Family is a support system

For me family is a support system. Anyone that enables you faithfully and has given you the comfort of knowing that you can count on them for anything from confiding to protection. I believe that friends who provide this valuable support can be claimed as family, though I recognize that circumstances do not provide for all friends to support each other through thick and thin; only those who can always be relied on should be considered family in my opinion. Right now my family consists of a vital marriage/traditional marriage and we are currently in stage two of the family life cycle with two toddlers at home. My husband works and I am a stay at home mother and student for the time being. We do not apply the social exchange theory to our family dynamic. It is understood that sometimes one of us is simply going to have to do more than our fair share in order to maintain family stability. These differences in contribution may be attributed to my exhaustion, my husband’s lack of presence due to work, viruses, external stresses, family emergencies, etc. We respect and accept the fact that our marriage is more than give and take. We are a supportive unit that allows us the privilege to take when we cannot give, and give when the other is unable. For us, it is quite rare for the give and take to be balanced on both ends. If we were to focus on this, I believe that we would find ourselves dissatisfied and resentful. It is much easier to give when you see it as an honor to help your loved one than an obligation.