Personal Reaction Paper

Sociology

Personal Reaction Paper

Through sociology I have learned to think like an Interactionist. This means I have come to the conclusion that my behaviors and what I consider to be normal have been a direct result of people who influenced me as a child. This includes Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and other family. Mostly though when thinking of the people that influenced me most as a child I think immediately of my mom and dad. George Hubert's theory of how the self emerges in three stages of life begins for me though the behaviors of my parents.

My mother had a huge impact on the type of woman I have become today. I was lucky as a child and had a great "southern" mom. My mom was very big in traditions. She was also the mother of six children. So the fact that she had energy for any sort of tradition is mind boggling. When I think of my mom in the early years of my childhood I think of a woman who was either pregnant or nursing a baby. I was the second of six children. So I learned early to become a "little" mother. I can remember being in sixth grade and riding the bus home from school and thinking to myself "I bet mom is waiting on me to help with the baby." Of course she always was. She was and still is one of the most caring and compassionate people I know. She taught me to be a good mom. She also encouraged me regularly to go back to school. She taught me that traditions are not only fun they are crucial to uphold in a family.

My father was much like a mother to me also. I used to think it was so unusual to have a father who was so maternal about his kids. Now I realize that I am just very lucky. My dad helped me see that women can do anything they want. He always wanted me to go into the medical field like him and his father, but I chose Early Childhood. I know that he is still proud of me. One thing my dad has always let me know is that he is there for me no matter what. This has helped me to choose my life partner. I realized through my dad that men should take an active part of raising the kids, doing household chores, and cooking. My dad helped to instill good etiquette in my life. Both my parents instilled good mannerisms and openness to others even if they are different than me. Through sociology I realize that both my parents were somewhat sociologically minded.

As far back as I remember we as a family always had certain traditions that we always did together. We always baked cookies for Santa the week before he came. We always sat in the living room on Christmas Eve while my dad read us a Christmas story. We always went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. We as a family never missed Ash Wednesday. We always had Thanksgiving at our house and never traveled on this holiday. Now 34 years later I uphold every one of these traditions with my own family. We even have some traditions that we started ourselves. These are important values that I learned from my mom and dad.

My mom and dad also had a great influence on the fact that I am an out going person and have many friends. Jean Piaget's theory is a great example of this behavior. This theory said that social interaction is the key to social development. I believe this to be so true. I was always encouraged to have my friends over and was allowed to go to their houses also. I was encouraged to play with many kids in our neighborhood. My mom and dad even modeled this type of interaction through their own relationships with our neighbors. I believe that this is the main reason why I have always had an easy time making friends. I was encouraged to be socially active at a young age. I was also encouraged by them both to not judge others just because they may look or act different than you. This is one of the most important