An Ideal Family

THE IDEAL AMERICAN FAMILY

By

November , 2006 AN IDEAL FAMILY

Unfortunately , the ideal family , I believe , was transformed some time in the nineteenth century due to the great many changes taking place in the American society . So , it becomes hard to describe the ideal American family today . In fact , it 's difficult not to cringe when we hear our children refer to today 's families as dysfunctional . And , for the most part , they appear to be . However , times have changed . Years ago , mommy stayed home to take care of the children

while daddy went off to work to put food on the table and a roof over their heads . Together they sat at the dinner table , dressed up , and discussed the day that passed . Pretty idealistic , but not always the way it appeared to be

When an exchange student came to America , they marveled at the simplicity of the life Americans led , and sometimes with envy . They were impressed with the tight family circle , the lightness of attitude and the playfulness that in other countries may have seemed offensive

Not so today . In this day and age , mommy and daddy are off to work leaving the children to , in part , take care of themselves . There is little time for conversation , morning or night and on the weekends there is the rush to get everything done that was not completed during the week

But , that doesn 't leave the International exchange student less impressed . What they are still impressed with is the American 's devotion to individualism . In essence , they find these people regarding themselves as responsible for their own destiny and not as a member of a family or group to reach that destiny

Today , the exchange student looks upon Americans as autonomous and self reliant . They have a desire for success as it counts as merits to their lives . Because of this , there may be an indication of coldness towards others , as competition is prevalent . Initially , the student may notice that the American family lives mostly by schedules . As a result , they may seem hurried , unable to relax and enjoy themselves simply because they tend to believe they should always be doing something . Americans also tend to believe they should be doing something most of the time which often result in outside family activities , such as baseball football , and other sports that bring the family ties together and tighter

So , it is hard to define the ideal American family in today 's world because the Leave it to Beaver ' days are long gone , if they ever existed . Today , the ideal family is one that is there for each other even though they hardly see one another due to the pressures of life The ideal family is one that prays together and plays together and the little time that they have for that is well appreciated and imprinted in their lives as a cherished memory

In contrast , as in my own nationality , Chinese people place a great deal of effort...