Dysfunctional Families

What is a dysfunctional family? Is it a divorced family? How about one with an alcoholic in it? What about poor? Dysfunction is relative. Here are several examples, by the way, all of the 6 families below are real families that I know.

Family 1- Here is a family in which the parents are arguing constantly, but they keep the arguments from their children. They argue about everything from money to who does the dishes. The children think everything is just perfect when mom and dad are very unhappy.

Family 2- Here is a family in which the parents have divorced and the mom has sacrificed everything for her children. Visits with dad are there, and the children enjoy them. Things aren't perfect, but they could be a lot worse.

Family 3- Here is a family that puts on a mask so to speak. This family appears perfect to everyone around them but to themselves have serious problems. Mom, dad, and children are all unhappy.

Family 4- Here is a family run by a feminist mom, dad is just a bystander, one child has severe OCD, one child is gay and married to a transsexual, one beats himself and takes drugs, and one has multiple personalities.

Family 5- Here is a family in which mom and dad are happy with themselves and with their relationship, the children are happy. The only thing wrong is that this family is poor.

Family 6- Here is a family in which mom raises the kids, dad works and comes home and gets drunk, the children aren't aware, but their life isn't perfect.

So I ask you, which family is dysfunctional? Can you even answer that? All of these families are dysfunctional. You see, every family has it's problems, but it's really all about how you deal with it. Communication is probably the first thing to try. Without communication, none of these families would make it. With most of these families, if things were communicated properly, more than half of their conflicts could be resolved. So ponder this the next time you think about what dysfunction is.