Family Mapping

This week we learned how to map our own families. I was a little confused at first but after going over it in class I think I now understand. Family maps were created to show the quality of interaction between family members.A girl in class mapped her own family on the board and it was really interesting to see how she portrayed her own family. There are three different types of boundaries that are used in mapping:

Rigid- There is little exchange between to the two individuals
Clear- An appropriate amount of exchange between two people
Diffuse- The relationship is very open, the boundaries are violated

After learning about this in class I started thinking about my own family and what the boundaries are like between my parents and my siblings. I have always thought my family is pretty open about everything and we are all pretty close. I still think this but I am interested to see what the boundaries will be like ten years from now. The youngest sibling in my family is 15 and the oldest is 28. Ten years from now we will all have our own families and we will probably be spread out across the country. I enjoy learning about the boundaries because then it forces me to reflect on the relationships I have with my 6 siblings and then that encourages me to think of ways to improve those relationships.