Unit 2: Building Stronger FamiliesPart 4: Relationships with Family

(parents, siblings, and grandparents)

© Jenison International AcademyMelissa Rodgers

Family Analogy

Think about how you would describe a donut to a person who has never seen one

• What is the first part you explain?

• The hole?

Family Analogy

• Think about it this way: the hole is what we see wrong with our family

• We focus on the missing or negative parts first

Family Analogy

• The best part is the cake part of a donut, and there is a lot more cake than hole!

• In our home we need to look for the positive things happening - family is the cake and the part that counts!

Family Analogy

• We tend to find what we look for.

• Isn’t it better to focus on what you have instead of what is missing and/or something you can not change?

• A positive outlook can change the entire mood of a home and/or people who live there!

Whole

Hole

Families and Donuts

What we need to enjoy about our families is not the HOLE

but the WHOLE!

Family Definitions

• Family: The basic unit of society. An individual, or a group of people bonded by marriage, blood, or other means who have established a household.

• Home: One’s physical residence that serves as a source of shared energy for family members.

• The family is the soul of the home.

Family Relationships

• Parents have the most influence over you the first 10 years. Why?

• Your dependence on them. To provide food, clothing, shelter, etc.

Family Relationships

• What about the next 10-20 years? How and why does the relationship change?

• To prepare for you to leave home

• To wean you from dependence

• To begin thinking for yourself - making your own decisions

• Generation: all of the offspring that are the same stage of decent.

• For example: Moms and daughters represent 2 generations.

Some reasons the 2 generations, you and your parents, may be at odds with each other:

• 1. Parents want to protect children

• 2. Children want to be able to make their own decisions, own mistakes

• 3. Parents have their own concerns about growing older (their marriage, caring for their parents, money, job, etc.)

• Children may choose to follow the examples set by their parents. If the do, this is known as modeling; patterning your ideas, viewpoints, and behaviors the way someone else lives and the things they tell you.

• Some choose to do exactly what they have been taught not to. They may prefer to make their own mistakes and go against what they know is expected of them, this is referred to as rebelling; taking on ideas, attitudes, and behaviors opposite to those that other people display.

Siblings (brothers and sisters) your relationship depends on:

• a. How many of you there are

• b. Their gender (compared to yours)

• c. Your own birth position

• d. The number of years between each of you

Siblings

Grandparents

The role grandparents play in the family depends on many

things:

• Their own health

• Distance between homes

• Attitude - yours and theirs

• The following is a not-for-a-grade quiz and a couple of games to get you thinking about grandparents / elderly.

• Here is what you will need: 2 pieces of scrap paper, a timer (http://e.ggtimer.com/), a couple pieces of tape, a pencil, and a sense of humor

• First read through the quiz, what kinds of misconceptions do you have about grandparents / elderly?

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are too old to hold responsible jobs.

False They may not be as efficient where physical labor, speed or

concentration are critical but most older workers perform as well as younger workers.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are cute and adorable.

False Society often perceives older adults as children and treat them that

way.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are senile.

FalseIt is normal for short-term memory to decrease over time and for information to be processed less efficiently than when they were

young, but most are still “with it” mentally. By age 80, only 6% of the elderly population is senile.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are boring.

FalseOld people have a wealth of experience and life stories that most are

willing to share.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are in good or excellent health.

TrueMost aged people consider their health to be good or excellent most of

the time.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are ugly.

FalseOur society is very youth-oriented, but that does not mean that

only young people can be beautiful. Old age is a different kind of beauty, one enhanced by character and wisdom.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

TrueOlder adults have a harder time picking up information because

their eyesight and hearing often decline. The key to thinking clearly is being an active learner all your life, getting a good

education and being in good health.

Elderly people can think clearly.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people can learn new things.

TrueThe older generation is more interested in the arts, creativity, philosophical, and spiritual than those younger. Many take

classes or do volunteer work.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are a burden.

FalseMost older people live in their own homes and strive to be just as

independent as possible.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people spend a lot of time doing very little.

FalseMost older people keep as busy as they would like to be pursuing household chores, hobbies, volunteer work, and social networks.

Old Age QuizTrue or False

Elderly people are in nursing homes.

FalseWhat percent do you think are in nursing homes?

The actual number is only 5%.

Old Age Test

Instructions:

1. Grab a timer and set it for 2 minutes(or go here: http://e.ggtimer.com/)

2. Memorize all the items on the next slide, useonly your head, no note taking!

Can you remember?

Grab a scrap piece of paper and write down all the objects you can remem-

ber

Fly SwatterStaplerTennis BallSafety PinPenPlannerScissorsUSBSticky NoteKleenex

EarringsPaint BrushButterfingersChapstickBookPaper ClipShoe/SandalWatchCameraWalletThread

Super GlueScrew DriverLotionGerm XKeysTide PenCell PhoneIpodShoelacesRuler

List of objects, how did you do?

Using tape - tape your fingers together in the following manner:

- Pinky and ring fingers together- Middle and index fingers together- Do not tape your thumb

Arthritis Simulation

• Now let’s see how well you can write!

• Take out a scrap piece of paper.

• Write your first and last name in the top right hand corner of the paper.

• Number your paper from 1 to 10.

• Answer the following questions.

Arthritis Simulation• 1. Color of shirt are you wearing?

• 2. How many buttons are on your clothes today?

• 3. What is your favorite vacation spot?

• 4. What is your middle name, if you have one?

• 5. What color is the sky?

Arthritis Simulation

• 6. What is your favorite food?

• 7. How tall are you?

• 8. What color is your hair?

• 9. Do your shoes have laces?

• 10. Was this activity hard?

How does it feel?• That was just a small peak inside

some things your grandparents or the elderly might be going through.

• Show some respect and compassion to the older people in your life

• And remember, they were once a teenager too!