by Perry McCarney

Created on: September 20, 2008   Last Updated: May 05, 2009

Adopting a "grandparent" for your children is a recent, though certainly worthy, concept occurring in Western Society as an effort, whether conscious or not, to mitigate the impacts of familial fragmentation.

It was not very long ago in history that families of several generations and a broad expanse of inter-relationships living together was the norm rather than the exception. Generations of families were birthed and raised together in close proximity. In many parts of the world, this is still the case; they are the better for it, both emotionally and through social stability, no matter what their economic circumstances may be. Only the totally destructive disruption of famine, the social disorder from such evils as civil war or domination by external political forces can lessen that.

In the communities of Western Society it is now rare to find closely located extended families. Many families are far flung between countries, let alone states or merely cities. Many parents, whether they consciously recognize it or not, miss the familial support structures that were inherent to the close proximity that families and small communities previously occupied.

While conservative politicians often extort traditional family values, their concept of what such are is extremely limited at best. They seem to feel, or at least state, that the nuclear family, parents and children only, is both the norm for humankind and how things have always been. This is not so! Any examination of history or study of undisturbed indigenous populations would make that abundantly clear.

The ability to travel significant distances from the extended family is relatively recent; the habit of doing so only occurs in those of Western descent, and only since the early 1800s when the process of colonialism first became established. While some migrated in the hope of benefiting their children, finding a place where their children could blossom and succeed, many were given no choice at all by dominating "nobles" who would convict someone to 30 years of servitude on the far side of the planet for stealing a loaf of bread to feed their children.

Small communities is the natural way for humans to live. This normal structure, that existed for hundreds of thousands of years, has been deformed since the discovery of agricultural techniques has allowed the formation of much larger human communities, cities and nations. And in the last couple of hundred years, the fragmentation of extended families and communities.

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