Skip to main content

Family Culture

What is culture? There are several definitions of this word. I want to focus on one of the definitions. A set of shared attitudes, values, gossip, and practices. We often like to tie “tradition” in with culture. Tradition is an inter generational pattern of belief and behavior. 

In my class discussed how culture is not defined by skin color, language or geography. 
Each family has their own culture. 

I haven’t ever really thought about family culture. After learning about all of this in class I took a look at my own family. I asked my older sister what she thought was part of our culture. She just said, “mormon.” I am from Utah and grew up in a Latter-day Saint family. We grew up going to church every week, nightly scripture study and prayer, along with family home evening every week. As a family we always followed the teachings of our leaders and prophet. 

I had another experience with my family this week that helped show me part of my family culture as well. I was in southern Utah for a few days. On a hike, my mom asked my younger siblings to stop for a photo and hold hands. This is not something that they wanted to do. My family is not a touchy family. We don’t normally hold hands or hug. It’s just not part of our culture.

This brings me to another point. You can change family culture. 

Since moving out of my home, I have become more aware of the family culture I grew up in. Moving in with other girls who grew up in different family cultures has helped me realize what I like and don’t like about my own culture. Back to the example from my family of not touching, my older sister and I are trying to bring that culture into our family. 

I still have a lot to learn about family culture, but I find it all very interesting. I would invite any of you to take a look at your own family and recognize the culture. See if there are things that you don’t want to continue, and make the changes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Divorce and Blended Families

In my life I don’t know many divorced or remarried couples. So I am very glad that we discussed this topic because I felt very uninformed going into the week. First I want to discuss a few myths about divorce. Because I didn’t know much about this topic, I honestly believed some of these myths. Most divorcees are glad they ended the marriage. -In the research that we looked at in my class, 70% of american couples said that they wished they had saved their marriage and not divorced. Divorce is better for the kids. -After divorce fathers often disappear. One study showed that divorced fathers live an average of 400 miles from their children. In previous weeks we have talked about how a missing father does not benefit children. -Fathers usually don’t choose to disappear from their kids' lives, but they have to move to get a higher paying job. If your marriage is struggling the best thing to do is to separate. -Separation is probably the surest way to kill a marriage that is alread...
Post a Comment
Read more

Transitioning to Marriage

Transitioning from engagement to marriage can be a challenge for many couples. Last week we discussed the four steps that lead to marriage: dating, courtship, engagement, marriage. The goal is to be stepping up to marriage, and not sliding down to marriage. Every step is very important and different from the step before it. This week I want to share what I learned about engagement.  How couples get engaged plays a role in marriage. Studies have shown that when couples go through rough parts of marriage, the wife tends to look back at the engagement to hopefully have a good memory of how the marriage started out. One comment from class that I loved was “is the engagement a commitment or a show.” In today's society with social media playing a huge part of our lives, proposals tend to be a huge production. This doesn’t need to be the case. The proposal needs to show that the guy is fully committed and is making a sacrifice to make the relationship move forward. In class we discu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Effective Communication

I am a Communication major so I was excited for the topic of this week's discussions; communication and mutual problem solving. It is important to know that we are always communicating. Whether that be verbally or nonverbally. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says, “True disciples of Jesus Christ seek to follow His example in the ways they communicate. Their communications, both verbal and nonverbal, are to be kind, compassionate, and helpful, reflecting a love for Heavenly Father’s children and an understanding that all people are brothers and sisters.” Doctor David D. Burns has a blog and podcast called Feeling Good. In class we talked about his Five Secrets of Effective Communication. On the podcast it is episodes 14 and 15. In these podcasts, the five communication secrets are discussed. It is shared how these steps can rapidly transform conflict and misunderstanding into intimacy and trust. The Five Secrets of Effective Communication can be remembered using the...
Post a Comment
Read more