It’s Day 23 of #LoveBlog! Today’s topic is Family. It’s not too late to join the challenge, so check out the rest of the prompts.
We are so close to the end of #LoveBlog. Is anyone else starting to feel a little burned out? I’m struggling to keep my head above water. Luckily, my sweet husband has once again pitched in with a guest post for me!
A wise dad one said, “You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your family.” (The Age [Melbourne, Australia] Oct 2nd, 1998)
Families are a curious thing. Biologically, family are those who share a genetic lineage with us. Socially, family are those who raised us, those raised with us, or those we are raising. Some people have a salix herbacea (world’s smallest tree) family, and some have a Sequoiadendron giganteum (I think you can figure that one out).
Some people value their family lineage and trace it back centuries or more, and some people have no idea who their biological parents are. Regardless of the height, breadth, or thickness of your family tree, whether you are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or otherwise, we have a relationship of some sort with our families.
I can’t claim to know everyone’s situation, and contrary to what you might expect, I won’t attempt to relate this to the statistical 1.87 children per woman fertility rate in the US (does that mean that a lesbian couple should have 3.74 children? #StatisticsFail). Instead, I will give some reasons why having a good relationship with your family can be beneficial.
1) They are a great source of mentoring.
Not everyone is going to go with the tradition of taking over the family business, some of us just happen to have the same career path of their parents… On a serious note though, your parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and maybe even cousins may have valuable experience to share with you. Knowledge, advice, networking connections, or maybe even an apprenticeship. Or in my current case: getting a bit of experience with a baby without having to have one of my own!
2) They can be a source of comfort in difficult times.
It’s great to have friends when things get rough, but it’s really family who will probably be there when life isn’t going your way. Needless to say, Brita and I have had several patches of tough times in the past year or so, and we have leaned heavily on our families for support.
3) They can help you save for the future.
I’d be the last one to recommend giving or loaning money to family, but there are several financial advantages to having a family that stretch back to antiquity. The idea of moving out when you become an adult is a relatively recent development. It used to be that extended families primarily lived in the same residence, for good reason. As much as it may be stressful on parents and frowned upon in current society, living at home while you save for the future can be a fiscally good plan. It’s surely better than not saving when you are young, or worse, racking up debt just to live on your own. I realize this may also be a luxury for some whose parents can afford to share their home with their working kids. I’d also stress that I’m talking about living at home while working or attempting to find a job in your profession. Mooching off your parents while relaxing is not the point of this…
4) They can help take care of your health.
I’m sure everyone’s heard of families taking care of the elderly, but this goes the other direction too. Your mother hopefully made you a nice hot bowl of soup when you were sick and maybe still does, or maybe she just kissed your boo-boo. Your family can be there to nurse you back to health or to comfort you when they can’t do anything to help. I can think of many occasions when family has been instrumental in helping Brita keep up her health even though I have been pretty lucky that I haven’t needed much help recently. Even when they aren’t physically giving you a hand, their health history can give you a leg up on your health allowing you to predict and mitigate future health concerns.
5) They annoy the crap out of you.
Wait, hear me out on this one… I’m not just talking about keeping reason number 3 from being permanent, but I’m trying to go for something deeper here. Yes, your family is annoying. Everyone’s is. The reason that you probably think your family is annoying is because there is just enough of your personality that came from them that you know you get annoyed when you see them doing things that annoy you about yourself. Let’s face it, you got a lot of mannerisms and habits from your family and not all of them are things you love. Nobody likes to be reminded of the things they don’t like about themselves. And it’s not your family’s fault… So don’t take it out on them. And I’ve been careful to not use negative terms like “bad” habits because some of these things are not actually a big deal, but for some reason, they are a big deal to us.
Take some time out of your day today to appreciate your family, even if you don’t have the best relationship with them. (Obviously this advice includes an exception for abusive families). There are many more reasons to love your family if you just give them a chance.
Meet Your #LoveBlog Hosts!
Meet Brita Long: Christian feminist blissfully married to Dan Fleck for almost two years. Lover of Paris, pink sparkles, sensible shoes, manicures, and books. Fueled by hot tea and mimosas.
Twitter // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest // Tumblr // Google+
Meet Charlene Maugeri: Christian, wife, fur-mom, nerd, blogger and much more! She uses her blog, Enduring All Things, to inspire young wives to keep God first and their husbands second in everything they do.
Bloglovin // Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest // Snapchat
Surprise! Charlene came over last night for dinner. I can’t believe it’s taken us this long to meet in person, considering how often I’m in Ohio and she’s in Georgia. We talked nonstop for three hours. It was awesome. Just ignore my frizzy hair from yesterday’s rain.
Welcome to #LoveBlog!
What have you learned from your family? How have they helped you?
