My dad was one of five, giving me plenty of aunts and uncles to love on me, and fourteen cousins to be best friends with. My mom, although only having one sister, never lacked in abundance of family. She gave me one aunt, six cousins, and six second cousins, and five great aunts and uncles. It is fair to say that my brother and I were never in need of babysitters or playdates. Although overwhelming at times, having such a big family brought me so many great and unique experiences, and if your family is anything like mine, here are a few things that I know you will understand.
1. Growing up your cousins are your best friends.
Having a large family filled with kids your age meant never having to plan playdates with kids from school or having to knock on the neighbors door. With your aunts and uncles always around, it was almost guaranteed that you would have hours to spend with your cousins sweating outside and letting your imaginations run wild making up new games. As you got older you guys left playing astronauts and princesses behind, and brought out the N64 games, and eventually turned into each others' go to movie dates and party buddies.
2. Teachers somehow always knew you.
With six cousins in the same high school and a what feels like a million more lagging behind you in middle school and elementary school, every single one of your teachers is bound to have taught either one of your siblings or your cousins. This means constantly having teachers with certain expectations from you. If your lucky, your older family members were perfect brown nosers who got straight A's.
3. Everyone thinks you have 20 brothers and sister.
Along with your teachers already having certain expectations from you, they also always assume that whatever family member of yours they taught is your brother or sister. Having what felt like a million Quibano's running around my high school meant always having to explain to teachers and peers who was actually my brother and how I was related to the rest of them
4. Growing up kids from school never came to your birthday parties.
Growing up you were always jealous of kids who got to invite the whole class to their birthdays, because with a big family, you probably had more cousins than you had classmates, so your parents always limited your birthday parties to family.
5. Holidays are an ordeal.
Most families get super hype for the holidays, but when you have such a large family, it can also be pretty stressful. You have to make sure you get to see both your mom and dad's side of the family, and it can never just be a "dropping by" kind of thing. Christmas eve and Christmas day, are both an all day affair of traveling between families making sure you get to spend quality time with all your aunts, uncles, cousins, and both sets of grandparents. As chaotic as it sounds though, you always had a blast getting to see and exchange gifts with your whole family.
6. You are always called by the wrong name.
Whether it be by you your aunt, grandma, teacher, or even mom, if you are in a room with one or more of your family members, you are bound to be called by their name at least once. When I am with my mom's side of the family I just assume that they are speaking to me even when they yell for Stephanie or Gabby.
7. You have a different bond with everyone in your family.
If you grow up with a large, tight knit family, you have the opportunity to build these special relationships with each member of your family. You don't realize how great and rare it is until you see some of your friends' families and their dynamic. I always thought it was super cool that some of my cousins were my best friends, some babied me, and I even got to love and spoil some myself. With a big family your bound to have multiple people to confide in about anything and everything.
8. No one ever understand how you are so close with your family.
People consider you weirdly attached to your siblings and your cousins. You all talk on a regular basis, have inside jokes, are constantly trying to make plans to see each other, and texting each other wondering who all is going to the next family event.
9. You have a huge support system.
Having a big family means always having a fan club. Growing up you always had a cheering section whether it was at your basketball game, dance recital, science fair, or your graduation. With all your aunts, uncles, and grandparents nearby, that meant no one missing out on any big moment.
10. The way you define and value your family will always be different.
Growing up so close to your family means that you will always think of your family as a unit that is constantly growing with more people and more love. They will always be a constant in your life and something you value more deeply than anything, because you all helped raise each other by experiencing all of life's big moments together.
