Family Crises
Family A Crisis
The family consists of a husband (46 years old), a wife (42 years old), a daughter (19 years old), and a son (15 years old). The interviewed members were the husband, the wife, and the son. The crisis their family had experienced was the death of a family member. The husband’s father, who had used to live with them, passed away two years ago. That event had a dramatic effect on the son, who had been very close with the grandfather.
The boy became very depressed, and his academic performance decreased significantly. The family managed the crisis by addressing the school psychologist and also by spending more time together. After the crisis was resolved, the son’s mental state became much better. He took an active part in school activities, and he enjoyed spending time with his father. Also, he demonstrated progress in many school subjects and took up photography lessons. They do not think they could have handled the crisis better since their methods brought the desired outcomes.
Family B Crisis
The family consists of a husband (56 years old), a wife (56 years old), and a daughter (23 years old). The daughter has Down syndrome, which requires her mother’s constant support. The interviewed members were the husband and the wife, and the crisis they had had was the loss of employment by the husband. Since he was the only provider in the family, his job had always been very important for them. However, five years ago, the company where he worked was closed.
The husband was not young at the time, so no one wanted to hire him and spend time on additional training. The family managed the crisis by the wife taking new responsibilities. Since the husband was staying at home and could look after the daughter, the wife got a job with a cleaning company, which allowed her to have a flexible schedule and earn some money for the family.
In a couple of months, the husband’s friend invited him to work for his firm. After resolving the crisis, the family became less stressed, and they became even closer because the husband got to realize how much effort his wife had been putting into supporting their daughter in all those years. The only possible alternative for them would have been taking a loan, but they could not risk losing their house, so they preferred to seek any job available.
My Own Family Crisis
The family consists of a husband (49 years old), a wife (47 years old), and two sons (22 and 7 years old). The interviewed members were the husband, the wife, and the elder son. The crisis they experienced was the arrival of a new baby, which occurred seven years ago. The husband experienced difficulties because he became the only bread-winner the elder son, who at the time was a teenager, was jealous of all the attention that the younger one receiver.
As a result, there were frequent arguments and misunderstandings. The conflict was resolved when the mother took a part-time job from home to earn some additional money for the family. The elder brother was required to spend time with his sibling, which helped him understand that the baby demanded much time and attention. As a result of conflict resolution, the family became friendlier and happier. The relationships between brothers became very close, and they have remained such until now. The family cannot think of any better resolution strategy that they could have employed back then.
Summary and Experience
Conducting these interviews broadened my understanding of crises that can occur in the family. I realized that when one wants to save the relationships and support his or her close people, one will strive to do everything possible to discuss the matter and resolve the problem. A very important thing in this process is communicating and finding the solution together as a unity rather than be stressed out because of the impossibility to improve the situation. As well as in two other families, my own family crisis was managed after the thorough consideration of all the alternatives.
Blended Families
Family A
The family consists of a husband (60 years old), a wife (55 years old), the wife’s daughter (25 years old), and the husband’s son(23 years old). The interviewed members were the two children, and they said that the greatest challenge they faced was that the “new” child would receive more attention from the father or the mother, respectively. The biggest reward was finding a sibling, especially for the daughter, who had always wanted to have a brother. They advise that families should not push anyone and should give their children time to adjust and get to know each other.
Family B
The family consists of a husband (47 years old), a wife (40 years old), their two daughters (15 and 11 years old), and the husband’s son from the first marriage (19 years old). The interviewed members were the son and the elder daughter. The son moved in with his father after his mother died ten years ago. The daughter admitted that the greatest challenge for her was sharing their home with a “complete stranger.” However, soon she realized that she and her younger sister was rewarded with a caring and protective elder brother. The advice the can give is spending very much time together at the beginning. Parents might even need to take a vacation to make sure that all children feel comfortable and that none of them lacks attention.
Family C
The family consists of a husband (40 years old), a wife (42 years old), their twin sons (5 years old), and the wife’s daughter from the first marriage (10 years old). The interviewed members were the husband and the wife’s daughter. They said that the biggest challenge was to build trustful relationships since the girl did not trust any men after her father had abandoned the family. The biggest reward for all of them was gaining a friendly and complete family where everyone loved and supported others. They advise couples that are considering blending their families not to be afraid and spend as much time on building relationships as possible to make it easy for each member.
Conclusion
Blended families can be of different types, but they all have one thing in common: both parents and children in such families are vulnerable and concerned about their future together. They already have experiences of past relationships, which, in most cases, are unpleasant.
Thus, it is necessary for the future family to make sure that everyone is comfortable with the new members. If possible, they might visit a psychologist who can help them to avoid conflicts and build a safe and comfortable environment for their new unity. It is crucial that children do not feel abandoned because their parent is getting married again, or that they do not feel jealous because there will be another child in the family. At the same time, parents should have some space to themselves and receive an opportunity to compensate for their losses in private life.