Work and family The interaction between adults and children is an interaction to be treasured. When a person becomes a parent they change. He immediately becomes more mature and is forced to take on numerous responsibilities. However, every parent will agree that it is the best feeling one can have. It is truly a privilege to bring a child into the world and there is nothing more special than starting a family. During this course I choose to facilitate two chapters: Work and Family and To Parent or Not to Parent. This is what I learned... This course featured three required texts, including The New Peoplemaking by Virginia Satir, Marriages and Families by Mary Ann Lamana, and Agnes Reidmann, and annual editions by a variety of authors. These three articles have really helped me shed light on some hidden topics in family life. What exactly is a family? As defined in the Lamana text, it is any sexually expressive or parent-child or other relationship in which people live together with a commitment to an intimate interpersonal relationship. Family members see their own identity as importantly linked to the group, which has an identity of its own. Families today take many forms: single-parent, remarried, dual-career, communal, same-sex, traditional, and so on. More and more families are struggling to reconcile work and family. There are many issues that working families face, such as when, if ever, parents will return to work, child care issues, finances, stress, marital tension, division of labor, and many other topics. As tradition dictates, men are the breadwinners of the family, but in recent years this role seems to have changed. More and more women have white-collar jobs and bring home more money. Tradition leads us to believe that men bring home all the money and women stay home with the children. However, in the 2000s dual-career marriages are more popular and women return home for the "second shift", referring to unpaid domestic work waiting for parents at the end of the workday. Women spend an average of 20 hours a week on housework. Another change is that men are increasing the amount of housework they participate in. Husbands and wives are starting to share responsibilities, not just leave them to the husband or wife..