What exactly does make a dysfunctional family? In my opinion, all families have their own dysfunctions and "strangeness" about them. The same goes for a functional family. When I look at the families I know now, and think back on the ones I knew growing up, I can remember very distinct traits about each of them.
Growing up, my family did not have a lot of money. We grew up in a trailer, we never had the best clothing, toys, or other material items. My dad yelled a lot and family fights were an everyday occurrence. I am certain the neighbors to either side of us thought of us (and probably still do) as a dysfunctional family. We definitely had our quirks about us, but overall, I had a very happy childhood. What made us a "functional" family? Well, we ate together, went to church together, had curfews, chores, and most importantly, we loved each other. Those looking in on our family could have never been able to tell, but that doesn't matter.
I had a friend in high school who seemed to have it all. Her family lived in a beautiful 2 story home, her and her parents had the looks of a typical family you would find in an issue of Parenting magazine, they spent their Sunday nights playing games, and she was one of the most popular girls in our school. They seemed like the perfect, functional family. Little did I know there were issues much deeper than they would allow anyone to see. The mother and father fought almost constantly (as long as they were not in view of the public eye), on the verge of divorce, and were anything but the happy, healthy family I thought they were.
The point is, no person or family is perfect. There will always be dysfunctions and issues within a family. Some are more bluntly obvious and others are hidden away, like secret gems. The fact of the matter is that no one should ever be judged by the way there family acts. Afterall, we all have our skeletons...
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