I come from a big family, on both my mom's side and my dad's. We typically are around my mom's family, though, which makes my dad's side look small. Either way, my family is big. By "big family", I mean that a typical Sunday dinner consists of about 30 people. My home church is practically just my family. Family vacation is over 40 of us sharing a beach house. We are a very big, very close family, and it can be pretty great. It can be a terrible thing, too. Anyway, here are seven pros and cons of growing up within a 20-minute radius of your whole family.
We are always together.
Everyone likes their alone-time, but my family is no stranger to "alone-time" consisting of five other people in the same room. It is honestly a great thing—we're all extremely close and always have someone to lean on when times get rough. There are, however, some downfalls to never having two minutes without a cousin breathing down your neck. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to be around someone all the time without wanting to strangle them a time or two... Or twenty.
There is no such thing as a secret.
Clearly, secrets aren't always a good thing. If a person in the family is having some issues with a friend or is in a bad relationship, the whole family knows and wants to do what they can to help. That's good and all—except for the fact that there aren't any secrets AT ALL. You honestly cannot make one mistake without everyone acting like they are your parent, telling you what you should have done instead.
All your cousins are your best friends.
Growing up around your family, you get extremely close with your cousins. A lot of times, they end up going to the same school as you. This means that you start out your school career with someone you know. You can grow your friend group and all be best friends and it will be great. However, if you're as unlucky as me, nobody else decided to have kids around the time your mom did. That led to you being the awkward cousin who didn't really fit in with the older group or the younger group. That, then, leads to a very socially awkward child/adult (AKA, me).
You're never alone.
Sometimes, you just need a shoulder to cry on when you have a bad day, a bad break up, or even just want to complain. Being in a big family means that there is always someone to help you get through your feels and get to a better mood. What doesn't work is when you just want to be alone and your family won't let that happen. I mean, yes, a "How are you?" text is nice, but if it's literally 20 texts every 10 minutes, it gets kind of old. That just leads to you being sad and annoyed.
Everyone has advice to give.
In a big family, there will always be someone older than you or someone who has gone through what you're currently going through. It makes it extremely nice because they can stop you from making some seriously poor life choices. Everyone wants to give you a helping hand and you can really feel the love. Sometimes, though, the advice is given when completely unnecessary and unwanted. Like, OK, Cheryl. I understand that tattoos are permanent, but so is the botched Botox you got last year.
There is always AMAZING food.
In big families, everyone is always finding new recipes—from dill pickle soup to "better than sex" cake, we are always trying something new. It's always a great time! It really is. Until you're 25 pounds heavier and struggling to fit into your fat pants. So, yeah, dipping chocolate graham crackers in a dip that taste like cookie dough is a great idea in theory, but when you have someone walk up to you asking when your due date is, you start to reconsider.
There is never a dull moment.
When your whole family can be at your house before you can finish an episode of "Family Guy", you know that they are down for any fun activities. Whether it be a spontaneous game night or a bonfire and hot dogs, a big family is always down to get together. It makes for a great time when you are bored on a Friday night, but sometimes you'll be home on a Tuesday and your whole family will come piling in with 18 movies, 12 games, and 10 bottles of wine. And you work at 9 A.M. the next morning.
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