Top Ten Important lessons / Concepts

This list is to help remember the valuable and important lessons learned while learning about family relations. Families are the center part of Gods plan. Learning about families has really changed me. This will be my final blog post. I enjoyed learning and sharing with you what I learn in class and in reading. Here are my top ten list:

Communication theories: System theories reveal the unnoticed systems in our routines and interactions. Exchange theory emphasizes reciprocity and what we expect in return. Conflict theory arises when personal desires clash, often due to social inequality or differing moral perspectives. Symbolic interaction theory shows how we imitate behaviors, especially in challenging situations.

Boundaries in relationships: Setting boundaries within a marriage is important for protecting the wellbeing, respect, and individuality of both partners. Clear standards, agreements, and limits help maintain a strong, happy, healthy, and balanced marriage. Effective communication is crucial in establishing boundaries and keeping the relationship strong. Couples should openly express their needs, wants, and concerns to foster a strong foundation.

Stress In Relationships: When you or your family is undergoing major $tre$$, avoid deliberately adding on other sources of pressure. Multiple stresses can be a lethal combination that can threaten any individual or intimate relationship. Keep your economic house in order. Financial difficulties are a continuing source of stress throughout the family life cycle. By maintaining realistic expectations, careful budgeting, and avoiding the excessive use of credit, families can reduce financial strains and enhance their well-being and stability.

Building Strong Family Foundations: Systems are groups of items which are more together than the sum of its parts. Like an intact car being much more useful than a pile of car parts, families are much more when they are joined together. Like a car they are much more valuable and effective if they are carefully planned and assembled rather than hap-haphazardly thrown together.

Handling Children: Most infants will at some point cry not because of sadness or fear, but cry because of anger. This anger-crying does not look or sound the same as sadness-or-fear-crying, and is mostly an act of dominance. If a child has not been taught how to behave properly by the age of four, it will forever difficult for him or her to make friends. No pressure. Children can be taught through reward (to positively-reinforce good behavior), and punishment (to negatively-reinforce bad behavior).

Myths in relationships: We learn about family life through our own experiences and through the mass media. Some of the common myths today include, we've lost the extended family, opposites attract, people marry because they love each other, having children increases marital satisfaction, a good sex life is the best predictor of marital satisfaction, happily married people don't have conflict, and half of all marriages end in divorce. Such myths are dangerous because they can ruin good relationships.

Adjusting in relationships: When you marry, you enter a new social world. There are many adjustments to make, even if you have lived together. The adjustments are not the same for both sexes. There is "his" marriage and "her" marriage. Women generally have to make more adjustments than men. Adjustment is more difficult when the marriage begins with disadvantages. In-laws also require adjustment, although overall they are more likely to be resources than problems.

Embracing Challenges in Relationships: Remember that when you marry, you not only gain a spouse but also another family. Learn as much as you can about your future life partner's relationship with his or her family before your wedding. Recognize potential problem areas, and plan to deal with them in a constructive manner. But keep yourself open to the benefits of an additional family; the benefits will likely outweigh the difficulties.

Relationship Tips: People react to crises in different ways. We cannot control the events that occur in our lives, but we can control the way we respond to them. Ineffective coping patterns are ways of response that leave people at a lower level of functioning after a crisis. Denial, avoidance, and scapegoating are ineffective coping patterns. Remember that you can cope with a crisis in your family. Even the most difficult situation offers the possibility of long-term, positive consequences.

Selecting a Life- Partner: If you haven't selected a life partner as yet or even if you already have someone in mind, take the time to seriously consider what kind of person you want him or her to be. Make a list of those characteristics that you really feel are essential in someone with whom you plan to spend your life, and refer to it often. If you are contemplating marriage in the near future, it is vital to know what your prospective spouse expects from you and from your relationship.