ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: family

Thus, as society grows out of the nuclear family era, our family values change. It is no longer togetherness that binds a family but instead our values have shifted to making money, getting our children out of the house by eighteen, and everyone being satisfied. Many are blind to what happens to the people around them. They have self centered thoughts about what is for dinner or when they can hang out with their friends. They are oblivious to the people surrounding them that have to think of not what, but how dinner will get on the table. They do not think of when they will hang out with friends but instead whether or not they should go home that night, or if their father will come home, or if they want to be around at all. These things happen all around people and they are oblivious, focused on bettering their own lives, eyes glued to screens that emit false depictions of how life should be. Compassion and love for others has gotten lost in these past few years as life has become a desperate race to put one’s own life before others so that they finish out on top. But in that jumble, in the race to adulthood, people lose that sense of compassion and look past helping others, instead focusing primarily on helping themselves.
Topic: family

At first, I didn’t predict how difficult this situation would be and what I would learn from it. When my mother first told me I would have a new younger sister, I was overjoyed. Since I had been an only child for seven years, I felt lonely and envied my other classmates with siblings who had a brother or sister at home that they could interact with on a daily basis. While I was optimistic and saw the future as bright and free of consequences, my mother’s pregnancy eventually became problematic.
Topic: family

After a period of time, my mother started spending more and more time at the hospital. I became concerned, but I knew that the doctors would give her the help that she needed. Seeing my mother leave the house so frequently was still disheartening and extremely upsetting, but I knew I had to be strong for my mother. Seeing my mother in pain, I felt like I was helpless and had no control, but through the support of my father I managed to realize that everything would work out fine.
Topic: family

Even though the journey was long and difficult, I knew the end goal would make it worth it. A few weeks before the scheduled date of birth, my father told me he would stay with my mother at the hospital. A family very close to us was kind enough to allow me to stay at their house because my parents weren’t at home. Though I was upset that my father couldn’t stay with me, I understood that my mother needed his help far more than I did. After almost a week without living with my parents, I learned my little sister was born. Though she was born many weeks prematurely and was significantly smaller and lighter at birth than most other babies, miraculously she and my mother both ended up healthy and well. Thanks to the help of dedicated doctors and nurses my mother was able to recover quickly, and just a few days after I was able to see my sister, and seeing her was one of the best experiences of my life and made the difficult journey worth the struggle.
Topic: family

The last few months had been difficult for me and my family, but I was able to gain new knowledge from my experiences. Seeing what hardships my mother and father had to go through helped me gain a new perspective and realize how hard my parents work every single day, and being separated from my family showed me how much that they do for me and allowed me to appreciate them on a far larger scale. I now know to show my appreciation when my parents do something for me and support them during difficult times. It’s important to acknowledge everything the people who care about do for you and realize the struggles and hardships they go through every single day.
Topic: family

After the doctors detected the melanoma in 2008, they thought they took care of it. But in 2017 the illness became more and more malignant, and the effects on my family were more and more severe. The endless amounts of surgeries and immunotherapy treatments consumed my father’s life, and affected my entire family. My mom had to spend most of her time and energy, while spending large amounts of money, to take care of my father’s health, consisting of weekly trips to Boston.
Topic: family

” Then I figured out how I could change my life. At the point when I felt like giving up for good and accepting my fate, I remembered my father. My dad struggled to fight his disease, and never once did he give in, because if he had, he probably would have lost his life. But by enduring the suffering so that he could live another day to see his family, he taught me how precious life is. He taught me not to give up. When I realized that by following his example I could overcome any obstacles, I Figured it out. I would take on the world fighting just like my dad. I would work to improve my grades and do well as a student. I would pursue my talents with an active passion. No more procrastinating. No more fear, and most importantly, no more giving up.
Topic: family

I am very proud of my ability to change my view of life and I owe all my accomplishments to my father. My dad has been there for me every step of the way. Even as a sick cancer patient, his example has taught me to face new challenges and conquer them, no matter what the difficulty of the challenge. I will never forget his discomfort and pain, but the way with which he faced his suffering is equally memorable. His struggle with melanoma became a model for my own struggle to improve myself. Even today I continue to fight, struggling with college tests like the SAT and applying for colleges. But I continue, knowing that the real test of my true ability is my determination to live bravely like my father and overcome the hardships of life. I can never thank my dad enough for what he has taught me and done for me. He is my role model.
Topic: family

