Reflective Essay

To me to act like family means to stick together during good times and bad, especially bad. To lift each other up when one of us is down. I come from a single parent home. My mother was the leader of 6 boys and three girls. We never had a father figure in our home. My grandparents on my mom side passed before I was old enough to remember them. So we all looked up to my mom for guidance. She taught us, family first. Stick with family in public whether they are right or wrong, then reprimand them for their transgressions in private.

As far as family role behaviors, each member of the family had a role to play. My mom, before her death was the head of our immediate family Her role as matriarch of the family kept our family together. She was the glue that kept our family together. The girls helped my mom around the house, with the housekeeping and cooking and the boys took care of the outside of the house. Such as landscaping, home repairs, etc.

One of the rituals we shared religiously before my mom’s death was our family after church dinner. Mom had nine children, six boys and three girls. Ever since I could remember, Sunday after church mom cooked a big dinner for her family and we sat down and ate and talked as a family. Besides Christmas and Thanksgiving, Sunday was the only day we ate as a family. Until her death my mom continued this ritual. My middle sister is trying to keep this ritual going but find it hard to get us all together at the same time.

We all have families of our own now, and besides the family reunion once every three years we have no family ritual. Our lives are filled with work, home, school and sometimes family.

Personally, the role behavior that I associate with familial relationships is the behavior of how family members love each other while also really caring about each other. For example, one family member might decide to help a younger member of the family with their homework because of how they want that family member to get good grades in each other. When family members love each other, it merely shows that they truly care enough to where they want to be a family that involves all the members having a good bond with each other. In my opinion, that is how family members can “act like a family”. (Floyd, Kory. Interpersonal Communication, 3rd edition. Published by McGraw-Hill Education. Copyrighted in 2017. Page 329.)

My mother told me that one of the rituals in our Thai family involves sending lanterns into the air during the middle of November, and she wanted to know if I was curious enough to hear about why we always did that during nighttime. That ritual is related to an event in Thailand that is known as Yi Peng, and our lanterns are made out of paper. The purpose of this ritual is for our family to not hold on to feelings of anxiety and worries or that have been in our minds, and making our lanterns go up into the air is symbolism for making our feelings of anxiety and worries ascend upward to where they can be far from us for the remainder of the year. By doing this ritual with my mother and father, we all feel happier to where we can have better family interactions with each other. My father agrees with my mother’s perception of this family ritual, too.

My father informed me that one of our rituals is to visit Thailand every summer, and that ritual is very important because of how it helps our family always have more memories of the country that’s linked to our culture. Calmness is also highly valued in that country, and being calm while constantly showing respect to others simply helps us reinforce those values that are salient to our family. My dad has a positive perception of this ritual, and he perceives it to be very beneficial for our family to maintain calm interactions with each other. From his point of view, the calmness and tendency for us to smile in Thai culture helps our family have great bonds and great communication. My mother agrees with my father’s perception of this family ritual, too.

Citation: Floyd, Kory. Interpersonal Communication, 3rd edition. Published by McGraw-Hill Education. Copyrighted in 2017.

Being a family is supporting each other in each other’s best and worst moments. It’s an unconditional love you can always count on. Being a family is reliable and respectful towards one another as well as your home.

What role behaviors do you associate with familial relationships?

There are different role behaviors for everyone in the family. For example, my stepdad is the money maker of the household while my Mom loves cooking, so she takes over cooking and cleaning for us. My little sister is only responsible for homework, however as a little sister she feels responsible for making sure I’m okay. My mom has always been the strong support system in the family, always gives us lectures but great advice. Me as the oldest, I have to set an example for my little sister and of course help my parents in any way I can.

After talking to my family, we share a similar ritual to most Hispanic families. We are a very welcoming family when we have visitors. I know we joke a lot about everyone being family, but truly we do take everyone in. We bond over food as well as stories, however we can be very territorial to

Consequently, family relationships are crucial and play an essential role in maintaining role behaviors. To start with, the family offers an emotional base where the members of the family such as children may feel secure despite the challenges that they may be facing in life. With that, the family emotional support to the children often leads to self-belief, being optimistic, and feel confident. On the other hand, with the set rules within the family setting, parents can give their children a sense of predictability as well as consistency. Other roles include the protection of children from risky behaviors. Moreover, a good family ensures support to its members. Thus, for the children, they can reciprocate it with good academic performances. Conclusively, it is prudent to denote that stable family relationships are essential and beneficial because they may shape the lives of family members mostly children into caring and considerate adults.

Growing up everyone had a role in the house. My mother was the head of the household and disciplinarian. She was also a teacher and stayed on myself and my sisters about our academics. Having three daughters, my mother had her hands tied. She taught us how to be young ladies which helped mold us into the women we are today. My dad was the provider of the house. He worked two jobs, helped my mom with the girls and performed all the handy work around the house. In most households, the woman is the one who usually cooks for the family. In my house, those roles were reversed. My dad enjoyed doing all the cooking and didn’t expect my mother too because he knew she had he hands tired with three girls. On some occasions, my mother would cook. As far as the roles for me and my siblings were to maintain our grades and complete our chores. I remember before going to school, my mom would write down a few chores she wanted completed before she got home. Because it was three of us, we were able to complete each task so my mom wouldn’t be upset.

One ritual we share as a family is coming together every third Sunday of the month. After my grandmother passed away, it tore my family apart. We would all go to my granny’s house after church and have a potluck dinner. It was so fun because we would fellowship and eat good food. Now since everyone has a busy schedule, we at least meet once every third Sunday. The ironic part was every time we found ourselves celebrating someone or something on that Sunday. So, that’s how we made every third Sunday our family day. This has brought my family much closer. During the holidays is my favorite time to be around my family. On Christmas Eve especially because it’s my dad’s birthday and my parent’s anniversary. Just like any other any family, wherever there is food we always have a good time.