family Relations

This week is thanksgiving, so we have a break the second half of this week, so we only had one day to condense all the information for fatherhood and finances. So I'll just tell you the important stuff. Finances are not something that are supposed to be put on one person's shoulders in the relationship. Both should be a part of making decisions on where money should go and how much to save. This is important to recognize because often in the church we hear that the men are to provide and the women are supposed to stay at home with the kids and be the nurturer. This is where it's important to remember that both are equal partners in everything they do. In situations where the man is the sole provider for a family, some might look at it and say that the wife doesn't do anything and just spends the money.

       This week we talked about good communication and bad communication. What makes it effective and what doesn't work. We talked about the 5 secrets of effective communication. The first part of it is called the disarming technique. This is when someone confronts you, there is always some part of what they are saying that it true. There are parts that are there to hurt and attack but there are always kernels of truth in it. Once you recognize that and show the other person that you understand what they're saying, they are more open to what you're going to say. Another one of the secrets we talked about in class is expressing empathy to the other person. This is kind of like the disarming technique, but you express that you understand why they are feeling that way. The next part is inquiry. This means asking the other person why you are feeling this and getting a better understanding for yourself. The next part is to express how you are feeling, using 'I feel' sta

     What does stress in family life look like? This week we talked about some of the things that can cause stress in families lives. Sometimes these stressors are internal and within the family or sometimes from external sources. Some of the examples we came up with in class for external stressors were things like losing your job, natural disasters, or maybe an economic recession or inflation. These things can really take a toll on your family even when you had no control over them. Some of the internal stressors the book and my class discussed were, losing a child, and drinking or drug abuse in the home. These things can lead to worsening family life or in some cases can bring your family closer together.       One thing that really stood out to me in class when we were talking about this topic was that how we think about the problem play a BIG role in how we will experience the problem. I think we have all experienced this idea. An analogy my professor always uses is the rain. When