Extended Family | Pad Patter 10.25.15

[scrapsandsass]

Do you have an extended family with lots and lots of people? Cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.? Do you have more on one side than another? If you have lots of family, are you close to those people? See them at bigger family events (weddings, graduations, funerals, family reunions)? Do you keep in touch with extended family throughout the year?

The whole ide of extended family is so interesting to me. I didn't really have cousins when I was growing up. My parents each only had one sibling with no kids. My grandma had no siblings. My grandpa is Italian and came from a big family, but by the time I arrived on the scene, my mom's cousins had their own families and we never had any major family gatherings or much contact with them. My hubby has a ton o' cousins on both sides of his family, so it is always a challenge to keep them straight, but he really doesn't keep in contact with any of them. I just met one of his aunts yesterday. She is 96, and we totally clicked, so I totally want to go back to Portland to visit her. Tim looked at me like I was a crazy person, but it was just one of those connections.

What about you and your family?

 

[MrsPeel]

we are a HUGE family...and yes, when I was living in South America, we did get together a LOT, when I was little and my grandparents were alive, it was Fridays @ one sets of grandparents and Sundays at the others, lots of meals all over the month at my aunts, uncles....
we are really tights with my cousins even now....thing is now we are more spread around the world, but when we go to South America.... we kind of have it all booked in advance...
the good thing...everyone feeds you there LOL

I was very close to my grandmas, when I was a teen...and I was weird.
They loved it that I wanted to wear their 1930's & 1940's clothes and would argue with my aunts and uncles who thought I shouldn't dress the way I did....
my paternal grandma ..I used to give her Led Zeppelin records and get her to translate the lyrics for me (I never studied English...I did French & Latin) and I had my aunts being my bridge with my mum when we didn't get on for a while ...my teens were...well, lets say I was wild...up until I met Andy and life changed
But family is everything to us, I am so glad I educated Sarita family orientated....

 

[berniek]

My parents both come from a large family with 5 siblings. When we were growing up the connection was better with my moms family. Nowadays it's actually my dads family who we're closer to. Most of those cousins are intellectually on the same level as us and it sounds very narrow minded but it does actually help with connecting and communicating. Most cousins from my moms side grew up so very different from us in regards of ideas in relationships, raising kids, politics, etc.
When my grandparents were still alive, weekends were booked for visiting them and seeing the rest of the family. After they passed away, we saw each other a lot less. We organized a special family day for my moms family every year but things are always difficult to plan for the next year and some people have already decided to quit. On the other hand, with my dads family we weren't uses to a thing like this and especially the kids (me, my siblings and our cousins) really wanted one. Because our parents still celebrate each other's birthdays but we don't. So we've actually started a family day in that family as well this year. And it was a huge success!

In this time and place I'm not a big fan of large families though. Like I don't really understand the need of 5 or more children. The world is populated. You don't need so many kids for support. Moderation. (If I'll ever get kids, it's through adoption or foster care or perhaps my partner already has kids.)

 

[lorryfach]

My extended family isn't that big and I've never lived anywhere close to them. I don't really know what it's like to have a close relationship with extended family. DH's family is a lot larger and he can't keep them all straight. We see them every time there's a wedding, round birthday, anniversary, etc. and I think it's cool that my kids get to grow up with that. Plus they see their grandparents a lot more than I saw mine. We have dinner with DH's parents every week and we Skype with mine a lot. I saw mine *maybe* once a year.

 

[carilyne]

Growing up both sides of the family were large and we got together a lot. I grew up with cousins. Until I was 16 and we moved far away. Gradually family has drifted away and now there really isn't any connection except to a couple cousins and an uncle. It makes me sad to think of it. I need to regrow a "family"

 

[klee73010]

My family is large, and complicated, hubby's family is mostly non existent. I have 4 "main" siblings and all their spouses and kids... my mom is one of 6. My step-dad (adopted me and sisters early on) has 3 siblings. Then my real dad also has 2-5 other kids (long story), and he is one of 3 kids, so all their spouses and kids.

I see my mom's family most, because a larger group of them live here in AZ, but the majority of our get togethers are holidays. I see my 3 local siblings and their families most, because we live the closest together. I work with 2 of my sisters and make a point to say hi to them specifically when I travel into the office.

