Content V. Process & Alaskan Excursions.

Already a few students have posted about Tuesday's lecture about the Family Genogram assignment, so I thought I would divert a little away from that and talk about the previous lecture! We talked about Structure v. Function and Content v. Process. But what mostly intrigued me was the discussion on Content and Process, mostly when applied to recent events within my family. My sister and I have had this brainy idea for a while to road-trip to Alaska, and thought this summer would be an opportunistic time for us to pursue this grand excursion of ours. Of course, we could not just up and leave, so we consulted with our parents. 

Before I venture any further into the story, I must explicate how interaction sometimes takes place in terms of "process". When it comes to me persuading my parents, I have been the. . . relentless compeller. But my parents are no pushovers, they are quite stringent. However, I find my side of the arguments to be rather energetically conclusive, if you will. And as for my sister, she is very level-headed and a little less enthusiastic, but is probably more eloquent and valid than I am (When looking for approval). So, I thought, PIECE OF CAKE! I definitely thought that with my sister and I both tenaciously convincing our parents, that this event would not be hard to get a stamp of approval from the parents. THINK AGAIN!

So, with high hopes (and a winning attitude in mind) I called up my Mom & Dad, and got a very apprehensive initial response. And I do not go out without a fight. So within about a week, my parents received a string of e-mails and phone calls all pulling in the favor of my Alaskan Excursion. But in the end, I had lost. The reason I found myself so compelled to write about this topic is not because I may still be a little bitter, but that even though we had discussed in class how "predictable" family processes are, my family is always throwing me curveballs. Even though I can define how some processes have gone in the past, I often just attribute those characteristics to my "role" in my family. I love that my family is always keeping me on my toes, it is entertaining. Even if I don't get to go to Alaska. And even though my parents had good reason to not let me go. . . 

They will just have to wait for next time this year and another bombardment of persuasion for great Alaskan times comes their way. . .