Marriage and Family Studies

                This week we talked about the effects divorce and remarriage can have on a family, the good and the bad. I want to talk a little bit about that first, but then I want to talk more about step families and what that can mean for the children, the new step parents, the ex-spouse, and anyone else it may involve.                 Divorce was an interesting topic for me because I have been lucky enough to not have very much experience with it. My parents have been married since the beginning of 1982, so that makes 36 years now. Neither of them were ever married previously, and now most of my older siblings have all been married between 3 and 12 years, and, again, only one marriage. I have only been married 8 months, but it has been great. Anyway, I was interested to know about this topic because it has not been a part of my ...

                We have been discussing a lot about marriage in the past, but this week, we talked about parenting. That can definitely be a difficult thing, and I am sure that all of us wish there was a book that could tell us exactly what to do and what not to do as a parent. Unfortunately, that does not exist, which is why we need to find many different options through research and other things, and then decide what is best for us as parents. Since all children are different, all families are different, and all parents are different, some things will work for some people but not for others.                 The one thing that I found to be most beneficial was to first realize what the child’s or teen’s needs are. Most of the time, when a child is acting out, it stems from some unmet need that may have been overlooked by their paren...

I am sure that if you were to poll a number of people and ask them what they thought the most important aspect of a happy and successful marriage is, you would hear many different answers. You might hear selflessness, love, service, etcetera, but I think the most common answer is communication. That is what our discussion focused on in class this week, and I can really see why. Even if a marriage starts with so much love and affection, there can be little things that bother us and blind us to the love that we once felt unless we are able to talk about that and work through problems and issues throughout the marriage because, let’s face it, everybody has problems. There is no way around that, but if we can learn how to talk about it, they become much easier to work through. I have noticed that one of the biggest problems may just be keeping things inside. Let’s say a man and woman were recently married. That can be a pretty big transition, and they are getting to know each other i...

This week we discussed family life stresses and how people cope. Everyone has different circumstances and goes through different things in life. We all have different things we need to learn while we are on this Earth, and our Father in Heaven has a different path for all of us to go through. Some of us go through harder things than others, but I also know that we can get through anything that is put in our path if we have the Savior with us. Personally, I feel that my life has been pretty easy, but I see so much that others go through and struggle with. That is part of the reason I want to be a Marriage and Family Therapist. I want to help people through those tough things that they experience. Obviously, I can not do everything, but I hope that I will be able to be helpful to some. At first, I started to think that maybe because I have not experienced even close to some of the terrible things that other people have had to go through and feel in their lives that maybe this i...

I think the most important thing we discussed in class this week is the idea of what it means to be truly faithful to your spouse, the idea of infidelity and all that entails. We started the week discussing sexual intimacy and sexuality, and I thought that when we began talking about infidelity, it would be all about what we always think of in relation to this word. Our minds, at least mine does, tend to think on the sexual affair and cheating side of things, but my eyes were sort of opened. There are many more ways than physically cheating on your spouse that you may not be 100% loyal to them. One way is through our friends and family. Yes, we can still have friends and have fun with our friends occasionally after we are married. Yes, we can still talk with our families and love them and be with them at times as well. Where we can become less loyal to our spouse in a way that may be damaging to our relationship is when we begin to disclose so much, especially complaints about ou...

We discussed this week how there are a lot of changes and adjustments that take place in a person’s life when they get married. Things become more of “us” rather than “you and me.” The way that money is spent is different. The way that money is shared is different. The way that someone sleeps could be different. The way that someone spends their free time is different. Even the way that you live in your home from day to day will change because you are sharing your space with a new person that has come from different circumstances and different ways of life and possibly even a completely different culture. A lot can change by deciding to marry someone, and hopefully priorities change a little bit, too. Another thing that could be a big adjustment, and possibly the biggest adjustment, is bringing children into this world. First, a couple needs to be able to decide together when they want that to happen, what their expectations are, how they expect to raise that child, rules they wa...