Mom
and dad are in the kitchen roaming about with dad swigging down his
last drop of coffee and mom tidying up after the kids have ate and
rushed off to school. The two kiss each other as they rush out the door
heading off to work. Mom heads one direction, dad goes another
direction, and finally they both meet their destination.
At
work, the hours go by and tasks are completed, but as mom sits at her
desk, her mind begins to wonder. “What do I cook for
supper?” she thinks. Her mind continues racing as she recalls
the
Parent Teachers Conference the following week. Mom now has to find time
off work to join the meeting, and hopes that her children are doing
well in school. When she arrives home, she cooks, cleans and finds time
to relax after a busy schedule. Dad has already hit the couch watching
the latest news, while the kids are in their room doing homework.
A
common relationship is ongoing, and the next week mom makes the Parent
Teacher Conference all to find that her children are failing in school.
She thinks, “Have I encouraged my children enough?”
Mom
begins to blame her self, and when she arrives home anxious to talk
with her husband, she finds him absence. Dad had to work late again to
meet his deadlines, so she calls the office where dad works and dad is
not answering the phone. Later that evening dad comes home. The kids
are in bed and mom is sitting aimlessly staring into the space, when
dad says, “Hi honey, how was your day?”
Mom
frustrated and confused snaps, “How was your day.”
Dad
shoots her a curious look and says, “I am sorry honey, I had
to
work late again.” Mom shots back with a hint of anger,
“Why
didn’t you answer the phone when I called.” She
walks up to
her husband and smells a reek of alcohol on his breath. “You
worked late, huh,” she stammers with a hint of “yea
right.” Dad stares for a moment and says, “Ok, I
did stop
off for a few drinks at the local tavern, I was only there for an hour,
I swear.” Mom stares haplessly at him for a moment and turns
on
her heals, storming out of the room.
What
do you think will happen next? As we can see we have love and
relationship, and a family arrangement, but something is missing to
make this relationship stand. We can review the scenario together to
see which elements needed to make this relationship solid. In the first
scene, family arrangement is in tact since it takes two to work to make
ends meet. Thus, the parents are readying for work, while the children
are heading off to school. Mom has done her job in preparing breakfast,
and kissing dad as he rushes off to work.
Mom
has also attended the meeting, and adhered to her motherly and spouse
duties, and has worked at her job. Would it help if dad helped her
along in the kitchen and around the house, since mom has two jobs? Yes,
it would help. Still, this is only one of the elements to make a
relationship stand. Sharing is always a good thing in love and
relationships. When two people share, it brings them together.
Mom
has emotions that are instigating trouble, since she is blaming her
self for her children’s failure, and shows those emotions
when
dad comes home with the reek of alcohol on her breath. Dad doing as he
pleases, would not like it if the tables turned.
Obviously,
mom is feeling frustrated and appears to take it out on dad, which
makes him think or readers believe that mom is emotional. However, mom
expressed her feelings with assertiveness and disagreement; still she
stormed out of the room, leaving the conversation hanging in the air.
We see a lack of communication in this family, since from the beginning
of the story to the end; we did not hear communication between the
children, mom or dad. We also need respect to make this relationship
stand.
Here are
some pages to start with...
