| In my country, all families are different and relations between the wife, husband, and children are different too. In my country, most women must work because the husband has very low wages. I worked for 43 years in my life and worked very hard. When I had my son I was with him only 5 months and then I had to work again. The babysitter was my neighbor, who was pregnant. When my son was one year old, I put him in nursery school. At 7 years old, he went to school. That was a very difficult time for me because he had to stay alone at home after school and nobody could help me but I had a nice neighbor.--Nelli |
| In my native country, most women have to work to help make money due to the expensive cost of buying a house for their family and the cost of having their children learn different kinds of skills (eg. play piano, learn English, math, etc.). It's good to take care of your own small children if you have enough money, but I think it's better to have a job because children will grow up. It's difficult to find a job when you get older. Having a job is more compatible with the society. I think it's better both for personal reasons and for the family.--Emily |
| In El Salvador women's lives are very hard because most husbands want to find or have a woman that works and helps them with the budget and also that takes care of the children, keeps the home and everything clean, cooks well and takes care of them. That is a good woman for them. But now they are changing and they try to help doing some chores at home. Here it is different because everyone needs to help each other. I like to live here!--Wendick |
| My family is really small: my husband, my mother and I. Almost three years ago I got married and moved to San Francisco, because my husband is American and he prefers to live in America. It was very difficult for me to leave my country, my home, my friends, and most of all, my mother, because I'd lived with her about 40 years! We are good friends and nobody loves me like she does and we are so close to each other. I think the members of families in Russia live more closely than in the U.S. and they usually stay together and take care of each other. In my opinion, it is better to stay separate, because for our parents we are always kids.--Elena |
| In families in our country, the man is stronger than the woman. The man goes out to make money and socialize. The woman mostly takes care of the children and does chores and not only takes care of the children, but even the husband too. Now a husband can't hit his wife and children, but living with a big family, just like living with a mother-in-law, is a difficult thing. If both sides respect each other it's easy, or else it is hard to be together. I like San Francisco life. Everyone has to go out to work. When it's the children's time to marry, they like to be independent, to move out to make their future life.--May |
| In China, who cares if parents spank their children? Although that is very serious, nobody wants to sue parents for spanking their children. The same thing is with some husbands still hitting their wives in Northern China. Maybe 30% of the people still do that. I hate a man who hits his wife or girlfriend. That is a very bad thing for a woman.--Simin. |
| I like smaller family units, for example, a husband, a wife and their children. One wife is the best. Two wives are not good for one house. In Japan, old people like to live with their first son because before World War II, the first son of the house should keep the property. Parents were part of the property. A Japanese man who is the first son became lazy as a human being. I don't like these Japanese customs which are still surviving. I mean those men look like they aren't independent. To say it in other words, women are stronger than men. I think men in Japan are so spoiled.--Keiko |
| A long time ago, women didn't want to work outside. They just worked inside their house and took care of their kids. Only men worked outside in my native country, but now that is different. Both husbands and wives work outside and inside too, except for rich families where the women don't have to work outside or some lazy husbands who don't want to help their wives because some men's minds still have old traditional thinking that when they finish the outside job, then they don't need to do any more, just relax or talk to their friends. If a couple has kids, the mother-in-law takes care of the kids unless she still is working or passed away. Then they send them to a day care center.--Julie |
| I live with my husband and my daughter in San Francisco now. I feel very happy. A few months ago, we lived with my mother-in-law. We were not happy at that time, because we have different ideas, opinions, and attitudes about life than my mother-in-law. In my native country, most couples go to work every day. They work hard. Some husbands help their wives do some household chores. But in ancient China, the men never did any housework. They went to work, and the women stayed at home. If you ate lunch, it was always the man first. You couldn't eat until your husband finished lunch. It think that's not fair so I'm very fortunate to live in modern times.--Li |
| I met my husband in San Francisco. I don't have a big family. I think if you have small children, you should not work because you can't trust nannies or babysitters. When my kids turned two years old and were out of diapers, I sent them to Parkside Nursery. In my country the men only work and make money and never help with chores. Women are the ones who take care of the kids and do the housework etc. The laws in my country and in San Francisco are very different. In Burma some of the husbands and mothers-in-law hit the wife or daughter-in-law and the government never makes any law for not hitting whatsoever. I never had a mother-in-law in my life so I'm very lucky and I'd never allow them to hit me at all. In my country parents and teachers spank the chiildren when they're bad.--Alice |
| My family is very big. It has about 20 people. Half of them live in San Francisco. In my country, women babysit children until they grow up to go to school. Husbands help wives to raise children and help with housework. My mother-in-law was a very wise woman. She was helpful and friendly. I think families in my country are the same as families in S.F. I like my family and do all for it in my life.--David |
| My family is not big, and all of my relatives live in different countries. In my native country, women don't work if their husbands earn much money. Laws in the USA protect women more strongly than in my native country. There are many cultures that have stories about unkind and bad mothers-in-law, but fortunately my mother-in-law is a very good person. I think parents shouldn't spank their children though children get on their nerves every so often. I think it's a very big job and takes talent to raise good children.--Inna |
| My family has four people in it, but when I came to San Francisco it was different. It became three. My eldest child is over 21 so I left her in Hong Kong. I miss her always. I don't know why here there is a bad law. I think you can live with your mother better than with your mother-in-law because even if your mother is bad, you feel o.k., she is always like that. But with your mother-in-law, you can't accept it. You will be angry or hate her. You will tell your husband your mother is too bad, with your mother, everything is not alright.--Cissy |