Everybody has someone they admire as a role model. You may be asking yourself, “who’s his role model?” Well my role model is my brother, and here’s why. I chose this topic for my narrative, because my brother has successfully shaped my career as a model. This topic may interest you, to explore more about your role model to find out why he/she is your role model. In this narrative, you will be given insight on who my brother is, why he’s my role model, and how I implement everything he has taught me about being a model.
Topic: family

When it came close to ending cycle 22, the final 6 made their way to Las Vegas. This is when I began to start noticing that my brother was slipping in the competition, and ultimately knew his elimination was near. During the photo shoot for the top five, the remaining contestants, had to shoot in the dark in the woods. When it came down to judging, the judges felt that Devin has lost the drive to model, and he was sent home.
Topic: family

Once my brother was eliminated, he went on to open his own modeling agency, I AM MODEL MANAGEMENT, in San Francisco, CA. Since then, he has scouted hundreds of models, including myself to work alongside him. Since I have had the opportunity of working with my brother, it has drawn us closer to each other. The relationship between my brother and I, has changed so much. I went from just having him as a brother, to making him my role model. His level of professionalism and the way he took getting eliminated from Top Model, and made something amazing come from it, shows me that things may not work in my favor, but nothing should stop me.
Topic: family

In conclusion, my brother is the perfect example of a role model. Since working with him, I have learned how to pose for a camera, deliver a great commercial, and so much more. Devin has grown into more than a just a brother to me. This narrative was to give an insight on who my brother is, why he’s my role model, and how I’ve implemented what he has taught me as a model. I hope you, as a reader, will use my narrative to take time to figure out why your role model is your role model.
Topic: family

What is a hero? Is it what we see in the movies, a man in a cape? A good hero may be hard to find. To me, a hero is someone who is always on your back when you need it, helps you physically and mentally, never lets you down and gives you a kick in the butt when you need it so you don’t add any more trouble to the situation. Now you may be thinking, who is my hero and why? Well, my hero is my dad.
Topic: family

I didn’t notice until I sat on my desk. I was stressing out and instantly told the teachers and classmates around me. Twenty minutes later, even though it felt like an anxious hour, my dad knocked on the door with the binder in his hand. When he was out, everyone told me, “Ria, you have the luckiest dad in the world. None of my parents would do that for me!” I responded instantly, ‘Agreed; I am charmed.” My dad performs this when I forgot my lunchbox at home and didn’t have hot lunch money in my school account.
Topic: family

Outside of school, I go to a math class called R.S.M. (Russian School of Math). For my weekly R.S.M. homework, I didn’t understand a complex formula, and I was stuck on it. My dad came and helped me. Since the problems are on online, I can enter the answers and it will rate it for me, and I got it correct when my dad taught me! My dad will care for me when I’m ill. He takes work off for me, even though my dear grandmother could have taken care of me. This is crucial to me because I know my dad will go through any costs just to give me a hand. Evidently, my dad is caring, which is one of the reasons why I look up to him.
Topic: family

Additionally, my dad is absurd. Although he could make really cheesy dad jokes at times, he consistently making me laugh at the right times. He is hilarious when I am miserable or hesitant about something. Whenever I’m nervous about a test, I naturally think I’m going to fail even though I studied, my dad makes a joke about it. Here is one I still recall a joke from years back. My dad said, “Ria, you are going to do fine unless you copy off someone’s paper. Over here is a joke to cheer you up. Father: Why did you get such a negative score on that test? Daughter: Absence! Father: You were absent on the day of the test? Daughter: No but the boy who sits next to me was!” My dad delivers these jokes, so I don’t need to worry about the quiz and could laugh. I always complain about boot camp, and my dad told me a long time ago, “Thinking about something like a joke or a funny song will always encourage you.” So I made up a joke about boot camp. Here is my joke. “‘What is your favorite exercise?’ Lindsay asks. ‘Chewing,’ Ria responds.” I even have a song, but I don’t think everyone would want to hear the song. Jokes like these will always cheer me up. This is noteworthy to me because I know that whenever I am depressed, there is always someone that will cheer me up. Undoubtedly, I know my dad will never let me down and will give me humor when I absolutely desire it.
Topic: family

Ultimately, my dad is patient. I like this behavior because I can be extremely unreasonable in some cases, and before giving me a kick in the butt, he is patient so I can think about my behavior. For instance, I required help with my R.S.M. homework. My dad helped me, and I still didn’t understand it. He taught me in a couple more different ways, and yet, I still didn’t comprehend it. I got so irritated and simply would not like to do it any longer. My dad asked me if I wanted a break, and after my break I was fine. This is tremendous to me because I recognized that when I’m irritated, my father won’t be and will attempt to discover different ways to explain the situation. Naturally, my dad is patient.
Topic: family

