A heartwarming story of family, love, and celebrating what makes us special, from master storyteller Patricia Polacco, author of Thank You, Mr. Falker. Marmee, Meema, and the kids are just like any other family on the block. In their cozy home, they cook dinner together, they laugh together, they dance and play together. But one family doesn't accept them. Maybe because they think they are different: How can a family have two moms and no dad? But Marmee and Meema's house is full of love. And they teach their children that different doesn't mean wrong. No matter how many moms or dads they have, they are everything a family is meant to be. Celebrated author-illustrator Patricia Polacco inspires young readers with this message of a wonderful family living by its own rules, held together by a very special love.

First published in 1982. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In 1965, when psychologists Sandra and Daryl Bem met and married, they were determined to function as truly egalitarian partners and to raise their children in accordance with gender-liberated, anti-homophobic, and sex-positive feminist ideals. This book by Sandra Bem, an autobiographical account of the Bems' nearly thirty-year marriage, is both a personal history of the Bems' past and a social history of a key period in feminism's past. It is also a look into feminism's future, because the Bems' children, Emily and Jeremy, now in their early twenties, speak in the book as well.

The goal of this volume is to discuss--in depth--the ways in which various "deviations" from "traditional" family styles affect childrearing practices and child development. Each of the contributors illustrates the dynamic developmental processes that characterize parenting and child development in contexts that can be deemed "nontraditional" because they do not reflect the demographic characteristics of the traditional families on which social scientists have largely focused. The contributors deal with the dynamics and possible effects of dual-career families, families with unusually involved fathers, families characterized by the occurrence of divorce, single parenthood, remarriage, poverty, adoption, reliance on nonparental childcare, ethnic membership, parents with lesbian or gay sexual orientations, as well as violent and/or neglectful parents. By doing so, the authors provide thoughtful, literate, and up-to-date accounts of a diverse array of "nontraditional" or traditionally understudied family types. All the chapters offer answers to a common question: How do these patterns of childcare affect children, their experiences, and their developmental processes? The answers to these questions are of practical importance, relevant to a growing proportion of the families and children in the United States, but also have significant implications for the understanding of developmental processes in general. As a result, the book will be of value to basic social scientists, as well as those professionals concerned with guiding and advising clients and public policy.

Based on a review of recent scholarly literature on family structure, this report examines how the recent changes in family structure and the evolution of 'alternative' family structures have affected children. Examined are the overviews of the impact of divorce, re-marriage and the step family, the single parent family,racial differences in the family, gay and lesbian family structures, and the impact of daycare.

Winner of a Parent's Guide Children's Media Award No two families are the same, but every family is special. When Mrs. Mack says she will soon be a grandmother, her students realize that teachers have families just like they do! Suddenly everyone in the class wants to share information about his or her own unique family. Sarah tells of flying to China with her parents where they adopted her sister, Rachel. Christopher tells about his parents' divorce. They are still a family, but now he and his brother spend a few days every week at their dad's apartment. Nick lives with his parents, five siblings, and his grandparents―they need to order three large pizzas for dinner! And Hannah tells how she loves to garden with her two mommies.

Written from a psychological perspective while integrating cross-disciplinary viewpoints, this fully updated Second Edition takes a parent-centered approach to exploring topics such as the reasons behind parental behavior, the effect parents and children have on one another, and social policy's ability to help families. Including the latest statistics on family functioning and with coverage of contemporary issues, George Holden’s Parenting conveys the process of parenting in all its complexities.