wouldn t miss for the world (and neither would I for that matter)<br >is the familiar nightly session of bedtime reading; exploring exotic<br >lands， learning about witches， monsters， frogs， balloons， airplanes.<br >alphabets， lost dogs and people of any description.LJ Last night<br >I chose to read this fair-haired son of mine a children s book ap-<br >propriately titled "Families." In a very graphic， spirited and adoles-<br >cent manner， its aim is very similar to the aim of this book which<br >you hold in your hands.Fl When Kathy and I first began this<br >project， many moons ago， our very simple goal was to tell you--<br >and perhaps more importantly show you--that we do not all have<br >to be the traditional family of yesteryear， the Ozzie and Harriets.<br >the I Love Lucys， the Father Knows Bests， to be valid， viable， liv-<br >ing， breathing， functional family units. That does not mean the fami-<br >ly is dying. But it s clear that the family is changing. [q Of course<br >the traditional family still exists to some degree. But it is not the<br >predominant model. According to Miriam Galper， author of Joint<br >Custody and Co-Parenting， "The typical American family is more<br >myth than reality. Today s typical American family life might in-<br >clude divorce， remarriage or two children from previous marriages<br >~.. my children， his children， our children， various in-laws， ex-laws，<br >and so on?[] It s these newer alternative family forms， as<br >well as the traditional families that we d like to introduce within<br >the pages of this book. Join us for a look at joint custody families，<br > how they deal with schedules， conflicts， communication between<br > ex-spouses， and most importantly， how the children are faring. We ]]<br > show you how several single parents deal with the problems of over-<br > whelming responsibility， financial concerns， and coping without<br >