Blog # 4

As I have gotten older family has become more and more important to me. When I was younger I couldn’t wait to get away from my parents and be independent. I never understood why my Mom would get so upset when I wouldn’t come home for dinner or why my parents told me they couldn’t sleep until they knew I was home safe. When I decided to come out to Arizona for school from New Jersey I really didn’t think about the impact of being so far away from my family. Since I have been out here for the past three years I feel like I have grown closer to my parents.

Personally I think I have a good functional family. Some characteristics of a good family life are that everyone gets along. In my family there are the day to day stupid fights but everyone respects each other and cares for each other’s feelings. In order for a family to succeed they must be open and have a balance of duties. If only one member of the family is responsible for most of the work with no help from others they will start to feel underappreciated and throw off the balance of the family. I was always told when I was younger you can’t choose your family, but you can choose your friends so pick wisely. In a large family different people have different needs and views, it is important to know how to compromise. A good example of this is when I was younger my sister was really good at soccer so every weekend we had to travel up to 3 hours away to go to her games. No one else in my family was as particularly fond of soccer as Ashley was but we all supported her. A few years later when my youngest sister got into gymnastics Ashley realized how much she had to compromise on the weekends like the rest of the family did for her.

I don’t think there is a clear definition of what is meant to balance a career and family. Every family handles things differently, but it my family when Mom and Dad were happy; things were good. I think in order to balance a career while raising a family you must have an understanding that family comes first. I think that this is a value that has been forgotten within the last few decades. To balance your family and career is to be living a “good life.” The reason this is so hard to achieve is because even though we may want to put family first we cannot always because of financial needs. We are torn between going to see our child’s basketball game or putting in over time to pay the mortgage.

Changes in traditional gender roles have made family and work issues more complicated. Now that more women are in the work force and most families have dual incomes there is not a single one person to put the blame on for the care work issues. As more men are staying home now than ever the changes in family duties are bound to change.

I really liked the solution the UK is trying out in some of their companies to help employees deal with the hardships of raising a family, while still going to work. Employers need to be more sensitive to their employees needs by offering hour differences, compensated time off, and an overall respect for a person. It only makes sense that if a company is willing to stick by your side and help you out when you need assistance that in return you will be a better employee and work harder. Having the support from family members and neighbors can be a great help and relief for most. Even something as simple as having your neighbor gets your kids off the bus for you and watching them for a half hour until you can get home. The simple effortless deeds we can to do help others really do cause a great impact. Balancing your priorities in a family is very important so the family can learn how things work and stay on track. One of my favorite solutions for parents having a hard time raising their family and working is to be able to work from home either part time or when needed. If employers can learn to work with families I believe that in return they will produce better work.