Family First

These days, having divorced parents is a very common situation. It is so common that it has actually become normal. My parents have been married for almost 23 years and don’t have any previous marriages. Nowadays my family would be viewed as very uncommon. We are the unicorns of family situations. I know this is a very fragile topic and I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings I would just like to talk about how different people’s lives are in this day and age.

Most of my friends have different family situations. Most have divorced parents, others have parents with previous marriages, and some have single parents. There are very few of us with parents who are still together through a first marriage. All of these kids are still very happy and are not any different from me. They just have different family.

We all have really different family situations, values and routines. Some people have brothers, some have sisters, some have both and some are the only child. We all have grown up in completely different ways. We are all still great people who have values and care about things. They are just different. We should never judge someone just because their family is a little different. Those are the most important people in that person’s life and you are insulting him. That is not fair or nice.

Trust me, growing up, I’ve seen a lot of my friends, who have different family situations, get teased and bullied because of it. They already had bad feelings toward their situation and others just made it worse. It wasn’t fair to them at all because people were just looking at their family and judging them when, really, they are an amazing person. When you insult someone’s family, you are also insulting them.

I just want everyone to realize that we are all different and it’s ok. We need to learn to accept people how they are and not make fun of them for who they are and where they come from. That person you just made fun of because their mom left a note in their lunch? Their dad left years ago and their mom is just trying to make ends meet and still care for her kids. That person you teased because they don’t look anything like their family? They were adopted from an orphanage and is so happy to be with a family who truly loves them. You never understand someone’s situation unless you’re living it. So don’t jump to conclusions and judge someone before you get to know who they really are. Who knows, you might be surprised at who you meet.