There is nothing like watching my boys and nephews frolicking in the pool as the Summer draws to a close… As you can see from the expressions on their faces, they do not have a care in the world which is exactly as it should be. I love watching them together and seeing them bond and grow up together. Hopefully, they will take these familial bonds into adulthood and always be this close with one another.
I can still recall the way that my cousins and I used to play together back in Spain when we were kids. There are so many fond memories and stories to recant that we never run out of things to talk about when we are together. Unfortunately, that is not very often these days because we live so far apart but, those memories of our childhood, will always be there between us and allow us to have a special love and understanding between us that will forever transcend time and space.
Life has its own unique way of reminding us what is really important and family is indeed one of those things. I’ve struggled lately with redefining some of my relationships with family members because a lot has changed now that we are all adults. At the end of the day, however, because we are family it behooves us to continue to work at maintaining those relationships and to establish healthy parameters for them that include positive communication and mutual respect.
As I look upon this photo taken this past weekend, I am reminded that the love is always there. We just have to get past all of the nonsense and find it again without any expectations and hidden agendas. Only then will real forward movement and healing truly take place…
Let’s Discuss: How do you nurture damaged family relationships?
© 2013, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
This post caught my eye because there are some damaged relationships in my family. That’s probably true in most families. I feel like the only way to move on is if people are willing to change. Most people mature as they get older and they become easier to get along with. 🙂
The easy thing to do is not to, but I always like challenges. I have to say since moving away from mine…it has been one of the most difficult challenges for me personally. I know, however, that it boils down to pride. I hate to think that I have too much pride, but I think I do. Thanks for sharing. I know it is something I need to work on.
Love that your boys and their cousins are making such great memories. They certainly look like they’re having a terrific time! There’s certainly no easy solution to repair a damaged relationship, but love and forgiveness are a good start.
I am far away from several family members I would love to be in contact with. Our problem is we are bad at communicating and keeping in touch.
I love your thoughts on getting along with family and think you are so right when you said, “..love is always there. We just have to get past all of the nonsense and
find it again without any expectations and hidden agendas.” So very true and healthy way of looking at it.
Oh, I am not the best person to ask the question, but sometimes I think that having space helps with relationships when it comes to some relatives. LOTS of space.
I find that I avoid discussions about raising children, religion, and politics. So basically we keep our conversations pretty generic and we tend to get along just fine.
Growing up, we had a very close family. Now everyone seems to have moved so far from each other that it is hard to be close. Although we don’t see each other as often as we like, we still keep in touch by phone.
Just keep having unconditional love. Love the person, not their opinions or choices.
We are the only family that lives apart from the rest, so it is hard, but we do our best to stay in touch and to visit often and to let bygones be bygones.
Family is family no matter what. In the end we are all we have in this life. We must forgive, let go and keep in touch, help one another out and love.
Such an intense post…Keep loving your family 🙂
Family truly is everything x
That is awesome and I love also spending quality time with the family.
Family is so important! It’s everything!!
I completely agree with you I don’t see my cousins as much now but I have the most amazing memories as a child and I feel so lucky to have had that time with them x
Communication is, I think, always the most important tool in mending and maintaining healthy relationships. It’s especially easy within a family since the love that binds a family together makes the members more likely to listen to one another.
Thats a lot of boys lol, i have 3 boys and they are surrounded by 7 girl cousins =) We spend a lot of time together. I think family is important and if they grow up together, they should be adult friends as well.
The best solution for damaged family relationships is forgiving and doing your best in staying in touch with family. I know it’s difficult sometimes, but it’s so much easier to mend relationships when both sides come together for a new beginning. There was a time when a few family members became distant with my family, but now they reached out to us and our relationship with them has changed dramatically for the better. Prior to them reaching out to us, we did our best to visit them, but we could never find them at home. We didn’t even have their phone number.
Great post. My family is spread out all over the US and Europe. It is hard to keep in touch, but it is something that we must do. I think I feel this even more the older I get.
i’m living abroad now so i’m working hard to find ways for my 5 and 3 year old kids to have that good relationship with each other since they don’t have cousins close in their age here.