Actually, I personally
don’t have four parents, but this guy does. Or at least he used to before the cozy foursome decided to pair off, with
his biological parents splitting up. If this all sounds rather complicated, you
clearly did not grow up in a polyamorous environment like Salon writer Laird
Harrison.
It all started when Laird was nine-years-old and his family went
camping with another family. He noticed that his mom was in a tent with the other
family’s dad, and his dad was in a tent with the other family’s mom. Soon
thereafter, the two families moved in together.
Interestingly, the only part of Laird’s unusual upbringing that
he found traumatic was his parents’ divorce, which happened a few years later. And although he has opted for the
two-parent family himself, he understands the appeal of a larger family. After
all, the U.S.
is home to one of few cultures in which it’s rare for large extended families to live
in the same neighborhood and share parenting duties and social activities.
Image: Salon.com
