Family Relations June 24th-28th

This week in Family Relations we discussed the importance of communication. I absolutely love what President Kimball said, "You need to communicate so that you can be understood, but so that you cannot be misunderstood." I think this is so important, we should all act on communicating our feelings. Our thoughts and our feelings are encoded and the way we communicate them with others will allow them to accurately or inaccurately decode those thoughts and feelings that were expressed. Tone makes up 35%, words makes up 14%, and non-verbal communication makes up 51% of all communication. So the ways we choose to act when we communicate has a major impact on the message others receive. When issues come up that need to be discussed, which may cause argument, I think it is very important to ask questions to your partner. Also to repeat back information so that you can clearly make sure messages are being interpreted correctly, and validate each others feelings. These are some tools I use while I communicate.

Family Relations June 17th-21st

This week in Family Relations we discussed stressor events. I believe that stress does demand temporary change or adjustment but can also create opportunities. When the brain is sending a signal of danger, the individual can either choose fight, flight, or freeze. Freezing is also an important mechanism in determining our safety. Hill determined that when families go through stressor situations much of their family satisfaction decreases and sometimes never returns to the peak before the stressor. I believe we can choose our emotions. In class a student gave the example of: the stimulus + physiological response + Cognitive Interpretation (which is our ability to choose) = Emotion. How we as individuals choose to deal with our stressors varies but we can all control the emotions we feel caused by our stresses.

Family Relations-June 10th-14th

The topic we discussed in Family Relations this week had a significant impact on me and I found the information very applicable. I am getting married in September of this year and learning about the way male and female bodies respond to each other is important to understand. I believe that women need to feel emotionally close with their partner before sexual relations and having sexual relations allows the male to feel closer with his partner. In our brain oxytocin and serotonin, which are bonding and feel good chemicals, are released. This helps the husband and wife feel more love for one another. When females do not respond to the males feelings of sexuality the male feels distant and has a greater need for sexual relations. When the male does not help the female feel loved or important the female will have more of a tendency to decline sexual relations. This creates a distant relationship for both partners. In order to avoid this it is important to focus on each other and the needs of your significant other before the needs of yourself.

Family Relations June 3rd-7th

This week in Family Relations we discussed the emotions created by marriage and the critical tasks that make a great wedding. I am planning a wedding for September 14th, 2013 so this discussion was very important to me. One critical task we talked about was setting clear boundaries between my family and my fiancé's family. One struggle that my relationship has had, is the drifting boundaries between parents. I know how important it is to communicate with my fiancé and together make decisions for the wedding and future plans. Open communication is needed in planning the wedding and validating important responsibilities and roles of the husband and wife. Together the husband and wife can set priorities for themselves and adjust to the combination of their two lives.