Marriage & Family Changes Lesson
What are your thoughts about engagements, weddings and marriage???
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Intimacy = Deep and meaningful kind of sharing between two people.
Love =Strong feeling of affection and liking for another / Behaviors showing a commitment / Expressions of one’s most thoughts and feelings
Intimacy - For marriage to sustain itself over the year’s four types of intimacy must be present:
- Philosophical – sharing beliefs & values ( particular important when raising kids)
- Psychological – sharing of needs, emotions, weaknesses and strengths, individual success, show support in disappointment
- Creative – sharing of efforts to accomplish task and projects, each partner must do his or her share of the work with a willing attitude
- Physical – wide range of behaviors that express warmth and closeness, physical affection, marriage partners should be physically attracted to one another
How to predict success in a marriage…
- Age
- Reasons for marriage
- Length of the relationship and engagement
- Similar attitudes about children & child-raising
- Similar interests
- Committed to sexual fidelity
- Good character
- Parents success at marriage
- Parental attitudes towards the potential marriage partner
- Careful selection of the marriage partner
THE THREE C’S = COMMUNICATION – COMMITMENT - COMPROMISE
Most important issues in marriage:Those issues discussed in pre-marital counseling…
- Sex
- religion
Marriage Commitment
- Because of rising divorce rates, these should be present for marriage to last
- Marriage partners must be committed to actions that honor wedding vows
- MONOGOMY – being sexually intimate with one partner
- The three C’s = COMMUNICATION, COMMITMENT, COMPROMISE
When Marriage Doesn’t Work Out
- Marital separation: The living apart of two marriage partners
- Divorce: Legal way to end a marriage; A judge or court decides the terms with respect to property, custody, support, and assets.
- Annulment: Legal way to end a marriage in which it was decided that a legally binding marriage actually was not (commonly through the church)
- Dissolution: Legal way to end a marriage in which the marriage partners decide the terms with respect to property, custody, support, and assets
Custody & Children
- Single custody: one partner keep legal custody of the child/children
- Custodial parent: Parent with whom child lives with
- Visitation rights: Guidelines set for the parent who does not have legal custody of child/children to visit the child/children (sometimes very specific time and locations)
- Joint custody: both parents keep legal custody of child/children; may live with one parent or alternative living arrangement; both parents maintain legal rights to make decisions about the health and well-being of the child
Remarriage
- Blended Family/Stepfamily
- Consists of marriage partners who one or both had children from previous marriage, could together have a child
- sources of conflict could arise if rules are not set and consistent, children are not treated fairly in reference to allowance or finances
COMMUNICATION IS A KEY IN ALL RELATIONSHIPS AND MUST BE MAINTAINED EVEN IF FAMILY CHANGES DO OCCUR!!!
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What are YOU looking for in a partner?!