Family at a Glance

The term “family” usually means a group of related people who share a home, resources, responsibility for decisions, values and goals, and have commitments to one another over a period of time. The smallest family unit consists of two people, such as a couple or a parent and child who share a home and companionship. Families in which there is a mother, a father, and children living in one house are considered “nuclear” families. Parents are required by law to feed, clothe, shelter, and educate their children. “Extended” families usually consist of parents, married children, their offsprings, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins living either in one house or in separate homes. Most families are based on kinship – that is, the members belong to the family by blood (through birth), affinity (through marriage), or adoption. When people marry, they gain a new set of relatives, called in-laws.

Some cultures have a patriarchal family system, that is the father alone makes the major family decisions and is considered the head of the family. Others have a matriarchal one in which the mother heads the family and holds most power in society. Some have an equalitarian family system in which each member is respected and neither parent tries to be the head of the family.

Throughout history, most Western and non-Western societies have practiced a form of marriage called monogamy which means that a person has only one spouse at a time. Many other cultures, especially non-Western ones, have permitted polygamy which allows a person to have more than one spouse at a time.

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My Family

My family is large considering modern standards: there are five of us. (Ukrainian families consist, on the average, of a mother, a father, and one or two children). I have a Mother, a Father, an elder sister and a younger brother.

I’d like to say that my parents are not old at all. Dad is 50 years old and Mum is 5 years his junior. Though she is over 40, she looks young for her age. Dad graduated from a technical institute and has been working at a radio-electronic equipment plant since then. He is a radio engineer by education and is considered an experienced specialist in his field. My Mum’s name is Ann. She works at a clothes factory. She is a dress designer. Her job is creative, very interesting and well paid. Mum is always busy but still she finds time to take care of us all. No need to say that I love and respect my parents.

My sister Kate is the oldest of us three. She is 6 years older than me. She is married and has a family of her own – a husband and twins: a son and a daughter. Kate is a bookkeeper. She works in the Accounts Department. My sister is also a student. She studies by correspondence. She specialises is Business Economics and Finance. She is going to become an economist.

Kate’s husband is fond of clever machines – computers and robots. He is in computer software development. He is a very wise man – a researcher by nature. He graduated from a Polytechnic. Now he is going to take a course of management. He is good at languages. He has a good command of French. He doesn’t talk much, but he thinks a lot.

My nephew and niece were born 4 years ago. They go to nursery school. They are funny and curious. Sometimes they are naughty. They are fond of animals and birds. They have lots of picture books describing hedgehogs, parrots, mice, rabbits, hares, swans, lions, tigers, sparrows, swallows, eagles, pigeons.

My younger brother is a very interesting person. He is a pupil of the 11^th form. He is eager to become a journalist. He is a born philosopher, I must say. He reads a lot and seems to know everything. He likes to ask “what”, “where”, “when”, and “why” questions. He can talk well about pictures, music, other countries, books and life.

As you see, I am a middle-born child. My friend has his own theory stating that the first-born has his/her spot as the carrier of the family banner and is responsible for everything; the last-born has his/her comfy little role, but the middle-born has no distinctive place to call his/her own; therefore, he/she places great importance on his/her peer group. One common characteristic is that such people are good mediators or negotiators. I hope it is really so and I am learning the fine art of compromise trying to be right in the middle, between brother and sister, whatever the case may be. This skill can be a good asset and will help me to adjust to my adult life.

My grandparents on my Dad’s side are elderly. They are pensioners. They have old-age (retirement) pensions. Grandfather worked at school. Grandmother was a librarian. Grandma is a Pole. Granddad is Russian.

We have many relatives on Mum’s side. My aunts, uncles, and cousins live in different countries: Latvia, Moldova, Estonia, Hungary. Once a year they all come to see us. I am always delighted to see them.

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