How often do you see your siblings/nieces/nephews

[Anonymous]

For those that have a brother or sister and their families in the area, how often do you go to see them or participate in events with them?

I am currently getting the guilt trip vibe from my brother b/c I only go see him & his family once a month. He has 4 kids under 10 and seems to think as the only aunt in the area, I should be over more often (I have no kids currently).
Of course, we do all the holidays with them but most weekends DH and I like to chill and relax, go to meals or concerts.

[Anonymous]

Once every two weeks. My parents do a Sunday night dinner then, and we all hang out.

[Anonymous]

Mine live far, and I don't see them more than twice a year. Kills me.

[Anonymous]

OP here - to clarify - our mother died 5 yrs ago and our father is assigned overseas, so there is no other family in the area.

[Anonymous]

Every week or every other week, but we both have young kids so it's a social thing. When she had kids and I didn't, it was more like every 3 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Once or twice a year.

[Anonymous]

Once a month some times would be ok, if you have a lot of plans. But otherwise, I would think you would be able to carve out a couple hours every couple weekends. Kids wake up early. Just go over for breakfast or something. You would have basically the whole weekend to yourself. I would think the bigger issue is that you don't really feel like you want to see them that often. My sister is so excited to see her nephew. If she doesn't come over for a few weeks, I know there's a good reason, and she would see us if she could. He's building a strong relationship with her that I hope will last a lifetime.

[Anonymous]

When I was growing up, I had a very small extended family. One uncle and one aunt (my dad's siblings). I would have loved to have seen them much more often. We saw them 3 or 4 times a year and they lived about 1/2 hour away. If you could find the time for it, seeing them on a more regular basis would be an awesome gift. Maybe go over one another's house for dinner every few weeks like my family does. You'll build great memories.

[Anonymous]

Before I had kids, I very rarely saw my nieces and nephews. They live about 1.5 hours away. They are lovely kids but there is a certain selfishness and indifference that comes with being childless, sorry to say. And also the fact that I just couldn't relate. I didn't know songs or games or cutesy kid activities to do with them. Half the time when I did visit, they are too wrapped up in their parents to pay any attention to me anyway, so why bother?

Our families became much closer when I had kids of my own.

I would say you should make a better effort OP. Twice a month, even if just for a few hours is nice.

[Anonymous]

I wish I saw my two brother's kids more. They are truly enjoyable children. But they both live across the country. And their battle ax wives would rather go on cruises and visit their families than permit my brothers to have relationships with their own families. Of course if my brothers were not whipped this would not happen. My DH's wife is a pill and a major drama queen, but her little boys are darling, so we see them often. Of course SIL hates the fact that I adore her kids and they love to see me, and she tries to keep them from spending too much time with me. At her youngest's birthday party, I was blowing bubbles for them and they were laghing and being silly and she told us to knock it off.

[Anonymous]

My SIL lives about an hour away and visits once a month. My husband is deployed and she takes DD for an afternoon so that I have time to myself. (she doesn't have children). I think it is amazing of her to come once a month. She has asked me if that is enough (her boss makes her feel guilty for not coming more), but I think it is more than generous. Prior to deployment - we saw her maybe once every few months.

My brother and his family live in another state, I see my nieces/nephew once a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I saw my two brother's kids more. They are truly enjoyable children. But they both live across the country. And their battle ax wives would rather go on cruises and visit their families than permit my brothers to have relationships with their own families. Of course if my brothers were not whipped this would not happen. My DH's wife is a pill and a major drama queen, but her little boys are darling, so we see them often. Of course SIL hates the fact that I adore her kids and they love to see me, and she tries to keep them from spending too much time with me. At her youngest's birthday party, I was blowing bubbles for them and they were laghing and being silly and she told us to knock it off.

You make my head hurt. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I was just on the roller coaster recap of your life.

[Anonymous]

And what's up with this -

My DH's wife is a pill and a major drama queen, but her little boys are darling

Is it a typo? Even if it's his ex-wife, they are his little boys too. Hard to follow for sure.

[Anonymous]

OP - I really don't want to be over there all the time is the thing. And I do feel bad about that. That sounds bad, but it is what it is.
The SIL is completely religious and makes my head spin.
They never want to meet me out, I ALWAYS have to come to their place b/c of nap schedules etc, and this gets tiring after a while.

The kids are sweet, but I got married late and still love spending all of the weekend with my hubby.

[Anonymous]

SILs are tough. Sometimes they dictate the WORST behavior. SILs and MIL would rather go off on their own with the rest of the family than politely include DH and me and our DC. One year every one of them went on a vacation together and we were the only ones not invited. How rude can you be? DH will never forget it. He was so hurt, but would never admit it to them because after all these years, they are worse bullies than ever. We have been nothing but generous to them, and this is how they repay us. So be it. DC will learn the truth soon enough without us saying a word.