I have several, very strong memories of cousin time when I was younger. The aunts would usually take us to a McDonald's that had a playground. I think that we ate lunch, but what I remember has nothing to do with the food. I remember taking over the playground, the cousins would take control and dominate the play area. It sounds kind of mean when I say it out loud, so let's just pretend it was a sweet thing that we did.
I LOVE all my cousins. We still have fun when we get together. Now, today, I'm redefining "cousins." When I say "we're going to go see the cousins," it usually doesn't mean my cousins. It means Burl and Fern's cousins, which they adore. They are all older and have ushered my children into the cousin world nicely. This week, the aunts took the cousins to the park and for hot dogs. I'm one of the aunts. Which feels a little weird. No, it feels a lot weird. Like see-your-teacher-at-the-mall-weird. Life changes. Roles change. We play different roles in our lives. With these new roles, comes new memories.
That quick little visit of play and eating will be a big memory for me. I realized that I have a new role. An aunt. A mom with children who have cousins. A mom who coordinates cousin time. There's no doubt about it. Cousin time is big time. And big time makes for big memories.
cousins are awesome, i would know!!! :)
ReplyDeletesee your teacher at the mall weird! haha Mean Girls!
I didn't get a lot of quality cousin time when I was growing up, so even though we live 2000+ miles away from my kids' cousins, it has been a big priority. Whenever possible, we would make the trek back and reunite with them for good times like you write about here. Precious beyond words.
ReplyDeleteReal life postscript...I don't mean to be a downer but a few years ago, we lost the oldest cousin of the bunch, at age 20. Tragic, yes..he leaves a hole that will never be filled. But oh my gosh, we are all sooooooo grateful for the fantastic memories he left behind. Cherish the moments!