Have you ever considered a webcam? It would require one on both parties, but you could see and talk to people online.
We, also, live far away from all of our family. One thing I did for my boys was that I made magnets with all of their cousins, aunts, uncles with their pictures on each one. The boys loved looking at pictures and this really helped them to get to know their family each day.
Make & share family photo albums. They can be actual photos in a book but ALSO.....send albums via internet. Make sure to acknowledge and send birthday, anniversary cards, etc.
Go ahead and invite them or let them know about birthday parties, etc. and then send them photos over the internet. You obviously don't expect them to come, but you still want them to feel like a part of the family, yet not obligated. Just informing them of what's going on in the family.
Can you do web cams every month, twice a month? This can be a time for EVERYONE and something to look forward to. Let the kids make cards, have them draw pictures, etc and send. Send them photos of graduations, baseball games, etc. The internet has made those kinds of issues.......MUCH easier!!!
Even seeing her cousins once, or twice a year, we manage to keep them close by having "cousin" sleep-over nights--where they all have a huge slumber party together. The kids love it, the adults hang out together. It works pretty well.
I have family all over as well. One way we all keep in touch is the internet. I'm not sure if you give Christmas or birthday presents, but one thing you could do is give each of your extended families a video camera for the computer. You mount them on the monitor and you can see eachother and talk. They can be pretty cheap - $30-$40 a piece. Then when you see each other 1-2 times a year, you will all be better acquainted and up to date on what is going on in your lives. Good luck!
We lived in Oregon for 5 years when my oldest two children were born. Both of our families were in Ohio and Indiana. It was hard when the girls got old enough to know they were missing being with their grandparents.
We weren't able to get home for Christmas when my oldest was about 2. I had my mom read books (she's great at it) to my daughter on video. She sent the tape along with the board books and a teddy bear she had in the video. She watched it non-stop! My younger daughter enjoyed it when she got to be the same age. My son, who has always been within a few hours of grandparents, still enjoys watching it.
We also did some trips with grandparents where we rented a condo near the middle.
It's hard but worth it to make the cousins, etc, seem real to them. It makes it easier when they get together. My kids love spending time with their cousins even though they don't see them all that often now.
Teaching your children at a young age to write letters and spend some time on the telephone with the extended family is important. I think it is important to have recent photos of family as well.
My brother and his family were in the military until 2002 and spent most of their time in places like Virginia, Texas, Kansas, Germany, and Italy. I saw very little of my neice and nephew when they were young and my children saw very little of their uncle. We spoke to him and his family at least once a week by phone, but unless you have unlimited long distance that can be impossible. We depended on letters and pictures a lot as well.
Pam R
Hi - any chances of moving back to the are of your family? WE did that and it has been great - same scenario but we were only 2.5 horus away...
My suggestion would be for each of your children to be a pen pal with a cousin of about the same age.(or more than one)
Your other ideas are good and maybou could get together with various ones at locations midway between your residences.
Your desire to nurture the family relationships are commendable and will require a lot of focus.
Videos are a good way too.
Also sharing interesting things about where you live,
Hope it works.
You could ask the aunts and uncles to video tape different things that the cousins do then send you the videos via email or mail. This will help your kids to know what interests their cousins. Plus, it might help them to know what they have in common with their cousins. You could also have everyone sign up for Facebook. It is a pretty secure site. My husband did that when our son was born so the family could just sign up and see the pics. Plus, you can have a blog or chat with them. They could also make a blog.
Robyn,
My husband has a very large family also and to keep up with everyone once a year we have our family reunion. Same weekend every year, same place usually. It works great! We have family that comes as far away as lower Kentucky/Virginia. Our house was chosen >25 years ago as the "meeting place" because we have land for campers and tents,so we plan for weeks getting ready for everyone.
Make it simple-
*Ask around and see if all are willing to meet somewhere every year.
*find out what time of year is best for all.
*once decided, let all know when, where (Gatlinburg, Florida, Kings Island,your place) etc.
*send out reminder postcards about a month in advance.
The book sounds like a great idea! Maybe you could start it at your 1st family reunion!!
Good Luck and have fun!!
Renee
My husbands family lives far away from us too. One thing we do is keep websites for our kids. If you go to www.totsites.com you can make a webpage for your kids. They are FREE and they are GREAT! You can post pics, journal, put little facts about your kids, track their growth, do little surveys, and there is even a spot where you can e-mail people to have them sign up to get alerts whenever you put something new on the page! It is great!
You are on the internet now, how many of your family have access? I'm just beginning as a grandma learning to do things with my computer, and I have an excellent collection of pictures from my son and daughter of my grandkids. When I get a ear piece so I can talk and listen in real time (my son has promised to explain all this to me) I can see and talk to them as well. Some sort of arrangement can be made for your family as well (they even do it in the fullly papers). Good luck and of course you have to keep an eye on exactly who the kids talk to, unfortunately. Good luck.
We have the same situation, all our family lives out of town. I have gotten my kids to know who they are by planning trips to see various family members for various reasons (weddings, funerals, birthdays, etc.) and taking lots of pictures while we are with everyone. I try to chronicle the event, which is sort of unfair to me because I don't get to really talk to anyone. But I am able to send the relatives pictures of them doing things with my kids, and I make a photo album for my family that we review frequently, and remember the people and the great time we had. The funny thing, now that they have gotten older, they see their cousins differently, and enjoy them more. They may not have liked some cousins before, but now my kids have matured and so have the cousins! But they have a solid base for a relationship, be it infrequently, because they have relived those times together through the photo albums we have created. It takes a lot of effort on our part because we are the ones that live 7 or more hours away, but it's worth it!!!
Ginny L.
Hi Robyn,
First, I have to ask you where you live? We live in the Avon, Ohio area and I too don't have my family here. They live in Indiana. It's only a 6.5 hour drive but still, it's very hard for me. :(
If we live close maybe, we could meet and lean on each other for support.
I'm a stay at home mom of two and my husband seems to be working a-lot latley and bringing his work home too.
Maybe, you could look into getting the web camera's for your computer. That way you can talk to your parents over the computer and your kids can also see them and stay in contact with them.
I think you can also get several of them and somehow make it so you can all talk to each other or you will atleast be able to talk to your parent's and another family member in another household.
We got one for my sister and I for Christmas and haven't hooked ours up yet...but I can't wait to try it. My daughter loves to play with her cousins when we go for a visit and talk to them on our cell phone. This will thrill her being able to see them on our computer and talk to them.
I'm very lucky that my in-laws only live 45 minutes away. So, I do have some support around me and my mother-in-law is great and she tells me she loves me and would do anything for me, but it's not the same as having my own mother here.
Plus, my mother has Muscular Dystrophy and I know she eventually won't be able to travel or get around on her own and I want to spend as much time with her as possible.
Anyway, if we are in the same area, please contact me and maybe we can meet? [email protected] Just put Mamosource mother in the Subject line so I know it's not junk mail.
If, we're not close. Feel free to still e-mail me if you ever need to talk. I know how hard it is without family close by.
Good luck,
Tonya
PS - I think through Apple etc... you can make some really nice books. Some friends of mine have done it and they send in the pictures and what they want the book to say on h
,.;;;??
each page and in a couple of weeks they have a nice hard covered, or soft covered book sent to them. They do a nice job.