Tips to keeping long distance family relationships

Most parents would like their children to grow up feeling close to their grandparents, aunts and uncles. Yet, today, many children live far from these relatives. How can a parent help bridge the gap of distance to keep relationships close?

Keep the information flowing.
Take lots of pictures. Kids grow and change so fast, so taking lots of photos is important. As a pack of pictures comes back from the developers, take out those you want to keep for yourself and then divide the others up for those long distance relatives. Even one photo helps keep relatives familiar with the looks and personality of your children.
Write family newsletters. Many families wait until Christmas to send out a family newsletter, when people are bogged down in other commitments. Instead do quarterly newsletters including all sorts of family anecdotes. If your children are old enough, let them contribute ideas - you will often be surprised by what your kids think is important enough to share.

Get Children Involved in Gift Giving
Relationships with long-distance relatives are often about gift receiving, not gift giving. Help your kids choose or make gifts for those far-away family members. Your child will feel closer to relatives when time and effort have gone into giving a gift. Also, gift giving events are great times to share family stories so your child comes to know more about the likes and dislikes of each family member. And don't overlook "just because" gifts, given just because the child has been thinking about Aunt Kathy or just because the child made a knick-knack that would look perfect on Grandma's shelf. Often these unexpected gifts become the most precious.
Also, don't neglect thank-you cards. Encourage your child to go beyond the standard "thank you for the sweater, it was appreciated" line. Thank you cards are a great time to share moments from the child's life. Did he wear the sweater to his school Christmas party? Even little tidbits of information can help keep relatives feeling involved.

The Key is Contact
Whether though phone calls, letters or email, keep the flow of information frequent. Remember that even trivial things are news to grandma and grandpa. And before any gift-receiving holiday, drop relatives a note including sizes and new favorites for your children. Nothing makes a gift-giver seem more out of touch than an ill-fitting or inappropriate gift.

Keeping long-distance families close and connected takes work and determination but the rewards last a lifetime.