Poll of the Day > Any aunts or uncles here?

(+) Yeah! (+)

My brother's having a girl and I'm going to be her only uncle. I'd like to be a good one so I'll take whatever advice you got.

Always smile and act excited when you see them.

Act interested in whatever theyre doing or talking about.

Take them to do fun stuff.

Learn some corny jokes.

VampireCoyote posted...

Always smile and act excited when you see them.

Act interested in whatever theyre doing or talking about.

Take them to do fun stuff.

Learn some corny jokes.

???

You're not their immediate mom/dad, so you have a lot of leeway when it comes to providing for them.

You can totally pamper them and play games and eat junk food and take them on trips and be the cool uncle. Let your brother deal with being boring, handling the sugar crashes/dentist visits, and dealing with a kid that feels cooped up.

Yeah I figured I would be more like a friend than an authority figure to them. Gotta strike the right balance though.

Not technically but I have some cousins I grew up with like siblings that have kids so close enough.

MabinogiFan posted...

I'd like to be a good one so I'll take whatever advice you got.

Kind of depends on how often you're going to see them. If you're only going to see them a couple times a year at family gatherings you're probably going to be a very different sort of uncle than if they live nearby and actively come to visit you from time-to-time (and you go out of your way to plan activities and just try to be the coolest motherfucker ever).

I kind of went the latter route with my niece and nephew. Used to play Minecraft with them, was running D&D for my nephew because he thought it sounded cool and wanted to try it, took my niece to Chuck E Cheese because she saw a commercial for it and wanted to go, etc. But that's not necessarily going to be possible for a lot of people.

If you are likely to be a backup babysitter later in life, have stuff available for them. I've got Lego, toy cars and video games available if I need entertainment for my nephews.

I've been an uncle since I was a teenager but I don't really see any of my nieces or nephews very often.

Yes!

I don't know their names or ages, though. One of them is called either Jade or April. One of those two is the middle name.

I just have fun with my nephew and niece, and make sure they are safe.

Teach her that the middle finger means "I love you"

Action53 posted...

Teach her that the middle finger means "I love you"

Middle thumbs up

Yeah have two nephews and my first niece was born just two days ago. Got a boy and girl of my own.

Best advice for being an uncle is get super annoying gifts that the kid will love and will drive their parents nuts.

Ex. For my nephews 1 year bday I got him a truck that was shaped like a dog. It was pretty dope and it would play the song Who Let The Dogs Out! when it rolled. My nephew was thrilled and his mom was ready to rip the batteries out if thing after a minute.

Try GrandUncle nowadays...

I have two Nephews (5 and 12) and a nice (10). Advice? Don't treat kids like they are dumb because they know more than you think. Also actually listen to what they say or are telling you. Kids love to tell stories and be the centre of attention.

Yes, but ultimately it depends on how involved you plan to be.

You could either be as close to them as if it'll be your own kid... or someone as distant as a cousin. Good luck!

pionear posted...

Try GrandUncle nowadays...

great uncle* my dude, your uncle would be their grand great uncle.

the familial relation lines are confusing af.

xGhostchantx posted...

great uncle* my dude, your uncle would be their grand great uncle.

the familial relation lines are confusing af.

In my family we just split it up by generation, my parents cousins/grandparents siblings all get called aunt/uncle, any 2nd/3rd/whatever cousins from my generation are my cousins, and any cousins kids are my nieces/nephews

Oh, and this is important, show them dragonball z

Muscles posted...

In my family we just split it up by generation, my parents cousins/grandparents siblings all get called aunt/uncle, any 2nd/3rd/whatever cousins from my generation are my cousins, and any cousins kids are my nieces/nephews

yeah it's so much god damn easier to just do that lol

Mensis posted...

Best advice for being an uncle is get super annoying gifts that the kid will love and will drive their parents nuts.

Toys that make tons of noise are always great for this. There's definitely a sort of visceral delight in getting younger kids something you know that you'll have to suffer from for a few hours, but their parents will be suffering from for weeks.

In my family, this was always kazoos.



xGhostchantx posted...

great uncle* my dude, your uncle would be their grand great uncle.

the familial relation lines are confusing af.

No, Great Uncle and Grand Uncle (or Granduncle) are pretty much interchangeable terms. They both refer to the siblings of your grandparents.

And there's no such thing as a Grand Great Uncle - that would be a Great Grand Uncle (or Great Granduncle, or Great-Grand-Uncle, etc). Which would be the siblings of your Great-Grandfather.

It might be a regional thing though, or maybe just a family thing - I know in my family we always used Great Aunt/Great Uncle (though when speaking to the actual person we'd just call them "Aunt So-and-So" rather than calling them Great Aunt). I don't think I've ever known anyone who referred to a relative as a Grand Uncle or Aunt except in the most formal context.

And I wouldn't say family lines are all that confusing. Especially if you ignore the "twice removed" aspect of things from cousins, and just call your "Second Cousin Twice Removed" your cousin. The extra terminology mostly only exists to clarify genealogy for people who are interested in reconstructing full family trees, but it's not all that necessary in general parlance. I generally just call my First Cousin my cousin, my Second Cousins my cousins, and my First Cousins Twice Removed as my cousins.

Im an uncle myself now in 2022. My brothers wife has a daughter.

One time the vomit stink got so bad but it was bearable for me. Chris drank the baby formula on a road trip.

Remember to tell their mom you took them for ice cream so they aren't walking around yelling for them when you get back.

I'm not sure? I don't pay much attention to my half brothers. I know one is married.

xGhostchantx posted...

great uncle* my dude, your uncle would be their grand great uncle.

the familial relation lines are confusing af.

No that's @ss backwards...that's Like calling my Grandfather "Greatfather" or something...

https://familytreemagazine.com/general-genealogy/aunts-and-uncles-grand-not-great/

But like the other poster says, it's all relative (non pun intended) to where you grew up at and what terminology was used

Muscles posted...

In my family we just split it up by generation, my parents cousins/grandparents siblings all get called aunt/uncle, any 2nd/3rd/whatever cousins from my generation are my cousins, and any cousins kids are my nieces/nephews

This is pretty much the same for me (even with the ones by Marriage and In-Laws)