Parenting

We discussed several different ways of parenting. There is the parent that just decides everything for the child and is very bossy. Then there is the parent that doesn’t care what their children do and the child kind of runs the home. Then there is the parent that works with the child and still has authority but helps their children make their own decisions. The best way to teach someone something or to teach someone is to be a good example and work alongside them. The best way to discipline is with love, never should aggression be used. It may be hard to do but yelling should also never be used. Communication is the key to success in any aspect of relationships and families and that is the main thing that I have found to be helpful in this course.

Preventing Divorce and Affairs

My oldest sister got a divorce very early in her marriage because her husband had an affair and then left her. I have been so scared of this so this topic was very important to me. It is important to be completely loyal to each other. We shouldn’t talk about personal things to any other person. If you start to share details about your relationship to someone of the opposite sex you begin to develop a relationship with that person. Pornography is a huge problem in our society and is a major cause of infidelity. It is important to make sure that we show that we care and love each other. Most people who engage in affairs claim that their spouse no longer loved them. We can simply prevent this by being on guard and being fiercely loyal to each other. Also I think going to the temple at least once a month will strengthen a couple’s relationship.

Early Marriage Adjustments

After people get married it isn’t all sunshine and daisies. There are so many things that will come up that I need to start preparing for right now. We will be coming from two different families with different traditions and opinions on things. It is important to be considerate of the other. There are going to be hard adjustments like intimacy, children, and work. We learned about getting the baby blues. It is hard to adjust to a new addition to the family. It may be harder on the husband because he feels less important. It will be important for me to include my husband and make sure he feels loved and included. My husband will need to recognize my new work load as well.

Dating

I am not married yet and I am currently in the dating stage. I thought it was interesting when we talked about the different stages we need to take before marriage in order to have the best marriage. We learned that it takes at least two to three months to even start to get to know a person. We shouldn’t rush into anything. It is also super important to make sure that the relationship is always defined. We should make sure that it is always clear where both of us stand. There are important steps that need to happen before marriage. Dating, courtship, proposal, and then marriage. Also, it is important to not skip the dating part. Dating is slowly disappearing and people are just hanging out, this isn’t good for relationships. It is important to only be as physical as much as we are mentally attached. Physical intimacy should only be used after marriage. If we follow these certain rules then we will respect each other more in a relationship.

Same sex Marriage

There is a big debate right now going on in our country about same sex attraction and marriage. Heavenly Father has said that marriage is between a man and a woman and his definition has not changed and neither should ours. Like I said in the above paragraph, there is a reason male and females exist. We are made this way for a specific reason. When we come together as husband and wife we can create children. Children need both a mother and father in order to be the most successful in life. We learned about many studies in class and we found that children with same sex parents are prone to have a lot more problems and they are not as successful in life as children that have a Mother and a Father. This will continue to be an issue and we as members of the LDS church will have to defend the sanctity of marriage.

Gender

In today’s society people try and tell us that there is no difference between males and females and it is bad to make distinctions between the two genders. There are so many important studies that show that babies act a certain way and like certain things according to their gender. It is an inherent thing that we have when we are born. We are children of our Heavenly Father and we are made after his image. He made two sexes, male and female. We are different for a reason and we complement each other and make a good team. Both genders are important in raising a successful family. As a female I know that I have a divine role to be a mother and nurturer. Society tries to tell woman that they are being held back by men and that we should get a career and we should think more about ourselves. Having children is something that holds you back and having a husband ties you down. These thoughts all come from Satan. Having a family is sacred and accepting our divine role of our gender is also very important and sacred.