My father is the leader and head of our family. He’s continuously there for each member of the family to relieve us in times once, we would like his recommendation and direction in selecting selections. Anytime we’ve got a drag, we tend to take it to him, he tries to relieve us by sharing a number of the issue that he additionally baby-faced within the past. He is quite almost like our problem and the way he was ready to overcome them. He additionally shares all of his achievements and disadvantages in life and tells his family. My father has worked as a zonal manager at the Sitara textile industry. However, he near stands one’s ground any of his youngsters to pursue a career inside the same field, so we will take over once him. He doesn’t even try to attract any people to his business, however, he tries to show however, we will discover our passion and fields of interest in life. He will his best to encourage us within the achievement of our varied dreams. I will with courage say that my father may be an excellent father and this cannot be as a result of him continuously serving me. He is being nice to me however, as a result, he shows nice strength, knowledge, a decent serving nice nature. He additionally owns excellent human relations skills. My father’s relatives were poor, once he was growing up with effort and patience, my father was ready to become wealthy. He uses this as an associate degree example to encourage me to continuously push.
Topic: family

I share all of my happy, unhappy, and dangerous moments with him, and he additionally will constant. He’s continuously around to share with me all of his life experiences, and the way I will learn from them. My father additionally tells me all regarding his day and each event that occurred throughout the day. He’s doing all his best to confirm that the age to become a arrived an individual that has sensible character and behavior. My father continuously teaches me ethics, humanity, and manners of life which will facilitate me in the future. My father is always prepared and willing to assist the people that are impoverished around us and he tells us that giving is that the most significant factor in life. My father additionally teaches my siblings and me the way to be happy, healthy, and work throughout our lives. My father has shown himself to be excellent to any or all the members of my family. If anyone relative is facing a selected downside, my father is typically the primary person to tend to move for recommendation and facilitate. My father has over the years tried to be someone who incorporates a kind heart and that I will bravely say that he’s my successor and my hero.
Topic: family

The third strength is a strength that the mother pointed out to me. She had mentioned that the family’s communication is their best strength. The communication between each other keeps things running smooth. Whenever something occurs, such as running late, they can call another family member and they will be there to help. The family also talks about what they are feeling and how they could make things better. This is a major strength because, without communication, the family would not continue to grow in a positive direction. Communication is the key to any successful relationship.
Topic: family

Enjoying the little things more often has to be one of the best strengths they have. As most families just take time to celebrate the big accomplishments in life, such as birthdays and holidays, this family enjoys spending dinner together and makes it known. They celebrate whenever Son B has a good week at the Rainbow Center without having any issues. They find happiness in seeing their sons interacting. The mother had told me, “Seeing your son walk for the first time is exciting, but seeing your son walk for the first time when he is four hits your heartstrings a little more.”
Topic: family

The family needs more help from other families who are dealing with the same problems as them. They also need more people for Son B to work on his communication with. The Rainbow Center does well, but when he is not there, he needs more help. They need local places that can offer him speech therapy. The family also needs a place to take Son B to for when he gets sick or has doctor’s appointments. The parents cannot take off from work all the time and do not always have people to watch Son B. This makes it hard for the family. Another need that the family has is extra support. The family would benefit from support groups.
Topic: family

I plan to make the family a resource outline. It will be called the Assistant Log. I will be looking up and finding different places for Son B to go to get therapy that is close to his home as well as find helpers to watch him when the family is at work. I would like to provide the names, numbers, locations, emails, as well as a brief description of who and what they provide. I plan on talking with the special education director at the local high school and finding out places and people they recommend as well as looking online. I decided to do this as my project because I believe having a list of people planned out with information provided will help the family. They will be able to contact the people and places on the list as well as have a description of what they do and when they are available. The family is very well organized, and I believe this would benefit them greatly.
Topic: family

Going into the interview I felt that I knew the family well and that they were my family’s friends. I did not realize I did not know that much about them as a family. I feel like I bonded with the family on a higher level than I was. I gained their trust when talking about their life and was able to empathize and partway understand what they are going through. I do not believe I will ever fully understand what they are going through unless I have a child-like Son B. I did feel uneasy and a little uncomfortable at the beginning. I talked to the mother the most and at some points, I felt as if I was intruding. I did not know how they would react when I asked some of my questions but they made me feel comfortable and confident in asking. I was taking a lot of notes during the interview and made sure to ask questions about what they were saying. Instead of just firing questions at them, I made sure to make it a conversation more than an interview. I also made sure to keep eye contact as much as possible to let them know I was paying attention and to show respect.
Topic: family

