The Family: A Description

We all come from families.

Families are big, small, extended, nuclear, multi-generational,

with one parent, two parents, and grandparents.

We live under one roof or many.

A family can be as temporary as a few weeks, as permanent as forever.

We become part of a family by birth, adoption, marriage, or from a

desire for mutual support.

As family members, we nurture, protect, and influence each other.

Families are dynamic and are cultures unto themselves, with different

values and unique ways of realizing dreams.

Together, our families become the source of our rich cultural heritage

and spiritual diversity.

Each family has strengths and qualities that flow from individual

members and from the family as a unit.

Our families create neighborhoods, communities, states, and nations.

Developed and adopted by the Young Children’s Continuum

of the New Mexico State Legislature

June 20, 1990