Child Routine Analysis

Benjaminson’s Field Log:

0500: Wake up. Check on 2-year old. Take Shower. Ensure my 14-year old is awake and getting ready for school. Get dressed, make coffee, make husband breakfast.

Family, Nuclear Family, Norms, Society Roles, Values, Folkways, Gender Roles

0530: Give morning thanks and pray. Have breakfast with husband. Wake up 2-year old.

Put 2-year old on her training toilet.

Values, Religion, Beliefs, Socialization, Culture

0555: Get 14-year old out of house to bus stop for school.

0600: Get 2-year old dressed and ready for daycare. 

0615: Ensure 17-year old is awake and getting ready for her school day. Kiss husband

bye and wish him a good day as he leaves for his work day.

Non-Verbal Communication, Values, Norms

0745: Leave house with 2-year old to take her to daycare. Deal with morning traffic.

0800: Drop 2-year old off at daycare.

Socialization

0830: Drive back home. Get on computer and log into online college courses.

Functionalism, Education, Credentialism, Social Class, Role, Status, Values, Norms

1100: Eat lunch

1200: Go for run and workout at gym.

1300: Shower. Prepare for work.

1330: Drive to work.

1400: Arrive at work.  Interact with customers, co-workers, and peers.

Social Groups, Social position, Bureaucracy, Institution, Role, Interaction, Social Communication, Socialization

1700: Leave from work to drive to daycare to pick up 2-year old.

Laws, Norms, Social control

1730: Arrive home with 2-year old.  Sit 2-year old on training toilet. Prepare dinner for family.  Sit down with my 14-year old and ask him about his day and check his homework.

1800: Serve dinner to husband, 2-year old, and 14-year old. Give daily thanks and say prayers.

Gender roles, Age, Norms, Family, Folkways

1845: Wash dishes. Prepare 2-year old for bath.

1900: 17-year old returns home from her college class. Eats dinner.  Talks about day with husband and/or myself.

Emotional Labor, Primary Social Group

2000: Bed time for 2-year old. Hopefully 2-year old goes to sleep easily, most of the time it’s not easy. Say prayers and good night.

Deviance, Norms

2100: Bed time for household. Teenagers shower, go to their bedrooms to do homework, and go to bed.

Field Analysis: Benjaminson’s Life

As soon as we awake each day, we begin with a typical routine. Everything we do in life each day is timed and on a schedule. Work starts at a certain time, school starts at a certain time, daycare, and so on. People are needed to be at these places at times that help other people live their lives and are able to commence about their day as they normally do. We all have a role we play in life and in our family. Social norms are the expectation of our roles in society and how they play out regardless of race, gender, and ethnicity. We as people adapt to what our social role is, and our behaviors adapt to what is expected of us. I am a mother and a wife, those are my roles. I have three children of all different ages. They all expect me to do things for them every day. I have conformed to these tasks and preform them daily. Without my doing my part and playing my role, my family’s lives would be changed. Having a social structure in life is having a regular consistent schedule. Social structure offers stability to families and keeps a consistent and natural flow to life. Family is the most important and most influential agent in the socialization of people in society (Howard and Showel, 1953).

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I believe that in society, everything has to work together in order to function properly. Functionalism is needed in society. For example, I have to keep in constant communication with my husband in order to make sure we are financially stable, our children are properly cared for, and we are able to accomplish tasks for ourselves and the family. In an article I was reading online, it states how functionalism is extremely important to society as it looks at how everyone in society has a role they play to make the world function somewhat normally and keeps it balanced (Henry, 2016).  In order for society to function as a whole, everyone and everything has to work together and make sense. In order for society to function equally and the most stable, each person has a role in life, and that role contributes to making society function as a whole (Mooney et al, 2007). My children know what time they need to wake up and what time they need to leave the house to make it to school on time. My oldest daughter works a part time job in addition to her high school and college classes. She knows she must do well in order to graduate and be able to go to college. She knows she must be at work on time in order to not get in trouble and be fired.