I learned more from this project than I have from reading books about special needs. To listen to how a family system works with a disabled child is much more meaningful than to read about it. I learned that just because a family looks strong on the outside does not mean that they are not cracked. I also learned that people sympathize with these families thinking they are weak when in reality these families are strong. I think this will impact the family of my students as well as my students in a positive manner. I have a better understanding of what these families go through and how they feel. I also think it will help me on how to talk to them. The families do not want sympathy, but they want empathy. They want you to feel with them, not for them. I think that was a key learning moment for me and I plan to keep it with me. If I could go back and redo this interview, I think I would have interviewed the family in two different settings. I would have liked to interview one time with the whole family in the room and another time with just one parent in the room. I would have liked to have seen if the responses were different and why they were.
Topic: family

After my father’s death, she had no choice but to start working. She needed to bring food to the table, made sure bills were paid on time, and made sure my siblings and I had everything we needed to survive. She would wake up at 3 in the morning to get ready for work and be out the door before 4:30 am. She did not just have to get herself ready for work, but also get my siblings and me ready. In an hour and a half, she had to do all of that and then drop us off at the babysitter’s house.
Topic: family

Nothing compares to the love and affection of my mother. When I am going to rough times, she is always there for me, just like when I was little. And even though I am her oldest child, she lets me know that I will always be her little girl. When she looks into my eyes she knows when I am happy or sad. She is like a mood detector. Her hugs and kisses make me feel safe and happy. It does not matter what decisions I make in life; I know she will behind me 100%. She is the only person I can talk too and know that she will not share it with anyone else. She is always calling me and asks, “How is your day going?” “What are my grandkids going?” “Do you want to come over to eat?” People say, “No one is going to love you like your mother”, it is true! My mother’s love cannot be replaced.
Topic: family

Firstly, my mother likes exploring the food world and this has resulted in her being the best chef I have ever seen. She enjoys spending most of her time in the kitchen. Her favorite dish is macaroni and cheese. Her passion for cooking has also resulted in me being interested in cooking and being good at it. She also like reading, apart from recipe books that she loves reading, she reads a lot of magazines and novels. She also likes watching TV as it helps her to catch up and know what is happening around the world.
Topic: family

However, my mother has got dislikes. She really does not like disobedient children and being disrespected in as much as she wants us to respect her elders in general. She is very strict with me so that I do not get mislead or go astray. The funniest thing about my mother is that she does not like insects and bugs such as spiders, these are the only things that terrify her and I am always ready to help her out by chasing them away or kill them.
Topic: family

My mother is my best friend and I have accepted my self-induced isolation from her with grace. She is a good woman who raised us her children, sheltered us and loved us without asking for anything in return. I believe that the greatest compliment I could ever give my mother, is to grow up and be exactly what she wants me to be. My gift to her will be my success in life, so that when she is old in her grey hair she can sigh to herself and say “Wow! It was worth it”
Topic: family

“Honesty is the best policy,” is an epigram we have heard and learned about while growing up for many years. However, despite it being taught to us at such an early stage of our life, we all more than likely told our first lie as a child. Although lying is recognized as morally wrong, it has been one of the oldest human social practices and has ironically become the new normal for our society today, so much so, that some of us have lost our morals completely.
Topic: family

In the article, “Is Lying Bad for Us?” The Atlantic, written by Richard Gunderman, takes a position on how honesty can benefit our society at large in order to thrust his overall final appeal of self-betterment as lying only creates a series of problems. Gunderman starts his article by looking over the current condition of trustworthiness in America. He reports that individuals lie not exclusively to keep away from shame but to also benefit themselves in circumstances where lying has a few negative repercussions.
Topic: family

Although lying is known to be morally wrong, underman states that society today promotes the idea of lying as society has moved from the typical example in which honesty is appreciated as an intrinsically good virtue to where ‘ honesty is for the unsophisticated, ‘ for those who can’t bend the truth to achieve their own goals. Furthermore, he ties these elements with health in a study done at University of Notre Dame in which they found that those who did not lie experience less health problems such as headaches and stress. According to Gunderman, although liars’ target is to deceive others, liars also deceive themselves, eventually creating pathological liars. When we lie we tend to distort our own view of reality, and the more often we lie, the more habitual this distortion becomes. To Underman, by being honest with others and reducing the distance between the way things seem to be and the way they really are, when being honest, we ground ourselves in the world we actually inhabit and don’t blind ourselves to the consequences of the lies we tell.
Topic: family

