noun
1.
a. a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family.
b. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.
2. the children of one person or one couple collectively: We want a large family.
3. the spouse and children of one person: We're taking the family on vacation next week.
4. any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins: to marry into a socially prominent family.
5. all those persons considered as descendants of a common progenitor.
[source: The Dictionary]
Why is this such an emotionally charged word? Over the years there has been a redefinition of what is considered a family. Different types of families such as single parent, blended, step, adoptive, foster, multi-generational, and families headed by same sex partners have altered our perceptions of family. The meaning of family is different from individual to individual. It isn't as consistent as it was two decades ago when you could enter any grade school classroom and the drawings of family included a mommy, a daddy, and children.
