Family Unit

Family is a unit of society. But what does family happiness depend on? To stand the most common parts of a family is not a problem: they are a husband, a wife and children. It’s much more difficult to explain their relationship, their interdependence and their getting over the everyday problems without (quite often) breaking up.

Why do people need a family? Do they get married for love and see marriage as a final realization of a romantic attraction? Or do they marry for convenience to promote a career or to please their families? Studies of marital failure or success show quite clearly that marriage based on romantic attraction doesn’t turn out as well as marriage based upon more comradely affection. To support that conclusion there are the other studies showing that the longer the period of acquaintance before marriage is the greater the chances of marital success you have. This point is quite disputable, but yet… Perhaps, the most essential for marital success is the similarity of social background because marriage involves living with a person, not merely loving him or her.

Matrimonial mates start to see each other in a different light after little time spent together. And on this stage of relationship the role of one’s motives for getting married gives turn to ability of each partner to understand and feel one another. Such prosaic thing as household chores shouldn’t be considered as unimportant in the family life. Women used to bear the burden of household duties and take such complete responsibility for managing the household that husbands simply turned over their paychecks to their wives as a matter of course and left the rest to them. But it seems perfectly reasonable to share the chores, especially taking into account the educational goals because children should be brought up in the atmosphere of shared responsibility of both parents.

However, it is difficult for the parents to keep the golden mean on the long way of upbringing. Childhood can certainly be very happy but its greatest moments can’t be compared with the sheer joy of being an adult. Who has ever asked a six-year-old child for an opinion? Adults often choose the clothes their children will wear, the books they will read and the friends they will play with. No matter how kind and loving adults may be children often suffer from terrible, illogical fears which are the results of ignorance and an inability to understand the world around them. Nothing can equal the fear a child may feel in the darkness, the absolute horror of childish nightmares. Adults can share their fears with other adults; children often face their fears along.

But the most difficult part of childhood for both parents and children is when the latter begin to emerge from their family. Teenagers may rebel violently against parental authority, but that causes them great unhappiness. There is a complete lack of self-confidence during this time. Teenagers are overconscious of their appearance and the impression they make on others. They feel shy, awkward and clumsy. Feelings are intense and hearts are easily broken. And adults are seen to be more hostile than ever. It is important for the parents to cope with it staying calm and without this “you-be-damned” attitude. It’s better to hint a teen on some means of self-fulfillment: music, books or whatever legal and wait for the time he or she appreciates your understanding. All troubles are nothing when you find yourself living with your loving ones.