Dear Future Family,

Dear Future Family, This week in class, a topic was brought up that I found very enlightening. It was the topic of the blended family. I am not in a blended family, however, many of my friends and extended family are. I can see how this has effected many of my loved ones and something that, although I have not experienced first hand, is a familiar concept to me. Something that caught my attention was mentioned was the fact that the birth parent should be the one to do all of the “heavy duty” disciplining and the step parents should be the “fantastic aunt or uncle.” I think that this is brilliant because it causes far less conflict. Now, that’s not to say that the step parent should just let kids walk all over them. It also doesn’t mean that if there is a serious issue brought to the by one of the children that they should keep it secret from the birth parent. It simply allows the birth parent to know that their spouse will be helpful but not too tough on their children while the c...

Dear Future Family,       Parenting, I have heard many times, is not something that you can prepare for. Even if you try, you will soon realize how little your preparation has helped. Although I am not a parent, I do not agree 100% with these ideas. I agree that you will not be 100% prepared to parent and no amount of preparation before hand will make you the perfect parent when the time comes. Having said this, I also don’t believe that it is useless to prepare before hand and I believe there can be some wonderful benefits to pre-parenting preparation. One of the biggest challenges, I feel, that parents face with their children, especially their teenagers, is communication. When disciplining a child, it can be so difficult to do so without becoming angry or frustrated. However, when disciplined with love, you can create some wonderful opportunities to connect with your children and grow closer together. There are several ways that one can reach the po...

Dear Future Family, “A young woman’s education should prepare her for more than the responsibilities of motherhood. It should prepare her for the entire period of her life. ” – Dallin H. Oaks While I believe that a woman’s primary responsibility is to her family in the home, I also believe that education is an important tool that she can use to be a greater blessing to her husband, her children, her community, and the world. There is so much wonderful knowledge that can be gained by attending a university in which principles are taught that can be useful in many aspects in life. It is also a wonderful opportunity for one to gain social skills that will not only help the individual, but their children as well as others that they may have the opportunity to interact with. I am currently attending Brigham Young University-Idaho. It has been a truly incredible experience. I cannot imagine that I would be where I am now without the learning and experiences I have gained by attendin...