The Key To Every Household

"Happy will that house be on which the relations are formed through character." Again, Emerson proved he knew what he was talking about. The happiest families are the ones that regard each other's uniqueness and embrace it. A major downfall of the American family, inability to express appreciation for its members is all too common. Perhaps, the biggest reason why so many crumble and fall apart is the lack of respect for the differences between members, particularly between parents and children. They liked the Beatles, we like the Killers; they wore bellbottoms, now, guys wear hip-hugging girl pants, and so on and so forth. Learning how to acknowledge these diversities is vital to maintain an effective home life. Therefore, these major reasons make expressing appreciation essential for a deep-rooted family relationship.

To begin with, teenage life is rough. School is draining, the people at school are relentless, and if there is any place that teens do not need more tension, is at home. Today, society almost rebukes individuality. Tolerance is running dry and the need for acceptance rises constantly. Honestly, your family should be a safe place where one doesn't need to be afraid to express uniqueness. Fundamental elements, love and support are essential to a child's success and overall well being. The same is true for parents. Work life is tedious. Whether you want top or not, dealing with difficult people all day long is commonplace. Coming home to moody teenagers who are whining about their boy/girlfriend hating them or how "everyone else's mom is letting them go to the concert" is the last thing adults want to worry about. Naturally, expressing appreciation must be a mutual effort. Trying to understand, parents should make an honest effort to pay attention to their children's feelings and the children should back up a bit, let mom and dad breathe a few seconds before hearing about the latest reason why they're the worst parents ever. Both sides should learn their boundaries and things will flow much smoother.

The third step in creating an open family relationship through expression of appreciation is positive reception of each other's tastes. In my family, both my mom and my dad were in the "preppy," popular category. The captain of the cheerleading squad, my mom dated my dad, who was a star baseball player and graduated fourth in his class. I am far from a cheerleader. In fact, I am just about as opposite as it gets. I'm a "drama freak" as my parents so tenderly called them in their days in their glory days. In Jr. High especially, we had a lot of arguments concerning our social status, my parents claiming that I should get involved in sports to make more friends, and me arguing back that they could never know what it's like to be like I am (overly-dramatic). A great example of why parents and children