From the author: Published on the website of Leonid Sergeevich Lysenko 02/20/2012 “Incomplete - single-parent” families Do we choose? or do they choose us? The family is a single whole and a great value, and in this article I want to go beyond the scope of completeness when there are two spouses, take it as a starting point. In addition to the fact that people live under the same roof and run a common household, there is a difference in the number of members and their composition. Different people use the words “my family” in different ways. For some, in addition to spouses and their children, only parents are part of the family, for others, grandparents, for others, cousins ​​and second cousins, and someone says, “Me and two cats, such a small family.” Why are some families “fuller” and others not? I believe that in an extended family (including several generations) a person realizes his fullest potential. It is easier for him to communicate with others when he sees different people from different generations at home every day, and learns such communication from childhood. Creating and preserving a family is a great undertaking that is not possible for everyone due to various reasons: - Someone did not have experience of such a life (the parental family was not complete). - Someone does not have the territory to comfortably accommodate such a number of people (in a modern apartment of about 60 square meters it is difficult (almost impossible) to create comfort and “their own territory” for each family member). - Someone is “squeezed” by the parental guardianship and cannot develop independently (go their own way) while being close to the older generation. - Someone watched a lot of “youth” TV series and is sure that finding a sexual partner will make him happy, but that this was not even a thought for long. Practice shows that everything There are fewer opportunities for a person to create or continue to live in an extended family. Researchers have noted an increase in single-generation families. (families that live together with spouses without children. It so happened that a person leaving a village for a city separated from his extended family, and created a nuclear family in a new place (consisting of parents (parent) and children, or only spouses), hoping that his children would no longer have to leave. But over the years, when the children grew up in such a family, they no longer knew what could happen differently, and upon entering adulthood they separated from their parents to start a family. This was facilitated by the cramped living space in modern city apartments (about which. mentioned above). And parents who raised children until the age of “leaving the nest” remained to live their lives with their spouse but without children. A historical necessity has grown into the norm of life. And maybe everything is not so bad here and it is possible to return to the previous extended ones (large multi-generational ones). ) family in modern life. For this, one desire is not enough. The infrastructure and lifestyle do not imply any changes. An apartment designed for four (spouses and their children) will not accommodate three more (parents of the spouses). Where should kindergartens go if grandmothers are raising their grandchildren? Why nursing homes if children will respect their parents and take care of them until old age? And besides the material side of life, modern people think little about their loved ones, and are unlikely to want to move into an extended family, thereby losing “independence.” And what content do you consider sufficient for your comfort? How many generations and people fit in your personal space? How many people are missing or who is extra in your family? Is everyone happy in it? Psychologist-consultant Lysenko Leonid Sergeevich.