Today in class, we were learning about family boundaries and how some families have boundaries that are very rigid and make being close to others difficult and other families have very limited boundaries and boundaries that are difficult to define. Our teacher compared it to having a neighbor that has a barbed- wire fence and a neighbor that has no fence. Neither option is really ideal, because on the one hand, you have someone who is hostile or reclusive and very difficult to talk to or be around, but on the other hand, you have someone who is always in your space and never gives you any privacy or opportunity for independence and growth. The ideal home would be to have a place with a white picket fence, where there are boundaries, but people are welcome if they come in through the determined entry. It is the same type of thing with family boundaries. Like so many other things in life, if you have extremes on either end, it is often not healthy and not where you want to be, but if families establish some boundaries and rules, while still not being overly strict or controlling, then this helps to allow the family as a unit to be healthy and have good relationships with each other.