As mentioned, lying is an unhealthy and negative habit practiced by all. However, lying is actually one of the most advanced skills one can learn as it requires skill, a skill that is being learned by our young children today. You may think to yourself why these children even have the need to lie at such an early stage of their life? Well it has become known that they do it in order to get a sense of security. It’s found to be that children lie for minor reasons, such as to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, or to simply gain a sense of control their parents don’t know about. The purpose of Po Bronson’s article, “Learning to Lie” is to inform parents that lying is becoming regularized at early stages of a child’s life and continues to be a growing pattern of lies as they grow older. According to Bronson, studies indicate that when children are monitored and recorded in a natural setting “a four-year-old will lie once every two hours, while a six-year-old will lie about once every hour and a half. Few kids are exceptions. Ninety-eight percent of the teens reported lying to their parents” (Bronson). According to Branson, children are easily influenced by adults to lie even if it is only a little white lie. Bronson purposely discusses these studies about lying and the statistics about how children lie in order to convey to his argument that children are easily influenced to lie from their parents as children mimic their parent’s actions and what they say. He states that most research has found that most children learn to lie effectively at an early age and that many parents presume their child will stop when he gets older and learns those distinctions. However, Bronson has found the opposite to be true, the earlier kids grasp the difference between lies and truth, they tend to use this knowledge to their advantage, making them more susceptible to lie when given the chance.
Topic: family

Developmental researcher Kang Lee, in his TED Talk “Can you really tell if a kid is lying?” he begins by asking his audience if they ever lied during their childhood, and most raised their hand in agreeance to lying as a child. Lee then moves on to speak about his studies about what happens physiologically to children when they lie. Lying is a typical part of development, they start to lie as young as 2 years old. Kang Lee also told that there were two main ingredients to make a good lying. One ingredient being the ability to know that different individuals have distinctive knowledge known as mind reading. Additionally, the second ingredient is self-control which means having the ability to control their facial expression, their speech, and body language. They do it a lot, starting as young as two years old, and have become superior to it. There’s a social generalization that children are pure, innocent, and must be protected at all extremes. However, how innocent are children, really? Lee explains that even though they may not know or understand adult concepts, that it doesn’t mean that they don’t understand the world around them in their own way.
Topic: family

Parenting is far more difficult than people make it out to be. According to Carol Gioia, a Senior Community Advisor for Helium Network, “Being a parent is potentially one of the most rewarding life experiences a person can have. It might also be the most difficult, for parenting is a round-the-clock endeavor filled with demands and obligations”. Gioia makes a point that not everyone will live up to be “good parents” because no parent is perfect, but they can be good by enforcing a never-ending supply of unconditional love.
Topic: family

In the article “What Makes a Good Parent” Robert Epstein provides that some parenting skills have been proven to conduct better out comes in children’s happiness, health, and behavior. In the memoir The Glass Castle, the Walls’ parents are not perfect when it comes to their methods of parenting, but both Rex and Rose Mary do to teach their children valuable life lessons. Even though Rose Mary and Rex Walls’ are seen as unfit parents they both provide evidence of “good parenting” throughout events in the memoir.
Topic: family

They demonstrate what it means to be good parents because of their abilities to provide love and affection, independence, and knowledge. Good parents believe that giving their children lots of love and affection is the best thing for them. Like typical “good parents” today, Rex Walls, in his love, allowed his children to have faith in him by showing them love and affection. Rex Walls often bragged about his past and his future: “When Dad wasn’t telling us about all the amazing things he had already done, he was telling us about the wondrous things he was going to do.
Topic: family

Like build the Glass Castle” (Walls 25). In this quote the glass castle is one of Rex Walls’ dreams and was thought of in such great detail that he would carry the blue prints around with him. He showed affection toward his children by enriched their minds with his stories and ideas like the glass castle to keep them optimistic during their family’s difficult times. At one point, Jeannette goes on to describe how other children spend their Christmas talking about how those kids are brainwashed into believing the myths of Santa Clause.
Topic: family

