Divorce & Remarriage

One of the topics that stuck out to me in the class discussions is the topic of step families. I think the issues that come from the joining of two family was interesting to observe because it takes a lot of effort to make it work. I look up to the ones who are able to create a healthy relationships within the new family. I think one of the biggest stuggles in a joined family is trying to discipline the children from both sides. Its hard to impanelment rules when it may be something the child is not used to following. This is especially apparent when the children are older because there may have to be more discipline for that child. Nevertheless I think step parents can still be successful. It all depends on the person and how they go about the special circumstance of the person. The other topic of divorce was also interesting. Coming from my own experience my parents at one point separated but then got together. I was old enough to get what was going on but I don't think it affected me they way it could have.

Parenting

In our class discussion we talked about 3 types of parenting, authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive.    I'd heard about these different ways of parenting from my child development class but it was still interesting to hear about the class intake on these 3 different styles. When I took the the assessment online I got the authoritative style. When I was taking the test I realized that I was picking things my parents had done as they raised me. If I could teach my future kids the way my parents did I would die happy. I think my parents were really open with my brother and I but still have strict rules. We know better then to ever take advantage of our freedom and I always did everything to maintain their trust. When I did something wrong they never made me feel like I was a failure but they also didn't congratulate me on bad decisions. I was never one of those rebellious kids that would lie to their parents , I was always bluntly honest with how I felt which really shaped the kind of relationship my parents and I have now. I also liked how discussion on natural consequences because I think often we do not know how to tell those apart. When I think about parenting I always get scared because I want my kids to have the best parents ever, just like mine were :)

Fathers and Finances

I think our discussion on finances was helpful, the pamphlet is surely one of the best ways I've seen it explained. One of the things that stood out the most to me was the point made about the dual-income families. Although two incomes means more money it doesn't always play out that way. I guess I never really thought about it until I saw the numbers being drawn in class. Another interesting point was in the pamphlet which talked about self-disipline and self-restraint. I think this topic was interesting because it fits right into college. I think often when people get married they tend to live the lifestyle that their parents gave them and forget that things have changed. I think that in order to have a healthy home where finances are regulated there needs to be a means of self-discipline. Another topic we talked about in this until was fatherhood. Writing the fatherhood paper was interesting because I got to see how much research has been done on the importance of fatherhood. Looking back at my childhood my dad was always very constant in my life. I've seen how this had made a difference in my life and I am grateful that I have a supportive dad that helps me though everything.