We say yes or no ma’am, yes or no sir, please and thank you. We respect our elders. Even if we disagreed, you keep your mouth shut in front of our grandparents. Never yell or argue in front of my dad (implicit rule learned after my sister and I did it once when we were little) but try to remain calm to discuss the situation. My dad and mom discuss their plans, but my dad has a little more power in his words than my mom does. He works full-time while she works part-time, so it’s a combination of his power from his job and how they grew up. It’s the example his father set for him, and the example my grandmother set for my mom. They shared more than my grandparents did when I was growing up; they both helped with discipline and cleaning. Also, because we lived on a farm, our family power structure and distribution was usually from the oldest male and then dispersed through due to age and what other responsibilities we had. I always got the menial, easier but gross tasks like bottle-feeding calves, while my dad or great uncle (not on the genogram) would be on the tractors. When my mom went to a full time job position, we had to readjust our responsibilities. My parents were more egalitarian than their parents were, and I can see that cycle is slowly changing each generation to be more
We say yes or no ma’am, yes or no sir, please and thank you. We respect our elders. Even if we disagreed, you keep your mouth shut in front of our grandparents. Never yell or argue in front of my dad (implicit rule learned after my sister and I did it once when we were little) but try to remain calm to discuss the situation. My dad and mom discuss their plans, but my dad has a little more power in his words than my mom does. He works full-time while she works part-time, so it’s a combination of his power from his job and how they grew up. It’s the example his father set for him, and the example my grandmother set for my mom. They shared more than my grandparents did when I was growing up; they both helped with discipline and cleaning. Also, because we lived on a farm, our family power structure and distribution was usually from the oldest male and then dispersed through due to age and what other responsibilities we had. I always got the menial, easier but gross tasks like bottle-feeding calves, while my dad or great uncle (not on the genogram) would be on the tractors. When my mom went to a full time job position, we had to readjust our responsibilities. My parents were more egalitarian than their parents were, and I can see that cycle is slowly changing each generation to be more