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Chapter One WHOARE SINGLE PARENTS? When a family is made up of a mother, a father, and one child or more, that’s called a “nuclear family.” The term comes from physics: an atom has a nucleus at the cen- ter with electrons and protons circling it. The idea is that the nuclear family is the center of our lives. Comparing a family to atoms kind of makes it sound natural and eternal—as if families have always been this way and always should be this way. But if you study the history of the family, you’ll find that nuclear families have not been around all that long. Families used to be much bigger, for one thing. A “family” usually included at least three generations (grandparents, parents, and kids), as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins. Nowadays, we call this an “extended family” as a way of contrasting it with the smaller, nuclear family. But historically, large families all lived near each other and depended on one another.

Words to Understand annulment: when a marriage is declared to have been invalid; legally, it is as though the marriage never happened. secular: nonreligious.