When we hear the word family, we think of a house with a mom, a dad, and some kids.  We think they all share the same last name. So what about the children who live with their aunt and uncle? What if they have two moms, or two dads? Are these not examples of families as well? Of course they are. There are endless combinations of relatives and friends that can be considered a family.

These alternate families are just as much a family as the one with a mother and father.  As long as they love, support, and care about one another, it is just as much a family. There’s nothing wrong or different about these alternate families, either. They just might not be as common as families with a mom and dad are. You’ve probably seen some alternate families on TV, in shows like ‘Two and a Half Men’, ‘It’s All Relative’, and ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’.

Sometimes it’s better for children to live in an alternate family, because their real parents aren’t able to take care of them as well as someone else can. Oftentimes it is a better arrangement for everyone involved, and people can live happy, normal lives. If you know someone who doesn’t live with their mom and dad, there’s nothing wrong with that. His family is just different from yours, but they’re both a real family. Nobody comes from a perfect family; even the Brady Bunch and the Huxtable families had issues.