Family – maturitná téma

Family

Family is a group of people (a social unit) consisting of one or two parents and their children. Living in the family is very important for every human being. Family gives protection, education and care. Our parents take care of us from our births until we grow up.

Our family supports us when we need it. They are with us in all the most important moments of our lives. Family makes home. At home we learn all the skills that we need for life: how to get on with people, how to be tolerant, self disciplined, polite and helpful. Our parents teach us how to differentiate between good and bad, how to solve problems and become an independent person.

As members of family we have different relationships with the people we live with. The people closest to us are our parents. They care for our health and problems. The relationship with our parents is special: we love them, but we have to respect and obey them as they are responsible for our upbringing.
However, much closer to us are our siblings. They are from the same generation, share similar hobbies and sometimes having the same opinions.

Then there is relationship with our grandparents. It´s similar to relationship with our parents, but there is one difference – they are much older than us, so we have to respect them so much.

Being a member of family means many duties and responsibilities, mainly housework. Daughters often help their mothers in the kitchen, in the garden and with cleaning; sons usually help their fathers with the household repairs. Other domestic chores include, cooking, shopping , cleaning, cutting the grass, cleaning the car, taking out the rubbish, dusting furniture, washing-up, feeding pets, watering plants, hovering, etc.

When the children become teenagers, their parents start having problems with them. Teenagers want to spend more time with their friends and they prefer making their own decisions. They complain that their parents don´t understand them. Teenagers are sometimes rude and lazy. It depends mainly on their feelings, but on upbringing, too. These problems between teenagers and their parents are because of generation gap. They should talk to each other and try to find solutions together.

Modern European families are monogamous. Most of the couples get married, but many of them live together – it is called cohabitation.

The wedding is a formal ceremony in a town hall or in a church. The engaged couple exchange their wedding rings and promise to live together in good and bad times. Unfortunately, many couples get divorced. The most common reasons are different interests, lack of love, finances, alcohol, drug, gambling, and unemployment.

There are more types of families

1. Nuclear family – this is a typical family where two generations live in one household. It includes parents and children.
2. Extended family – there are three generations in one household. It includes also the grandparents.
3. Single-parent family – only the mother or the father lives with the children. It can happen, because:
   1. the parents get divorced
   2. one of the parents died (become a widow/widower)
   3. the child was born outside the marriage
4. Step-family- many people adopt children and they become step-parents. Many divorced people remarry and have step-children from the first marriage of their husband or wife.

Family members get together on special occasions: at weddings, graduation ceremonies, birthdays, christening and confirmation parties and funerals. These family gatherings are important for many members of family, because there they can see their whole family and have the chance to talk to people who they don´t see very often.