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Can Cousins Ever Be Like Siblings?

As a child, I remember thinking of my cousins as my siblings. That was obvious being a only child, I was always lonely. But they seemed to be very clear that I was their cousin and not a sibling. The bonding that exists between siblings cannot be replicated in anyway. Even if you are close to your cousins, can cousins ever be like siblings?

That is a really tough question to answer. Cousins can be best friends. You can have a very close relationship with your cousins but at some point in time you realize that they are not your siblings after all. Usually, it is common for a single child to look for a sibling among cousins or consider them to your own brothers and sisters. But the feeling is rarely reciprocated.

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Can Cousins Ever Be Like Siblings?

Here are some points at which you wonder if cousins can be like siblings after all.

Sharing Responsibility
Cousins are usually people with whom you share grandparents but not parents. So they have the responsibility of their own parents to take care of. You have to take responsibility for your own parents. When it comes to sharing the responsibility for your ageing parents, your cousins would not be the ones to help you.

Conflict Of Interest
Conflict of interest is something exists in every family. Usually, conflict of interest happens regarding property and other sources of wealth in a family. Conflict of interest can cause problems between siblings as well. However, usually it is cousins who are at loggerheads over conflict of family interests.

Parental Influence
If your parents and your cousins parents have problems to each other it is bound to affect the relationship you and your cousins share. If your parents do not get along, it is hard to outgrow parental influence when it comes to your cousins. However, parents rarely influence siblings against each other. So your relationship with your cousins and siblings can never be on the same level.

Making A Choice
When it comes to a point when a choice has to be made between your wedding and his foreign trip, which one would your cousin choose? The fact of life is that cousins are usually more in number than siblings and people rarely sacrifice their own plans for a cousin's wedding or engagement. However, since we all have but one or two siblings, the weddings or even engagement of a sibling is much more important to us.

Can a cousin be like your sibling? Yes, it is possible if you have had a childhood of shared memories and time. However, this relationship has to be nurtured lifelong and depends on many factors.

Story first published: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 13:55 [IST]
Read more about: relationship