Growing Up Together: Why Our Kids Will Always Know Their Cousins
We've had quite the busy summer so far, which is likely why I've not blogged as much as I'd like. Eloise turned 1 year old about a month ago (blog post to come soon, hopefully this week, since it's about a month over due!), we've taken some road trips, and spent lots of time with family. It's been exhausting yes, but honestly, it's been wonderful!
Which brings me to the whole point of this blog post. I know not everyone out there is close with their family, and that's OK. We are actually blessed enough to remain close (literally and figuratively) with most of our family, and it's such a wonderful thing! Dan's sister and her family live just down the road from us, and my parents live 2 streets away. Everyone else is also pretty close, with the exception of my sister, who lives about 2 hours away. Even with my sister 2 hours away, the girls know their cousin just as well as their cousin down the street, because we make sure to FaceTime regularly as well as have semi-regular visits, whether they come here or we go there.
No matter how we stay in contact with our family, one thing is for certain: we will always want our kids to grow up knowing their cousins. Dan and I both come from large families and are still in contact with a LOT of our cousins, and we want the same thing to be true for our kids. Annie knows her cousins by name, and Eloise probably does, but can't say them yet. She certainly recognizes them, though! Every time she sees either cousin, she gets a big smile across her face, and vice versa. On her birthday, all 4 of the girls were together and it was just about the cutest thing we've ever seen. Watching the unbridled joy and excitement of them all playing together, well, I think that made EVERYONE'S heart burst with joy.
There have been so many other times that the girls have gotten together (not always the 4 of them though), that I couldn't possibly list them all. But what I know for certain is that even at this young age, they are building relationships that will last a lifetime, and for that, I couldn't be happier. I hope that someday, they will all look back fondly at some of these photos. Even though they are are still so young that it's unlikely they will remember these times, it's my hope that when they are 10, 20, 30 and beyond, that they reminisce and smile about these times, and that they will know that no matter what, they will always have a best friend in each other!
Friends come and go, but family is family. Maybe these kiddos won't always be friends, but they will always have each other as family. As parents, we can do our utmost to foster that friendship and hope it continues through adulthood, because it really is a wonderful thing! While they are still young though, we will just sit back and watch them laugh, giggle and tumble around together. And that, for now, is everything.