Family Structure - Essay Example

A family, as we all know is the smallest group or faction of society that is composed of a father, a mother, and a child which is how a lot of people deem it is. However, there are other family structures today that came into the picture and to better understand the family, it is important to know how these changes in the structure can affect each member of the family.

One of the common changes in the family structure would be the birth of a new child and this event really affects all the members of the family, from the newborn to the mother, father, siblings, and extended family of the new parents. First of all, the newborn baby would have a lot of adjusting to do especially from being isolated in the mother’s womb to being in a bright world and surrounded by many people. However, among all these, the newborn baby is the one who is least affected in the new structure because he or she is the one taken care of while everyone starts being responsible for him or her.

Speaking of the new parents, the mother and the father are affected greatly by their newborn child not only in terms of the physical demands they should fulfill such as not getting enough sleep and having to tolerate the constant crying but at the same time cause a change in their lifestyle, the dreams they pursue, responsibilities, purchase behavior, and even how they interact socially. This is because of the fact that a newborn poses a lot of responsibilities not only financially but at the same will require a lot of sacrifices such as re-managing one’s priorities to achieve a balance between providing for one’s family’s needs and at the same time giving oneself a little leeway for a little fun time. Also, what is unique to mothers of a newborn would be the fact that they usually feel neglected or perhaps feel like they are missing out on a lot in life because of the routine activity she is confined in from not only taking care of the baby but at the same time her other children if there are and of course, we cannot miss out on her responsibility to her husband which makes her lose time and energy to pamper herself. On the other hand, fathers constantly face the pressure to work longer hours and earn more to be able to provide for their family’s increasing needs.

A newborn baby would greatly affect their siblings as well. This is because of the fact that children have the tendency to be possessive of their parent’s attention and time especially when they were used to being the only one. Thus, when a newborn comes, siblings will tend to feel jealous especially when the time of their parents would mostly go to the baby since they need more care and support than the older children. Aside from that, having a newborn child in the family would mean reallocation of funds for the family especially in the times today when prices of goods are really at hike. With this in mind, parents usually put priority on providing for food and the delicate needs of the baby which might make the other siblings jealous especially when they start feeling like their parents would postpone buying them a new toy because of the increasing expenses of an additional in the family. Also, one of the strongest causes of sibling rivalry caused by a newborn would be the clear proof that the baby gets anything he or she likes by just crying while the older children would usually not have the same experience.

Extended families of a newborn also get affected in many ways. One of which would be the fact that grandparents would always be very excited to see their grandchildren especially because they usually have longed for the presence of a child for so long. Aside from that, extended families would usually spoil the newborn because they think that it is the most they can do for them as they have their own parents who would be with them every step of the way.