Rex Walls after losing his job responds with “Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten…you’ll still have your stars” (Walls 41). Even though Rex has lost his job and had no money to spend on his children for Christmas he gives them any star that they choose. Although it is not humanly possible for one to claim a star as their own, Rex gives his children a shot at a good Christmas. Showing them love and affection by giving them hope given that they are living a hard life as their parents struggle to earn money. According to Bridget Coila, “Parental affection comes in many forms. Parents can offer plenty of hugs, kisses and cuddles to young children, and babies”. While other parents might offer their love and affection through hugs and kisses; Rex Walls’ shows his affection through family projects and inexpensive gifts. Parents that provide love and affection will not only help nourish a parents’ relationship with their child, but to also achieve happiness in child’s life. Good parents will often allow their children some independence to have those experiences that will help aid them in growing up. In the article “Helicopter Moms vs. Free-Range Kids” Skenazy, a New York columnist, was provoked by criticism for letting her grade-schooler ride the sub-way alone. Skenazy stated in her blog—Free Range Kids—that “modern children need some of the same independence that her generation had. In the good old days nine-year-old baby boomers rode their bikes to school, walked to the store, took buses—and even subways—all by themselves”.
Topic: family

According to the article Skenazy believes that helicopter moms reject the idea of freedom and hover their child’s safety by having a needless overprotective security detail on their child at all times. Rosemary Walls, unlike typical “helicopter parents” today, allows her children to learn from life without parental help. Rosemary Walls felt that “it was good for kids to do what they wanted because they learned a lot from their mistakes” (Walls 59). This showed that Rose Mary did not worry herself about hovering over her children that caused other parents to make every decision for their children. Rose Mary encouraged autonomy and independence above all because throughout The Glass Castle, she never helped her children with anything and told them to do whatever they wanted without rules or guidelines. Rosemary was working on a painting a few days after Jeanette returns from the hospital (from the burns of cooking hotdogs). Jeanette asked her mother if she would cook her a hotdog; Rosemary said no. “‘Good for you,’ Mom said when she saw [Jeanette] cooking. ‘You’ve got to get right back in the saddle. You can’t live in fear of something as basic as fire'” (Walls 15). This is a great case in point that Rose Mary lets her child, Jeanette, at the age of three have the independence to cook for herself.
Topic: family

A parenting technique used to help a child make their own decisions and be more self-sufficient by not burning themselves using fire to boil hot dogs. Children that are allowed more independence and freedom to make mistakes and to better learn important life lessons by making their own decisions. In his article “What Makes a Good Parent” Robert Epstein discusses the Scientific American reports: research revealing ten essential parenting skills that were determined most important to bringing up healthy, happy and successful children. Epstein reveals one of the top ten is Autonomy and independence, “You treat your child with respect and encourage him or her to become self-sufficient and self-reliant” (49). Epstein is expressing the importance of allowing a certain amount of freedom for children to make their own mistakes and decisions in life. Although it might seem like the Walls’ are negligent at times, Rose Mary, allowing her children to go out and make life decisions by learning many life’s lessons to be more self-sufficient in the future. Parents that do not hover over their children about every little thing in a child’s life sets an example of being better parents.
Topic: family

Good parents will promote and help educate their children to gain an educational advancement for a successful life. Unlike typical parents today, both Rex and Rose Mary Walls top parenting priority is to provide an education for their children. At one point, both the Walls parents decided to enroll their children in school at Mary S. Black elementary school. [Rose Mary and Rex] had already taught [Jeanette] nearly everything Miss Page was teaching the class. (Walls 58) This shows that both Rex and Rose Mary main priority was giving their children an enriching intellectual education, even though they were enrolled in school late. Children who are found to be educated by their parents allowed them more a model of learning and to becoming successful in the future. In the article “What Makes a Good Parent” Epstein discusses the importance of parents educating their children. Epstein found, “that parents are far better at educating their children and keeping them safe than they are at managing stress or maintaining a good relationship with other parent…” (49).
Topic: family

One might object to Rex and Rose Mary Walls’ being represented as “good parents” because they lack common parenting skills such as how they show their love and affection, and how they provide a healthy lifestyle for their children. For Rex Walls’ it was his overuse of alcohol that led him to neglect his children when they were in dire need of tender love and affection instead of a consistent stir-crazy drunk. Rose Mary Walls’ suffered through her depression of not becoming a full time artist, although she still focused more on her art than she did her own children. Rose Mary believes that “fussing over children who cry only encourages them, [she told her children]. That’s positive reinforcement for negative behavior” (Walls 28). Some argue that Rose Mary was introducing her morals of how to raise a child by not coddling them with love or affection. This quote argues what some readers see as neglect by Rose Mary for not caring for her children when they were hurt or in need of a little motherly affection. While Rex Walls’ was the provider of the house Rose Mary was a stay at home mom, a mom that could do the cleaning, the cooking, and the raising of their children.
Topic: family

