Kinship, Continuity and Change

In the notes for this class the definition for nuclear family went as follows: mother father children.  This seems to me to be a very modern definition and made me curious as to a post-modern definition. As with most post-modern views on things the finite definition is tricky to develop, as there are numerous variables and variations that need to be included to cover all bases. One might thing that changing the definition to: parents and children would be suitable enough, at least in covering ground to include same sex couples, but then the questions arise about single parents, divorced and re-married families etc. In trying to categorize my own family for instance I became confused as to where to "draw lines in the sand" about where nuclear stopped and extended begins.  I personally consider my nuclear family to be my mom and siblings - as this is how it has always been.  

I believe that is it time to change our 'norms' in regards to families.  There are many divorced families, single parent families (both men and women), same sex parents etc - there does not need to be a man and woman with children - society needs to open their eyes a bit :)