'family'

[Perfectly Precious]

Indulging in my secret guilty pleasure of watching Discovery Home and Health ... some show about multiple births as usual

I love those shows too especially maternity ward...DH would groan when I watched them.

–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.
6.
Chiefly British. approved lineage, esp. noble, titled, famous, or wealthy ancestry: young men of family.
7.
a group of persons who form a household under one head, including parents, children, and servants.

I guess I didn't look at myself as a family until I had kids.......you wouldn't say to a couple 'how's your family going' cos its just them two

[Cackle]

I agree with Cherie as well. I never felt like we were family unitl we had the children and now the children have moved out I'm not sure what we've got............

[Empty Nester]

.......an Empty Nest!!!!!!

[Stormy]

If someone asked me how my family was, I would assume they are referring to my mum and my sister and maybe other close relatives who live locally. I don't perceive us to be a family in our own right, even though we have two dependent cats. We can't claim anything for them at tax time after all, more is the pity.

That is not to say that I don't think our life is incomplete. Women with rampaging ovaries might feel this way but I don't. We get referred to as a "childless couple" by extended family.....it's not enough that they call us a couple, they have to emphasise the lack of children as well. That irritates the living daylights out of me but it's hard to fight the common misconception that you have to have children to have a complete and fulfilling life.

[Empty Nester]

We get referred to as a "childless couple" by extended family.....it's not enough that they call us a couple, they have to emphasise the lack of children as well.

Even as an "empty nester" this would bug the hell out of me too.

Given my time over again............doubt I would change anything.........but children are a lifetime commitment.........long after they fly the nest.....and the bank balance would be a darn side better now if the decision had been reversed.

Good on you Stormy for not knuckling under what I am sure has been considerable pressure.