The Family Ties That Bind

Now that we're starting a family of our own, we've been talking and thinking a lot about our relationships with our own families. Granted, my sister and her family are our closest (geographically and emotionally) relatives on both sides and are a huge, irreplaceable support system for us. That being said, we saw a lot of room for improvement in our level of communication and relationship with basically every other member of our respective families.

So in theory, if we each call our parents and siblings weekly, we should have a better relationship, right? Not necessarily. Now that we're a unit and growing more family members, it's important that we each extend communication and common courtesies to each others families. So now we've doubled the number of calls/outreach that needs to happen with each family member for each person. Sounds daunting, right?

I won't lie, the idea of calling extra people each week was totally daunting to me at first but then I realized how lucky I am. I have ONE mother in law. Poor E has two mothers in law and two fathers in law. Poor guy!! I also decided to bite the bullet and call my mother in law on Sunday and we had a really lovely chat! It's funny how quickly you chalk up something like correspondence to a "task" and forget that it's actually one of the true joys in life. Not only was it great to catch up with her and hear what's going on in her life, it was really heart warming to be reassured that people besides me really DO care about my pregnancy, the life we're creating and the changes in my body. It really put a smile on my face.

Also, I know it goes without saying, but how lucky are we that we live in a day and age where we're able to live wherever we want and technology allows us to keep up with friends and family in voice and face? E's sister lives in England and we have plans to Skype with her and her 2 children this weekend. His brother lives in Brooklyn and we have plans to Skype with him and his daughter. E's mom is way more on top of it as a grandma and "sees" them both much more regularly than we do, but it's so great to know that our child will be able to have a "relationship" with their cousins and family no matter how far flung we all are.

Sadly, it's much easier for me to strike up a conversation with his family (mostly women) but he's at a disadvantage because I surely did not choose a man like my dad. Luckily for him, now that we're house hunting (again) E has more of an "excuse" to call my father to discuss heating and cooling systems, roofing, windows, etc. Whether or not we decide to buy right now, we'll surely have some projects coming down the pipe because we'll be either fixing up a new place or sprucing up our rental, so that should be really helpful to spark conversation until the baby comes.

On the other hand, while they both love the Yankees, I think semi-regular conversations with my mom and step-dad may be a bit more of a challenge. He truly does have his work cut out for him.

I guess rambles aside, the moral of the story is that keeping up with family isn't as big of a chore as it seems. The things we sometimes push aside as a task can really be a bright spot in the day. Here's to a stronger familial relationship and a bigger family to come.