Mostly, family is on Facebook, and that's how I know what is going on in their lives. Anything I've missed is actual conversation when we get together.

 

[RebeccaH]

This has always been something I've secretly wished for - a large family that was tight-knit. My mom is one of 3 siblings. Only one of her brothers had any kids, and he only had 1 son. I'm my mom's only child. So on her side, I have one cousin.

My dad's family is large, but super duper messed up. He sort of disassociated himself from them long long ago. It's been YEARS since I've seen any of my cousins or uncles. I couldn't even tell you their names. It's sad really.

My husband's family is big - both on his mom's and his dad's sides. So I live vicariously through them! Unfortunately, we don't live near them, so our kids still don't have that sense of large family and belonging.

 

[jk703]

My Mom and Dad's side is a large family/extended Family... and while we all get along, we are all over the place. I wish we were closer to we could all get together more often! It's always bound to be fun or a little crazy! I love the holidays, mainly cause I get to see my family more! *(Mom was 1 of 3, and Dad was 1 of 8)

DH's family is huge as well... but they all don't get along. I don't try to keep up with the who is getting along with who, or who I'm not supposed to talk to or who did this or that... I just smile, laugh, have fun, and get along with everyone. (His mom is one of 8)

 

[mrs2a50]

Teeny tiny - John has one brother, I'm an only child.

 

[Lindzee]

My mother was from 12 siblings, but she was the youngest and most were grown, moved, gone before we kids ever came along. On her side I only knew my Auntie Ada and cousin Sandy. They lived in Rhode Island and we lived in Pennsylvania so visits were few and far between.
My father had one sister and we had three cousins who lived in Nebraska so we really only saw them at thanksgiving at my Grandmother's house. My grandmother dis-approved of all things not religious oriented so we never were permitted to have much fun there We always had to keep quiet and pretend we were pious..

Now - My husband is Greek - we have cousins, uncles, combadas (sp?). Also my kids tended to bring home every other kid they knew to be part of our celebrations. Until I was sick with Rheumatoid Arthritis Easter, thanksgiving and Christmas look like this at my house:

Lots of guests are what I would call "extended" family. when weather puts us inside - we have two tables stretching through the dining room and living room, and one year took a right turn to the hallway.
Everyone brings something. Its fun.

I should add that although my parents have passed away and the four siblings live far away from one another, we try to get together what my kids call the "bulicks reunion" once every few year - which includes cousins and spouses - so again a large crowd.

 

[lmccandless]

The extended family is all on my side, with lots of aunt, uncles, cousins, etc. We see my family pretty often despite living 900 miles away and vacation together once a year at Disney World.

My husband's parents have both passed away and he only has 1 brother with no children, so there's really no extended family there.

Here are the girl cousins on my side. <3

 

[Lor]

Oh gosh... do I ever have extended family! Both my hubby and I come from families of 8 children and our parents also had 5+ siblings. And the family grows every year, with more new babies. I've lost track of how many times I'm an Aunt and Great Aunt! So we have too many relatives! LOL! Holidays are fun, but chaotic! We are all very close and treasure the fun and chaos!

 

[Mrivas]

My family on my mothers side is ginormous. My grandma had like 13 kids and all but one had at least three kids each, up to nine. I have like 50 cousins from that side alone. Growing up I was really close to some of them but we all live far from each other, we mostly keep up on FB! I always think it would be fun if we all got together, it would be like over 100 people. But it's very impossible.
My fathers side is still large but smaller and I don't know them as much.

 

[enjoyyourpix]

I used to consider myself having a large extended family. Unfortunately, after my mom died and then my grandma, I felt like those connections disappeared. The last few times I went up to visit I had problems. Many of the family members (my mom's siblings) do not like my dad and I felt I had to make a choice to leave my dad behind or go visit them. In one case, I was told my dad couldn't come with me for dinner. I didn't take that very well and I haven't really talked to any of them in a while. My grandmother was VERY good at getting everyone together and making everyone feel welcome in her house. Many of her children lack that skill. It's sad.

 

[littlekiwi]

Teeny tiny as well, I'm an only child, have one cousin, mom, aunt, uncle and grandmother on my mom's side and don't know anything about my dad or his family