Very small family

gwen80

Hi

I have a very small family in this country, really just me and my Mum. Does anybody else have very little family and do you find it hard?

Thanks

Gwenx

paulineb_2

My mum and my brother are all I have, never really bothered about it as its normal for me not to have a lot of extended family. I dont see my dads side of the family, my mums brother died 20 years ago and my gran died 2 years ago.

Artytarty

Yes, I married an only child, my mum is an only child , parents divorced , no contact there, I have one brother who has no children. I was idly speculating last night about a possible wedding of my daughter, I reckon with family and close friends, we would have twelve people to ask!!!!!
I do feel it.

NervousHomeowner

Hi I am in a similar position in that my only family is my mum. I'm an only child, my dad died when I was 11 and although I do have other family, they live a good distance away so I never really saw them when I was growing up (And see them even less now I have grown up and moved away).

I found it very difficult growing up. I felt very alone and like I didn't really know where I came from. I still find it difficult because when I do end up visiting family, I feel like I don't 'belong' with them. Growing up with just my mum was very difficult as well, because neither of us was particularly healthy mentally and we fought a lot. We get on better now but it made life pretty unpleasant for a long time.

There is also the fact that my mum is not getting any younger & I know that things will become difficult as time goes by The thought of having to deal with everything that comes with an elderly parent, while being on my own is terrifying. I honestly don't know how that will pan out.

How about you? Do you find it difficult?

Dunroamin

I'm a childless only child whose parents are dead. You can't get a much smaller family than that!

continualdiamond

I have no family here as such as in people I have been around my whole life.

I'm from Australia so that is where my parents, sister, cousins, aunties, uncles, grandparents, everyone is.

I moved here to be with my at the time boyfriend 10 years ago, he's now my husband. He is an only child and doesn't see one side of his family, so them I haven't even met. The other side of his family we see once in a blue moon.

So it's just him and his parents that are my family here in the UK and of course our 1st baby that I am currently expecting.

I don't find it hard, well most of the time I don't. I did in the beginning as I saw an awful lot of my relatives back home and are very close to them. I went back to Australia 8 mths after I moved here on a one way ticket thinking I couldn't do it, soon decided to give it another go and moved back here 2 mths later.

Would be lost without the internet, always in contact with my parents and sister via email and skype them all the time. Both sets of my grandparents keep in touch with either ringing me or sending me cards and little home food parcels.

gwen80

My Mum's brought me up on her own since she was 2 and I'm still very close to her. My Dad and brother live on the other side of the world. My brother has two boys. I have an Aunt and an Uncle that I see occasionally, but they have never bothered with me at all. I have a second cousin that I've tried to get in touch with to no avail. This is all on my Dad's side which has always been very messed up.

I'm not getting any younger and still single. I'm in the process of moving to the other end of the country at the moment and I honestly have no idea how I'd cope without my Mum. I feel it very much and always wanted to be part of one of those large happy families. Now I feel like I'm surrounded by people with family and having families.

Gx

gwen80

Dunroamin wrote: »

I'm a childless only child whose parents are dead. You can't get a much smaller family than that!

Does it bother you Dunroamin? Do you have a partner that is your family?

Sensemaya

I'm a single mum. Only relatives are my 2 boys. Get on great with my stepdad. Not on speaking terms with halfbrother and never will be due to how he handled our late mum's funeral.On speaking terms with Mum's brother...my Uncle...but never see him ( goes abroad a lot ).

Only other family is my late dads brother who lives quite far away.

It's hard. But we get by.

Tiglath

I have Mum, sister and 2 nieces, but don't see much of them because they're all more than a bit weird. No extended family there or on my late Dad's side. I do however have a hubby and 2 grown stepkids so I'm not entirely on my own. I don't have a wide circle of friends in terms of people I actually meet up with, but that's okay - I can't honestly say I like people very much and love spending time on my own! I'm going on a solo holiday next week and the best part will be not having to talk to anyone except in restaurants etc. People just exhaust me most of the time.

Goldiegirl

Dunroamin wrote: »

I'm a childless only child whose parents are dead. You can't get a much smaller family than that!

Similar to me, an only child with no children. I am married however, but my husband is also an only child.

Both my parents and my husbands parents are dead.

So we have no close family anymore.

As a child I had a lot of contact with aunts uncles and cousins, so did have a lot of family life, but for one reason and another I'm no longer in touch with any of my cousins, except one who lives in Canada.

We do see some of my husbands cousins, but only once or twice s year.

I am aware of how much I rely on my husband, and know that I would be lost without him.

I do have some good friends, but family is thin on the ground.

It doesn't bother me too much, but sometimes have a nagging worry about sometime in the future, when I might feel really alone in the world.

But it's the way life has turned out, so I feel there's no use in me hankering after something I don't have, I try to enjoy what I'm lucky enough to have.