Relationships take work, no matter what the relationship is.
When I was young, my mom invested a lot of time building and strengthening the relationship that I had with my cousins. My mom would put together family hikes, she and my aunt put together a quick trip to Capital Reef in Southern Utah, we always celebrated birthdays together and every holiday. My mom wanted to make sure we would always be friends.
We still get together for birthdays, holidays and sometimes just because. We haven’t done any family trips since we’ve been grown ups but there is always a chance.
My mom is working with my girls right now to make sure they have a forever relationship with their cousins. During the summer they have “Camp Grandma” where the kids do activities, science lessons, art lessons and crafts. My dad helps out any way he can, which includes chasing after the 18 month old, preparing delicious meals and running errands. He’s also been known to deliver a pretty good science lesson with the help of McKane (one of two older cousins).
They don’t always get a long. There are times when they just have to be separated in order to restore peace, but it is something they all love working on.
Blogging relationships are just like real life relationships. They require work. Over the past little while, I’ve developed relationships with several bloggers. Some on a level of just communicating back and forth through our blogs. Others of them I will exchange emails with and we’ll discuss things that aren’t on the blogs but that might have been mentioned in a comment or a tweet. Many of my bloggy relationships have been created and nurtured through twitter. And then there are the bloggers that I have actually met in real life and possibly hung out with.
No level of relationship is possible without work. Without investing a little (okay, sometimes a lot) of time into these relationships, they won’t last.
Do you have a close relationship with your cousins? What do you think contributed that relationship?
Check out some great stories, photos and old photos by clicking on the links below with Lolli, Cecily and Dumb Mom.
Hosted by Cecily and Lolli
Twitter: runwithmel
i want to go to ‘camp grandma’! yes, relationships are a lot of work, but in the end they are often worth it!
Twitter: stephsday
Don’t you just love Twitter for establishing and growing relationships? It’s a wonderful tool (and so much more interactive than Facebook). 🙂
Sadly, I’m not close to my cousins. We do have positive relationships and we see each other at holidays, but I wouldn’t say that we’re friends. I’ll have to think awhile on the contributing factors to our lack of closeness…
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Amy Andrus Sanford, Amy Andrus Sanford. Amy Andrus Sanford said: Relationships take a lot of work but for the most part, they are worth it. http://www.thefamilytrifecta.com/?p=2798 #31DBBB […]
I only have 4 cousins, and none of them live here. I’ve gotten a little closer with my cousin, who is a year younger than me, on Facebook, but I’m not close with any of them.
Amy
Twitter: familytrifecta
Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:15 pm
isn’t it funny how technology really can help our relationships? I think I have never had a conversation with my dad’s side of the family unless it was a family function. Now that we have facebook, I’ll get IM’s from them all the time. It’s been fun getting to know them better.
Twitter: broccolicupcake
I love this post! Growing up we were very close with our cousins. We all lived in the same neighborhood and we did everything together. As adults we’re spread across the country, but when we do get together it’s exactly the same as when we were kids. I sometimes feel sad that my own children don’t live closer to their cousins, but we are blessed to have some amazing friends who are like family. Our kids have known each other since birth and the relationships are so important to me not just for myself, but for what they offer to my boys and teach us all.
I’m totally going to steal the idea of “Camp Grandma” when I’m older (much older!) 🙂
Amy
Twitter: familytrifecta
Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:12 pm
friends since birth is a lot like cousins. in fact we have a family like that and we used to tell everyone we were cousins. 🙂
I’ll share several of the camp grandma activities soon.
I am not close with my cousins at all. i am very close with my nieces and nephews though and I love how close they are with their cousins. I really want to encourage that with my son!
Amy
Twitter: familytrifecta
Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:10 pm
if you are close with your nieces and nephews that will definitely help your son be closer. In some ways my older nephews and nieces help strengthen the bond with the younger ones.
The whole idea of Camp Grandma is brilliant! And I agree, and have made some true friends via the blogosphere. Have a great weekend!
Twitter: thenagainphoto
Cool! I LOVE that first shot, the red socks being my favorite! I grew up with a ton of cousins (like 30). At least half of us spent a good deal of time together. In high school and college I became best pals with two of my other cousins and I was so happy to have that. It makes me sad that The Dudes only have 1 cousin and he lives across the country:(
Amy
Twitter: familytrifecta
Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:07 pm
We were pretty darn cool back then. 🙂
My girls have 1 girl cousin their age and she lives two states over, so it is great that camp grandma can help with that friendship.
Twitter: optimommy
Hi Amy! In my generation, we weren’t all that close though we do see each other at family gatherings like Christmas time and reunions.
Your post made me think about how my kids relate to their cousins. Now is always a good time to start nurturing relationships. I like the idea of Camp Grandma, it looks like a more fun way to have the kiddies together.
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more of your posts. 🙂
Amy
Twitter: familytrifecta
Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Thanks Jayme. “Camp Grandma” has been a wonderful thing for the cousins. I’ll be doing a series about many of the great activities they did.