Chapter 12 - Relationships with Family Members

Relationships with Family Members

Family - "A network of people who share their lives over long periods of time and are bound by marriage, blood, or commitment" (Ch. 12, Pg. 327)

Laissez-Fair Families - "Families characterized by low levels of conformity and conversation orientation," (Ch. 12, Pg. 336)

I would describe my family as a laissez-fair family. We really don't communicate or conform with each other.

I live in a household where we all do our own things and only come together occasionally. It's like having co-tenets, you all live under the same roof but you all have your own lives. We all, for the most part, have good relationships with each other individually.

My family life could be summed up like this. I wake up get ready, go to school, come home, do homework, and make food. while I'm making food is really the only time I communicate with my family, my mom is usually on the couch, and my dads sitting at his desk. They ask me how my day is, I ask the same and then I go back to my room. I communicate with my sister infrequently too, it just depends if either one of us has something they want to tell the other. We even have a roommate, my mom's best friend's daughter. Her best friend moved to Florida, so she pays rent to live with us. I end up talking to her more than my family most days.