Ideal Family Structure?

Is the ideal family structure of a mother, father and children really necessary these days?

I know so many people with what others may call "broken" families but I don't think everyone is meant to be a parent. Maybe that sounds a little harsh.. but I think it's the truth.

One of the things my boyfriend and I have in common is a MIA father. His came back after he saw his son was the "all American boy" in high school. God knows how this works, I'm a book worm and a nerd (and proud thanks) and he is or was a jock. If we would have gone to high school together we would have never dated. Anyway, my father hasn't returned. I think he will one day when he needs something but that's besides the point. The point is that for the most part our mothers raised us. I think we turned out rather well. A really good friend of mine was also raised by his mother and I think he turned out well. I still yell at him for dating "fluff" but other than that he's fine.

Some of my friends have had MIA mothers and they seem to be doing well. Their fathers raised them and both girls are doing really well. Maybe it was a little awkward when it came to talking about some things but their fathers stepped up. My boyfriend's kid's mother is MIA and I think that's a wonderful thing. We definitely have issues with her.

Now for my brother... He's a mama's boy. He's the definition of a mama's boy. He's no where near as close to his father even though they are obviously the same sex. My mother's in Philly right now studying and my brother hasn't seen her for a while and she's taking her boards and she's coming here this weekend with the munchkin. I just know it's going to be really difficult for my brother next time she has to go away... I mean go out for milk or something like that. He's going to assume it's going to be for a long period of time again. It's going to be tough. I don't know if this counts but my cat is a mama's or owner's boy. He's extremely affectionate towards me but hes nothing like that when my mother, brother or boyfriend come over. He even runs from my friends and hides under the bed.

I think the "ideal" family structure of a mother and father is pretty much long gone. Sometimes that's not the ideal situation and that's perfectly fine. Especially when it comes to same sex couples, I think some of them make better parents then "mixed sex" couples. I've seen and heard so many stories about shaken babies and my mother worked in Newark for a while and she told me when she saw A LOT shaken babies and they usually came in with a male-female COUPLE! Not single parents or same sex couples or grandparents or whatever else you can think of. I was kind of surprised. I kind of expected single parents would have a higher percentage of shaken babies because of the added stress but I was wrong.