Though I have a rather large extended family, I have never been close to many of my relatives. I have one aunt and grandmother I maintain regular contact with, and as far as uncles, I have been fortunate to have two rather excellent ones; on my dad’s side, Uncle David; on my mom’s side, Uncle George. I’m 30 now and Uncle George is still spoiling me, so it’s hard to complain about quantity of uncles when the quality of them has been so high.
Because the toddler’s extended family is quite a bit smaller, he has a unique opportunity to forge more significant relationships with his aunts and uncles; on Spouse’s side, he has three of each. Because two of Spouse’s sisters live in Winnipeg (and we only see them a couple of times each year), Toddler has really only maintained regular contact with Spouse’s sister’s family. And because Toddler is an introvert, when he likes someone, it is obvious; he doesn’t warm up to just anyone … but he has warmed up to Uncle Nathan.
Maybe it’s because he has three boys of his own and knows how to interact with them, or maybe there’s something particular about him that draws the toddler in; either way, it is encouraging that Toddler has identified someone outside of Spouse and I and his grandparents that he wants to spend time with. I know how wonderful it can be to have a good uncle; I think it’s pretty wonderful that Toddler’s got one too.
Did your little ones establish a bond with a particular aunt or uncle – related or otherwise?
I have three sisters, my youngest was born when I was 18 – she is the one that my kids love going to the most (even now that my youngest is 17, she is there right now, working but also going boating and to the beach with her daily) My mom also lives down there, and my daughter has been so close to my mom, that in grade one she went to Germany with her for a month (needless to say, she now has the travel bug and has already been to L.A., New Zealand and Australia at age 17). My eldest, my son, was closest to my dad (who’s passed on) but there are many times when he’s talking to his cats, when he sounds so much like my dad (in mannerisms as well) that its scary. I don’t know what we’d do without extended family and am very fortunate to have some (p.s., the baby sis got married on june 29th and both my kids were in the wedding party)