Staying connected....

auntteesa

I'm pretty bummed because my sister who lives on the other side of the country, with my two nieces, won't be able to come and visit now because of my BIL's work. Haven't seen them since Sept and littlest niece, I haven't met yet. 

I have 8 nieces and nephews (and more to come I'm sure) and as much as I know having a connected personal relationship with each is unreasonable, I'd like to make sure each of them always thinks of me as their favorite Auntie and know they are always welcome in my house and arms.  

 How do you keep a close relationship with nieces and nephews that are distant?

 PS - reason this is in Pre-School is because they are pre-school aged. I never know where to put random posts like this.  

howleyshell

auntteesa:

 How do you keep a close relationship with nieces and nephews that are distant?

Sykpe.

We only see my brother and his kids once a year if we're lucky.

Now that they're all older we set them up on Skype and turn them loose.

Our Christmas Skype call was about an hour with all of the kids showing each other their new favorite toys, showing what they got for each other, etc.

Sometimes we do it on weekends just for fun but we try hard to do special events like right after scoring a winning goal or just before or after a dance recital.

We'll sometimes make cupcakes on our end for a birthday on their end and then all sing Happy Birthday together on Skype.

It's not as good as being there but for us it's the next best thing until they're old enough to text and e-mail on their own. 

auntteesa

That's a good idea. 

 I was thinking about putting together some sort of packet for each family, and basically record me reading a book once a week to them and then I would send the book and dvd so they got one every week. But that's slightly expensive.... Maybe I can do that with thrift store books....  

jlw2505

Honestly, I have lived in a different state than most of my nieces and nephews for most of their lives and we are all very close.  The different things that we do is that when we do see each other, we make the time count.  My siblings and I (4 in total) live in 3 different states.  We make it a must to always do a family vacation every summer - we have been doing this for around 12 years give or take.  We go away for anywhere from a long weekend to a week - sometimes we meet up at one persons house and sometimes we go other places - this summer we are meeting in RI - all 18 of us in 3 houses with a pool and the beach and not a ton else.  Quality time helps.  Most of also get together every year for Thanksgiving.  Outside of in-person visits, most of us are on FB, we skype, talk often and when the kids were younger, I used to mail them cards and pictures and little things.  I keep a website up of pictures of the kids for whoever wants to see and I also have a blog.  Lots of ways to stay connected even if far away.  When you call, make it a point to talk to each of the kids.  My kids call my parents every single Friday night!

franciscaz

That is really tough.  My sister is my best friend and we miss each other so much.  DH and I had to relocate from Las Vegas to NM a few years ago and I've just never been the same w/o my sister a stone throw away.  We left when Harmon was 7 months and those first 7 mos she saw him 5x a week.  Now we are lucky if she sees the kids 3x a year.

 What helps us is that she follows my blog and emails me daily.  We put up new pictures almost daily for her.  Every night she emails me and comments on my blog and what is up with her.  I email her when I wake up.  Sometimes w/our smart phones we will email each other back and forth through out the day.  At least 2x a week she talks on the phone with my oldest and I put the phone to the twins ears so they can hear that she loves them.  She always sends gifts for birthdays and we always call her right away when the kids get them and post pictures of them enjoying them.

It isn't perfect but it keeps us a little closer.