Introduction
Families are responsible for bringing up children until the time they will be able to start their own families. As they grow up, many changes take place in their life, physically, emotionally, psychologically and even financially, in preparation to begin new families.
The events are sequential and skipping one of them may be reverberated later in life, although it does not mean that one cannot improve and mend the outcomes of the skipped stages. Every stage is vital and it is important to go through all the stages if possible. This essay discusses the sequence of events that finally lead to beginning of family life.
Events leading to the beginning of Family life
Everyone has a family of origin, and each family is unique with unique experiences and lifestyles. The first stage thus is living in the family of origin with all the rules and regulations, and complying with them. Majority at this stage are still under taking or completing their schooling.
The major tasks here are “maintaining relationships with parents, siblings and peers…involves developing the foundations of a model of family life” (Carter & McGoldrick, 1999, p.67). This is an important stage since it defines what one will be in the future family. Many do not know that there are being prepared to bring up their families. Research has shown that people who come from happy families build happy families and vice versa, although there are always exceptional cases which violate the aforementioned rule.
The next stage is leaving home. The single young grown-up develops more close associations with peers and adult-to-adult relations with parents than earlier on. Emotionally, this person accepts his or her personal financial and emotional responsibilities and separates him or herself from the family of origin.
One becomes self-reliant in relation to employment and economic independence. This individual can make decisions without involving the parent. One gets the opportunity to interact with many people at friendship levels. Majority of friendships established here move on to the future, and often times one of the friends becomes the future marriage partner.
Pre-marriage stage then follows. The individual is engaged in looking for and selecting a marriage partner. He or she establishes a relationship, which would lead to marriage later on. It is at this stage that one may decide to establish own home with someone (Carter & McGoldrick, 1999, p.72).
The duration that this stage takes depends on the individuals, their cultural background, and the era in which they are living. These two friends become acquainted to one another and develop strong bonds. A desire to get married, company and having children contributes to moving towards establishing a family.
The next stage is marriage, which marks the beginning of family life. The couple major in “developing a way to live together both practically and emotionally, adjusting relationships with families of origin and peers to include partner” (Carter & McGoldrick, 1999, p.75). It is then after this that they bear children and the family becomes complete and full family life starts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the sequences of events that lead to beginning of family life begin at a very tender age, by how ones parents bring him/her up. Separation from the family and establishing oneself both emotionally and financially follows.
The evidence of this is the physical separation from one family to live alone or away from the original family, where one makes closer and more intimate relationships with peers. Getting a marriage partner and being acquainted to one another brings the sequence close to the end. Marriage marks the climax of the preparation and the beginning of family life.
References
Carter, B., & McGoldrick, M. (1999). The Expanded Family Lifecycle. Individual Family and Social Perspectives (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.