Family used to mean something. Cousins knew each other, uncles taught nephews skills, grandparents were involved. Now everyone's scattered and on screens. Been trying to organize quarterly family gatherings and getting some pushback from the wife about the drive. Anyone else fighting to keep the family unit strong or am I just old fashioned?
You're swimming upstream but it's worth it. We had a family reunion last summer and the cousins actually played together the whole time instead of being glued to screens. It was like watching something endangered come back to life.
How often are you trying to make it happen? The hard part for us is coordinating schedules with everyone spread out.
This is one of those things that seems unimportant until you're older and realize those people were the real foundation. You're doing your kids a huge favor.
My uncle taught me to fish when I was 8 and I still remember every detail. That kind of relationship is irreplaceable. Good on you for trying to build that.
to join the conversation.
Not weird at all. I'm really intentional about this with my three. My kids know their cousins way better than I knew mine at their age and it's made such a difference in how they see family as a real thing, not just names.