Family

Family is so important to me. Now more so after everything that has happened. I believe that everyone is entitled to have the perfect family. But what is the perfect family?

When I was a child I thought the Cleavers from the television show "Leave it to Beaver" were the perfect family. They never had the issues I was going through with my family, divorce, a second marriage, step-siblings, etc. All I ever wanted twas to be part of the perfect family.




Here is a link to a very interesting article I found written by Dawn Hawkins. She writes, "Families aren’t what they used to be in America. It has changed drastically since the meaning of a family in the 1950’s. A family used to mean a married couple with their children, generally of the same race and heterosexual orientation. That is a far cry from the different faces in the American family structure today. "

http://www.helium.com/items/1721569-family-change-structure-type-same-sex-parents

I chose this article because famiy comes in all shapes and sizes. It illistrates the differnt types of family that are around today. These are our friends, neighbors, co-workers, anf perhaps even our own family.


My niece recently can home from school crying because the other kids were making fun of her because her parents are still together. When did coming from a divorced family, a "broken family", become the norm? I remember longing to be from a home with both my mom and my dad. I had so many friends that still had both their parents at home. But now it is seem as as an abnormaility to have both parents at home.

Lets talk about the term "broken home". What does that mean? As I child I saw that term as a negative. Who wants something that is broken? Does that mean it does not work? Why can't I have an "unbroken home"? I think the use of the term broken home is does more damage than the situation itself.

Here is an article from Huffingtonpost.com written by Deborah Moskovitch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-moskovitch/is-your-home-broken_b_888255.html


I attached a clip from the new show "Modern Family". It shows how the face of family has changed over the years.



What a difference from the "Leav it to Beaver" picture of a family.

So whay is a family???