Families come in many shapes and sizes. Who do you include when you talk about “your family” ?
New Zealand is made up of lots of different sorts of
families. Your family might be the family you were
born into or the family you have created with your
partner.
You might include just your partner, or families one
or both of you bring from previous relationships.
You might live with people you regard as family even
though they are not blood relatives. The possibilities
are many.
Families may be based on different kinds of adult
relationships but the thing they have in common is
that they provide a sense of belonging. They give
identity and provide support and security.
Your family is made up of the people you care about and the people who care about you.
Maybe you haven’t taken the time to work out the
various layers of your family and what they mean to
you. Yet it can be an important thing to do especially
if you can involve your children. Encourage them to
talk about the people they understand to be part of
their family.
Try it one wet Sunday afternoon. Take a pen and
some paper and start by drawing a circle of close
family — maybe the people you live with or the
family members you are closest to.
Then draw a bigger circle around it to take in the
next group of family — maybe people you don’t see
so often but whom you identify with and look to for
support. Draw as many circles as you need to take in
all the people you can think of.
Then try talking about the relationships you have with those people — what they mean to you and how things work between you.
You might also want to include any close friends that
you have a family-like relationship with, people you
can rely on and trust. These relationships might be
the people you look to when your extended family
live elsewhere or are not available to give you active
support.
The family is where children and vulnerable family
members should be able to go for safety and
support. So it’s important to encourage children to
think about who is in their family and what family
means to them.
Having a concept of your family that goes beyond
mum, dad and the kids is also important when adult
relationships break up. When parents separate,
children often find security in wider and different
family connections. Often these take in different
generations and wider circles of friends.
When adult relationships break up children go on
needing all of their family. They need to be able to
look to their wider family relationships for continuity and security. And they need support in adjusting to new definitions of family.
The You Think Family Is Important

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SURE! Its the smallest unit of socialization...

where?

Lol

are you from the area?