The only thing that I think matters from the article is this:
This building of extended family by choice shouldn’t be diminished, said Qian of UBC, noting that “voluntary kin” is common in many 2SLGBTQ+ communities, and we don’t have to define family based on blood ties.
If you think that having cousins should be a vital part of your child’s life, just have friends that have children around the same age as your children.
Do you have cousins? I don’t have any friends from my childhood, but I have every cousin who is still alive still in my life more or less. Including cousins who are 15-40 years older than me. It’s not the same thing as “my friends have kids near the same age”. I wouldn’t let my kids hang out with my friend’s kids if they were 15 years older than my kids…
More than I can count. Both of my parents had 10+ siblings, and most of those siblings got married and had 4+ children.
I wouldn’t let my kids hang out with my friend’s kids if they were 15 years older than my kids
I wouldn’t either, but I also wouldn’t let my (hypothetical) children hang out unsupervised with most family members who are 15 years older than they are.
That’s your choice, I guess. I remember cousins who babysat me, took me to the zoo a hundred times, introduced me to classic musicals, because they were family and trusted and not a friend’s kid… It’s just different is all.
The only thing that I think matters from the article is this:
If you think that having cousins should be a vital part of your child’s life, just have friends that have children around the same age as your children.
Do you have cousins? I don’t have any friends from my childhood, but I have every cousin who is still alive still in my life more or less. Including cousins who are 15-40 years older than me. It’s not the same thing as “my friends have kids near the same age”. I wouldn’t let my kids hang out with my friend’s kids if they were 15 years older than my kids…
More than I can count. Both of my parents had 10+ siblings, and most of those siblings got married and had 4+ children.
I wouldn’t either, but I also wouldn’t let my (hypothetical) children hang out unsupervised with most family members who are 15 years older than they are.
That’s your choice, I guess. I remember cousins who babysat me, took me to the zoo a hundred times, introduced me to classic musicals, because they were family and trusted and not a friend’s kid… It’s just different is all.