Everyday each person in my family wakes up and has their own pattern of tasks.  Each one of my family members plays an important role in society. My children attend school, so they contribute as students in the education system. They are bettering themselves with getting an education so they can move on to college. My children have grown up knowing that having a high school diploma is very important in having job opportunities as they are older. They understand that credentialism plays a part in their futures. My husband goes to work every day. The role he plays in society is very important in that he is able to keep some criminals off the streets and issue citations to people who are breaking the law and committing a form of deviance. I now work part time after working full time for the past 20 years in the military. My role has significantly changed, as now my husband is the primary provider for our family. I am now able to play more into traditional gender roles as the stay at home mother, who is responsible for keeping the house clean, taking care of the children, and doing the grocery shopping.

Now that I do not work full time hours, I have more time to work on myself. I have more time to focus on my college courses, and more time to attend the gym. Having more time to focus on my college classes makes me a better person, and gives me time to understand and read the material more thoroughly. I am now able to be a more stable student, participate in the forum discussions, and work on my papers for my classes.  Being a college student is not easy, on top of being a mother, and also holding a part time job. I am still responsible for logging into my computer and completing online tasks. Being able to attend the gym more often, and go for a run helps me mentally and physically. I am less stressed out and able to focus and interact with people who are doing the same things I am. With being able to attend the gym more frequently, I am able to socialize more with people at the gym. Having these social interactions at the gym, help me learn how to exercise properly, help in building long lasting relationships, and help me socialize more. Social structure summarizes these social relationships, and the importance of having them in our day to day lives.

Transitioning from a full-time military member, to a part time working, mostly stay at home mom, has been a really hard transition. Going from a position where my role was a senior leader, devoting over 12 hours a day physically and being on call for 24 hours for my team members and ensuring their safety and well-being were priority, and that we were ready to take on any task at any time, to a role where I can focus more on myself and my family was not an easy role change. Society would think that this transition would be an easy one, and take no time at all. In the military I was a leader, a guide, a mentor to a lot of people. I have influenced people in positive ways with my knowledge and expertise. Knowing I have helped others and mentored them positively, makes me feel like I have contributed to society and I am a part of what makes society function as a whole. The military has given me a lot of training in leadership, and setting a positive example for others. The military has even given me training on how to transition more easily. It goes to show that our roles in society can change so quickly, even if we aren’t ready for our role to change. We have to learn how to adapt to our new role and conform to it.

Seeing how all these sociological concepts play a huge part in an individuals daily life really make me see how important each and everyone is in society. Our roles, our daily routines, our daily ways of life really are important and are needed for society to function. We come into a role as we grow into society. In an article about sociology I was reading, it stated that we are products of our environment. That people like to think they make their own choices by their own instincts and reactions, but really they are making these decisions based on what society has influenced them to do (Kaufman, 2018).  I believe this to be true. People are highly influenced by what they see and how they see others impacting society.

Everyone has a routine every day, and we all learn how to adapt to that. Knowing our role in society and how it fits in and works is very important. The role I take is the typical female gender role of a mother, a wife, and homemaker My role alone sets the tone for social structure in my family. My family has grown accustomed to my role and my responsibilities. Socialization within a family is very important. Family is very important to me and is my main priority to ensure they are well taken care of and are receiving the best opportunities society has to offer them. I am very thankful for all the opportunities I have had in life so far, and only look forward to the next challenges I will be faced with in society.

References

• Crossman (2018). Understanding Functionalist Theory. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/functionalist-perspective-3026625

         Form, Wilterdink. (2019). Social Structure.  Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-structure

• Freeman & Showel. (1953) The Role of the Family in the Socialization Process, The Journal of Social Psychology, 37:1, 97-101, DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1953.9921873
• Henry, E. (2016). Impact of Functionalism. Medium.  Retrieved from https://medium.com/@ehenry2/impact-of-functionalism-9210e75d85e3
• Kaufman, P. (2018). The Most Important Sociological Lessons. Everyday Sociology. Retrieved from https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/05/the-most-important-sociological-lessons.html
• Mooney, Knox, and Schacht. (2007). The Three Main Sociological Perspectives. Retrieved from https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/user/kfrench/sociology/The%20Three%20Main%20Sociological%20Perspectives.pdf