There was not a lot of class this week but there was a really thought provoking article to be read and discussed. The article was called "Does a Full-Time Homemaker Swap Her Mind for a Mop?" This article was arguing whether people who stay home with their children are wasting their brain instead of going out and having a "real" job. As I was thinking about this I came to my own conclusion to the topic. It's simple. People who stay at home with their children are not wasting their brain. Period. In fact I think they learn the same or more. Just because you are not out of the house all the time does not mean you are not learning but you are just learning different things. So for all you, just think about this and come to your own conclusion. 

I loved talking about communication this week. There are so many times where I have heard of people have communicating problems and it makes so much sense when we break it down like we do. So I learned that there are 3 different ways of communicating: Words, tone, ad non-verbal. Not only are those these three ways of communicating but there are also ways of communicating through sarcasm. Sarcasm is using words but there is an underlining to it. Between the three ways of communicating we usually take the sarcasm statement based on the tone. When using sarcasm things can be misunderstood and misread so it is important to be careful. Not only can sarcasm just be misread but even a look when communicating. Sometimes people just are super focused and people think you are mad. Something that I found super interesting was the feedback loop thing. So it first starts with thoughts/feelings that then get encoded into a message, passes through a medium, the message gets encoded by someone else and then leads to their thoughts/feelings. Then their thoughts/feelings go through the same loop and it is a continuous circle. If someone does not decode the message in the way it was meant things could turn messy and lean to problems. It is very important to look at the context and really understand what is meant.

        Power- Synonyms: manipulate, control, dominate, authority, Influence. There are many types of power. Expert power = talking with an experience base. Legitimate power = a legal kind of authority. Informational power = Telling someone if you understand this chunk of information, you will get this part. Reward power = only going to do something to get rewarded. Referent power = doing it because someone else is doing it. In a marriage there are many powers that can be used. As you carry out your life recognize the powers that you use and the strength it has. Every time I laugh when I hear reward power. As women we need to remember we hold a lot of power and to use it wisely. Recognizing theses powers we can know the motives behind someone’s behavior. 

I really liked this week’s topic of crisis because we all go through hard things and experience challenges in our life. First of all I really like learning about the ABCX model. Once it was explained it made total sense. A: the actual stressor event. B: both the resources and the reactions. C: cognition, the way you view the situation. And X: your total experience. Learning about crises I found it very interesting that 50% of times after losing a child, within 2 years it is usually a divorce. I think that everyone should learn to deal with crises so that things can end positively. When a crisis happens I like to think of the cognition part of it. When a crisis happens we usually think that certain events lead to certain emotions when that is not reality. Reality is events happen which leans to our thinking it over which then leads to our emotions. We can affect the way we think about crises according to cohesion and flexibility. If we are flexible I think that you can handle crises better. You are able to mold yourself in a way that you haven’t dealt with stuff before.  Closing I want to say a story that was told in class. There was a girl molested and the man was always asking her to forgive her. The pressure was all of the sudden put on her, Don’t put the pressure on someone else except the perpetrator. Focus should be on him. He should not be asking for forgiveness but is on his knees apologizing until you are convinced it is sincere. Tis story really stuck with me and is a tactic I never realized before. When a crises comes up in your life I know that if we try to view it positively rather than negatively than it will definitely help. 

Wow! This week I learned a lot about sexuality and intimacy. I learned the response cycle: 1) excitement 2) plateau 3) orgasm 4) resolution.  I learned that there are a lot of differences between men and women when it comes to sexual relations. For girls this cycle is very emotional. Hormones like adrenaline, serotonin, dopamine  and oxytocin are all involved. Also, when it comes to intimacy boys usually use sexuality as a way to the feel secure or safe. For girls it is the exact opposite. We need to feel safe and secure and then that leads to sexuality. I just know that when it comes time it is very important to communicate and know the physiology and psychology that comes with sexual relations.