My Family vs the Traditional Family
Joshua Guillen Elchlepp English 101 6-30-13 My Family vs. The Nuclear Family During the 1950’s, the ideal American family consisted of a homemaker mother, a breadwinner father, and a few children who all lived in a house in the suburbs. The family was generally of Christian faith. The father would be the sole provider who goes to work all day to make money to buy the families necessities while the mother would stay home all day, taking care of the kids, prepare food, and keep the home nice and tidy. When I grew up in the 1990’s my family consisted of my Mom, my Grandma, and myself. My family is different than the ideal 1950’s family in that structurally my family was different since my father wasn’t in the picture which also means that there wasn’t really a division of labor, in terms of leisure it’s a mix of both similar and different, and my family was very similar in values because of how my mom raised me. Structurally my family is different since my father was never around. My mom was both my Mother and Father, which also means that there couldn’t really be a division of labor. “Happy Mothers Day!” I remember telling my Mom on Fathers Day. My mom was the breadwinner and the homemaker, she would go to work all day, then pick me up from school, take us home, and then help me with my homework. “No going outside until you finish your homework!” she would yell to me as I tried to sneak outside to play with my friends. Even though I also lived with my grandma who did help a lot and sort of serve as a second mom like by making breakfast every morning. “ring, ring, ring!” waking up to the waffle timer, brething in the maple syrup air. However she too worked and wasn’t able to be home all day to look after me. So my mom put me in after school programs like the YMCA to keep me busy and safe. Although my family’s structure and division of labor is different I feel that the ideal nurturing was still achieved as I was always being watched or