Family

What is the family?

Generally family is a community of two or more people where parents try to bring up their children as best as they can. The main mission of the family is to stay together forever in good and bad times and support each other in all ways of their lifes.

What does family mean for me?

For me family means a place where I can always come to search for help, understanding and loving care. It is a place where no matter what happened before I will be always welcomed and where I will always find home and feel safe.

Family status

A person who isn’t married or engaged is single. That means that he/she doesn’t have any commitments. They can enjoy their freedom. Before two people get married they get engaged. Then we can talk about fiancé and fiancée. These two are expected to become husband and wife. After the wedding day two people become husband and wife. They have common surnames and commitments.
When they become older, naturally one person dies. This could happen accidentally as well. The woman becomes a widow and man is a widower.
When two married people don’t share the same ideas about the way of life they can divorce each other. Then their marital status is divorced. After the death of a wife or a husband or divorce - people can get married again. Then they are remarried.
People who are not lucky in a searching the life partner and they’ve crossed the age about 27 – 30 years we called a spinster or a bachelor.

There are some disadvantages and advantages of being single or married:
Advantages:
- you have a lot of spare time
- you don’t have to cook for anybody
- you can keep your money for yourself if you don’t support your parents or someone else
- you are independent and you can carry out your things on your own
- you don’t have to care for other members of family.
- you feel quite contented and happy
- you have a feeling that someone needs you
Disadvantages:
- you still look for your future partner which becomes harder and harder as you turn older
- your parents try to organize your spare time, because they think that if you are still single you still belong to them
- you have to deal your housework on your own
- you often feel sad or empty because you don’t have anybody round to talk to or to look after

The most important thing in the marriage is to adjust to your life partner and to your children and to their needs.
Events

Birth:
Birth is one of the most important events. Giving someone a new life is a wonderful thing and it is also a beginning of a new experience.
Before baby born there’s always a big rush around in the family. Looking after a new-born baby is considered as full time job where both parents have their own roles. Two months before childbirth mother stays on a maternity leave.
At the beginning of a maternity leave partners make sure that almost everything is ready for a new arrival. They have to buy a lots of new equipment such as cot, pram, pushchair or buggy and the carrycot. After the birth mother stays in a hospital for several days.
There is always a big rush in the family and parents of a new-born baby start to prepare themselves for Christening.

Birthday:
For a birthday is usually an organized party where friends and relatives are invited. They congratulate you and give you a personal presents.

Christening:
Christening is important from a religious point of view. Godparents should educate their godchildren and they should be able to look after them at any time or to become their foster parents.

Green ribbon party:
Students organize a green ribbon party, before they take their leaving exams. They send the greetings to their friends and family members. Together with their teacher book a hall in a hotel or a restaurant and invite the teachers, parents and friends to enjoy this moment with them. There is an official ceremony where students sing student’s anthem Gaudeamus Igitur and receive a green ribbons from their headteacher. Green ribbon is a symbol of hope that leaving exams will be successfully passed.

School-leaving exam:
A few months after a green ribbon party students take their school-leaving exams

Wedding:
Wedding is a big day for two people who decided to get married. Before the wedding day a lot of preparations have to be done. First of all they choose the form of wedding announcement and wedding invitation and get them printed. Then they have to book a hotel or a restaurant where the wedding reception will take a part then flowers, the bouquet for the bride has to be done, DJ or live band, photographer and the bus and cars should be booked, cakes can be ordered or home-made. Bride can book her wedding dress or she can have it done or simply she can borrow it.
The future husband should buy a wedding rings. Before the wedding day bride and bridegroom have the separate parties to farewell with their freedom. The bride’s friends organize a party only for women and bridegroom’s friends organize a party just for the men.
The official part is organized in a registry office and it can continue in a church.
The unofficial ceremony is a wedding reception where wedding have a nice meal and drinks and they enjoy themselves. After the wedding day young married couple goes on a honeymoon.

Big/small families

Big family:
Big family means for me the family with five and more members. I think that living in the bigger family is more advantageous than the life in a smaller one, because in a bigger family there are more members who can help you if you have some problem and in the house of flat of this family there is a friendly and pleasurable atmosphere.

Small family:
Small family have three or four members. Mainly in modern families parents prefer to have only one child and give him or her everything which is not so good for the character of child, I think, because he or she could become very mean and proud person. These properties can make the entray to the society more harder.