Although she was hardly ever up to the challenge of feeding her kids, she asks the children “Why spend the afternoon making a meal that will be gone in an hour, [she’d ask the kids], when in the same amount of time, I can do a painting that will last forever” (Walls 56). Rose Mary’s question to the children foreshadows the events in the memoir when she puts her dreams of being a painter ahead of taking better care of her children. As one of Epstein’s ten competencies to predicting good parenting you must “model a healthy lifestyle and good habits, such as regular exercise and proper nutrition, for your child” (49). Epstein makes a valid point that parents should promote healthy life for their child by feeding them and encouraging physical fitness. Parents that do not demonstrate good health or proper love and affection for their child, for example the Walls’, are ranked as unfit parents. Even though the Walls’ demonstrate bad parenting by the misuse of love and affection, and healthy lifestyle they still show some parenting skills that can be recognized as “good parenting”.
Topic: family

The words will definitely trigger a wonderful memory and emotion for you and your father. Urban’s song is one of the underrated singles since it was never released individually from its album, there was no commercial success for it. Despite the song not charting, it still has words that will move every listener.The song tells the story of a man who realized all the things his father has done for him. Furthermore, he found his father in him which definitely is a good thing to know.
Topic: family

The next song on our list is something that will surely bring you to tears. Even though we have lost someone we love, that doesn’t mean the love we have for them has to end. It’s there, it exists in between all the things we are doing. Love doesn’t live just because someone is physically with you. It exists no matter what. The next song was co-written by a country singer who suddenly lost his father.’You Should Be Here’ was released from Cole Swindell’s second album of the same title. He said that he wrote the song to honor his father, whom he unexpectedly lost. During his father’s death, Swindell was on tour right after he signed a contract. He wasn’t there with him, and that added to the pain of losing his dad. This tragic and painful song climbed the top of the country chart, giving Swindell his second number one on the Hot Country Songs. To everyone who lost someone, remember you’re not alone.’I wanted to write it, and he wanted to write it to where it was special to me but also where other people could relate. I’m not the only one who has ever lost somebody; I’m not the only one who was missing somebody. That’s what I love about
Topic: family

A George Strait classic always has to be on any country song list, and that’s why his single ‘Love Without End, Amen’ is included in ours. His single was penned by Aaron Barker who took a piece of his memory to write such a wonderful song. Barker shared his songwriting process to Tennessean, saying, that the song happened when he had to be tough to his son after accidentally hitting a brand new Porsche. After the incident, he wasn’t sure if what he did to his son was right, and so he prayed to God for answer and guidance, which ended up being a song. ‘But the question I was asking is, ‘How can you be that mad at somebody and still love them that much? Where does that ability come from?’ It’s in us all. So I got the guitar and I’m playing and praying and thinking, looking for this answer, and this song was the answer to it. It was: ‘That’s the way God loves us. ‘Strait’s single stayed on top of the country chart for five weeks.
Topic: family

One of the best things about a song is the story behind its making. Everyone likes a good old story as to why the songwriter wrote that song, and Alan Jackson’s ‘Drive (For Daddy Gene)’ has a wonderful story. In 2000, Jackson lost his father, with whom he had great memories with and loved. He showed his love by honoring his dad by writing a song for him.’Drive (For Daddy Gene)’ shares the story of a young boy who remembers his time with his father, and all those memories he had of him were wonderful. As the song goes on, the narrator promised to make beautiful memories with his daughter, just like what he had with his father. Jackson’s single reached number one the country chart and number twenty-eight on the pop chart.
Topic: family

The term family of origin influences refers to how current relational experiences and interaction patterns reflect. (Galvin). Looking at my own family of origin, I really wanted to create my adult family the same way as mine when I was growing up. My parents had a great relationship never arguing or unhappy, it seems like the perfect family. Even though I wanted to create mine the same way or at least close to it. My own personal family origin took a different path and the path that it took I really do not like the way it turned out.
Topic: family

She would always have everything ready when we came home from school. In a well-functioning family members images have the ability to take the perspectives of others reflect health and well-being. (Galvin). The image that I can see between my brother and me, it would be like been twins, because people really say that we look alike but we are not really twins. As I was growing up if he got sick, I could not go to school because he did not go. Even up to this day if I get sick, he gets the same things and we are in our own home, we do not live together he is with his family and I have my own family.
Topic: family

