Boundaries

This week we talked about family rules and boundaries. We had to draw a map of our family boundaries. There are only four kids in my family but it got complicated really fast. I guess boundaries and implicit rules were something that I always knew were there because I lived by them. But it was really interesting to actually think about the boundaries that exists between my family members and the rules that governed our relationships - both the explicit and the implicit.
I also thought about how the boundaries and rules have changed a little over time as we have grown older and our situations have changed, some of us moving out and getting married, having our own children and even one moving back home. I also thought about my husband's family and how I fit in with them and what boundaries I have with them. I've slowly started to learn the implicit rules and things that are and are not acceptable within his family and I think he's also started to learn the same things in my family. It's interesting to me that even as we start our own family, we still fit into and have certain roles within our families of origin.
I'm learning in this class that families are complicted and complex. There are so many minute details that when woven together form this functional symphony that directs the life of a family.