I grew up seeing one side of cousins 2-3 times a year - Christmas, Thanksgiving, and anytime we were in each others' town for some reason. I like them a lot and have offered host them over the summer when they graduate if they want to try to find a job out here, or just travel for a bit, but we're not super close. I definitely would help them out like family, but it's not like we call each other regularly to keep in touch.

My cousins from the other side of the family are sweet, but we have very different life styles, so we're exactly friends in the sense of doing things together but we are family in that we help each other when we can.

I only have four first cousins and still see all of them reguarly. I have a good relationship with all of them but am particuarly close to one of them (she's like a sister to me).

My kids only have two cousins (so far) and they are really close to them. It helps that they live within 15 minutes of us.

I was close to my cousins growing up and we still all like each other (texting on birthdays, that kind of thing), but don't see each other regularly now. There's one annual event where I see two cousins. It's a lot of fun and very comfortable to be around them even though I only see them once a year.

My brother and a cousin the same age made the effort to keep in touch -- visiting each other at college and even now their families visit with one another.

I grew up very close to my huge bunch of cousins. Over the years, we have maintained a very friendly and sibling-like relationship, although there are some I'm closer to than others. Lately, we've all been on WhatsApp and it's amazing how much our communication has increased.

It is soooo hard to say what is going to happen. I have a lot of cousins and we were close as children/teens, but this changed as adults. There were some falling outs among the the siblings (our parents) over an estate. That pretty much ripped everyone apart.

I was close to my cousins growing up but not as an adult. Our lives took very different directions and our connection faded.

I loved my cousins growing up, we often had a sibling-type relationships. I have many happy memories from childhood with them. As we got older, particularly in college, we saw much much less of each other. As adults, we don't see each other much. Still, when we get together the fondness and familiarity is there. So while I wouldn't say we are "close" now, we still have good relationships.

I'd also say, that if you are your sibling get together regularly and get along, that will go a long way towards building a relationship between your kids.

^ That's so sweet.

I have one sibling and 35 first (and about a million second etc) cousins and a large chunk of us grew up as close as siblings. The core of us still feel like siblings and visit when we can, and the rest are geographically far apart but keep in touch via annual reunion, FB, email, etc.

I have an only who decided by herself that her 3 first cousins and one of her 2nd cousins are her sisters & brother and they all call each other that despite not having in person visits very often. It's cute, now that they're all at least preschool age they've started skyping and - as soon as they could write each other's names - sending each other little notes in the mail.

I always thought I would have more children and when I learned that I wouldn't have more than one I was sad, but have been so touched and truly filled with joy to see how with no prompting from their adults the new generation of little ones have taken to each other like crazy.

I grew up seeing my cousins on major holidays, and we are still close and still see each other for Christmas and such. And interestingly enough, I would also say I feel close to my cousins overseas when I do see them. There's something for us, where when we get together there's an easy familiarity and it's like no time has passed at all.

I have a lot of cousins (20?) but wasn't that close to any of them--some we only saw on holidays despite living in the same city, others we saw frequently, but they are all 2-3 years older/younger and the uncle who is the father of the girl cousin who is closest to age didn't really get along with the rest of the family. My mom was only really close with one of her SILs.

Now DH and I are close with a second cousin who lives close to us--I used to see him and his siblings on summer vacations to the Midwest town where my dad grew up. His son and DS are the same age.

My brother's kids are older and they live far away--but we wouldn't spend much time with them anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Did you grow up close with your cousins? Are you still close?

I come from a big loving family, but in all likelihood we will stop at 2 kids (which I'm pretty sad about). Fortunately, my kids are lucky enough to have an awesome group of similar-aged cousins to whom we're really close. Most of them aren't local, but we vacation with them several times a year, have weekend-long sleepovers, big family get-togethers over the holidays, regular facetime chats, etc. In short, their cousins are their favorite people in the world right now (my kids are 4 and 6, cousins 2 to 10). I like to think think that over the longterm, this big group of extended family can provide the loving, chaotic, support-network that my own siblings provide for me. I wasn't close to my own (much older) cousins growing up, but am interested in hearing stories from people who were how those relationships panned out over time.

We grew up like this too. Big family and loved visits with our cousins. I think there's only distance now that everyone's got lives and families of their own, which can make things tricky, as there are more obligations and personalities to manage. Not everyone's spouse has as much fun as we do.

You really never know. I think as adults, it's up to the cousins themselves to make the effort to spend time with extended family. I take my DD to see my aunts and uncles once a year on 4th of July, and my cousin never shows up, even though we are close in age got along great as kids. It really is just whether they want to make the effort, and nothing can substitute for that.

The only thing you can do is continue to plan family get-togethers when your children are grown, and encourage them to attend.

Not close to my cousins. DD and her cousin are BFFs. It helped that they are the same age/gender and they lived within walking distance of each other.

DD is not close to her other cousins. At all.

Did you grow up close with your cousins? Are you still close?

I come from a big loving family, but in all likelihood we will stop at 2 kids (which I'm pretty sad about). Fortunately, my kids are lucky enough to have an awesome group of similar-aged cousins to whom we're really close. Most of them aren't local, but we vacation with them several times a year, have weekend-long sleepovers, big family get-togethers over the holidays, regular facetime chats, etc. In short, their cousins are their favorite people in the world right now (my kids are 4 and 6, cousins 2 to 10). I like to think think that over the longterm, this big group of extended family can provide the loving, chaotic, support-network that my own siblings provide for me. I wasn't close to my own (much older) cousins growing up, but am interested in hearing stories from people who were how those relationships panned out over time.