A family theme represents a pattern of feeling, motives, fantasies, and conventionalized understanding grouped around a particular focus of concern. (Galvin). I really thought that most of the families would be like the one I had as I was a child or growing up, but as I created my own family, I soon realize that it was very different. I really thought that most of the men were like my dad, but I realize that it was not true, because my husband was not like my dad at all. My husband had a very different aspect of life and his attitude was very different. My husband was coming from a different custom of life and I had different one. As he was used of different things, such as food and many other things that I was not used to. In my family we also had a different custom of doing things even in the way that my dad also treated my mom, he always loved her and there was always lots of love around them and also for ourselves.
Topic: family

The biosocial beliefs families operate within a larger culture that provides models and socializes members into biosocial roles based on such factors as gender, age, and position in the family, all of these biosocial roles are tied into power. (Galvin). Even though it depends on the gender that would be how you are treated, but my parents always treat my brother and me the same way they did not really differentiated as if we were a boy or a girl. As I can remember from my childhood, they were always very fair when it comes to the matter of giving us things. As I can remember they were always trying to give us everything the same on Christmas, birthdays or in anything else.
Topic: family

Money. Why are we so reluctant to educate our kids about anything dealing with money? I think we are so afraid because we don’t want our children making the same mistakes that we have made. But what if we took a completely different approach, and actually taught our children how to actually save money? Kids that learn about finances, saving money, and budgeting at an early age are more apt to be able to handle their money than their friends and will ultimately have a better understanding of the value of a dollar.
Topic: family

I think one of the major reasons that young adults find themselves in debt so quickly is because no one has ever sat down with them and actually talked to them about money — saving or spending. Talking about money is taboo; it is something we simply choose not to talk about, because it is personal and we don’t want others knowing about our financial struggles. What does this teach our children? It teaches them to never talk about it, to never ask questions, to figure it out on their own. Even in school money is not really talked about except in technical terms – the vocabulary is taught but what it actually means to spend and save money is not really explicitly discussed or taught. It is up to us as parents to have this open line of communication with your child so that they feel comfortable talking and asking questions about money, because if we don’t — who will?
Topic: family

Children are notorious for asking for toys, games, movies, and other items when out shopping with you. I know I have caved and bought the item that my child was asking for more times than I have said no. However, the many times I have said know I have found an opportunity to turn this real-life scenario into a money-saving lesson for my child. I have many times told my child that if she really wanted the item that she was more than welcome to use her own money to purchase said item. In approaching this scenario this way I have found that when she really wants the item she will save her money (instead of spending it on small things here and there) and will also look, beg, and plead for ways that she can make money — she has become quite the swindler when it comes to making money. Yes, children tend to eventually spend the money that they have saved, but by setting small goals they are leaning the art of saving money which in turn will become a lifelong skill.
Topic: family

Children (just like adults) are less apt to spend their money when it is cash and when they do not have easy access to it. The best way that I have found to do this is to keep the cash in an envelope or in a jar. Why does this work so well? Kids don’t have immediate access to the money but it is still accessible and you can remind them that they are saving to purchase item “xyz”. This goes really well in having the child set a goal because you can constantly point out to them what they are saving to purchase and they are less apt to spend the money on trivial items. Is this a fool-proof method. No. Kids are human (just like us) and will sometimes want to spend their money on something trivial. Let them! This helps them to learn that sometimes things that we purchase aren’t actually worth the price tag. Do this enough times and your kids will start thinking twice about what to spend their money on – trust me.
Topic: family

Kids will never appreciate the value of a dollar if all the money that is in their name was simply given to them. I am not saying never give the gift of cash, because who doesn’t enjoy receiving cash as a gift. What I am saying is that for kids to understand the importance of saving money they need to understand that money just doesn’t appear that it is something that has to be earned. Most parents think pretty straightforward when coming up with ways for their children to earn money — make a chore chart and they earn a set amount of money for the chores that they complete — which works for some. However, I don’t think that children should be paid for things they are going to be expected to do whether they are paid for their effort or not. Let your child be creative and come up with their own ways to earn money (you will be equally shocked and delighted!). Last summer my 7 year old daughter decided that she wanted to purchase an American Girl Doll (not something I was willing to purchase), so she had to come up with her own way to save money. She cleaned out her room, asked for donations from friends and family, and set up a garage sale mostly on her own. She worked for her money, she saved her money, and spent it on what she wanted. I have also seen other kids come up with other ways to save money such as making products and selling them online, knocking on a neighbors door and asking if they have any chores they need done around the house/yard, selling items online, or setting up a lemonade stand or bake sale. Kids are way more creative than we give them credit for, especially where money is involved.