Being a part of a big family can be extremely overwhelming at times.

Every family is different, especially for those of us with big families. However, there are some things that no matter what, all big families will understand. These are a few:

1. Whenever you have a family get together, whether it be for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or birthdays, you will never truly have the entire family there.

The only way to truly get the whole family together is for a wedding, funeral, or a full-blown family reunion. Otherwise, you know you'll just be lucky with half the family.

2. When your grandparents call your name they go through half of you cousins before they actually make it to the right name.

Can you really blame them? When you have four children and over a dozen grandchildren, it's hard to remember so many different names.

3. You have your own inside jokes.

Sometimes there are things that only your family understands. To you and your family it's hilarious, but to your cousin's boyfriend of two months, it's completely confusing. You can try to explain the joke but no one will ever find it quite as funny as you and your family do.

4. You always have a favorite cousin.

No one ever wants to admit it but we all have that one cousin that we talk to every week. It's not necessarily that you like them more than your other cousins, you just get along better. Your family even associates you together because you are so similar. To you, they're both your cousin and one of your closest friends.

5. Whether it be intentionally or not, when you're in a big family being compared to each other is just part of it.

When there are so many cousins and you're all close in age, it's impossible not to see similarities in each other.

6. When you're telling someone about one of your cousins, it can be almost impossible to explain which cousin you are talking about.

To you, it's just your little cousin but to others it's aunt's daughter's son, not to be confused with your uncle's daughter's son.

7. Your family knows EVERYTHING.

By this I mean you can have someone ask you out on a date and 30 minutes later your grandmother is calling you asking about your "new relationship". It never fails. You can't tell one family member anything without the entire family knowing by the end of the week.

8. You or one of your siblings/cousins is named after a distant family member.

For example, I am named after one of my second cousins who we call "Big Cheryl". Something about having a large family makes naming your child after a relative seem like the perfect way to honor them.

9. You're never actually alone.

Like when you're in a big, close knit family you could just be sitting at home and your cousin/grandparent/parent could just show up for a visit. If it isn't a visit it's a phone call to check up on you and see how you're doing. You don't get mad though because you know you do the exact same thing to them.

10. You wouldn't give up your big family for the world.

You love them even though they're a lot to handle sometimes. No matter what you can always count on your family. They will always love you and support you. There really is nothing quite like having a big family.