Bring on the Cousin-Love

One of the sweet treasures we are giving our children is a close relationship to their cousins.  There is nothing like "cousin-love".  There is something special about having cousins that are relatively close in age - they are playmates, confidants, friends... they can be there for you when all you need is a someone close but not too close, someone like a sibling but removed, a "brother" when you may not have one, a sister if you need one.  This is so evident in our own life - Alex is squished in between two sisters and sometimes all he wants is someone to wrestle with (close to his own size), someone to play hockey with or someone to play in the dirt with him.  Jean loves her girl-cousins that she can play "mommies" with or dress-up with that is also close to her age, size and maturity.  Grace is the oldest cousin on both sides of our family but having cousins gives her opportunities to be a leader and caregiver to others.. not just her brother and sister.

Their cousins live near (4 close by so far) and far (4 far away) but distance hasn't stopped them from having fun together when they are together.  I hope this lasts forever for them.