I'm a long distance great-aunt to a 6 yr. old girl and a soon-to-be 3 yr. old boy. They live about two hours away.I know how hard it is. Their mother is married to my nephew so does not view me as a close Aunt like her sisters. Still, I try to send little things in the mail, include a photo so they know who sent it! I subscribed to age appropriate magazines for each of them and try to discuss what they've seen in them when I visit. I thought it was funny when the girl was about 4 years old she was calling me Aunt-Granny because I always brought my Mother when I came and my mother is called Granny! It took her a while to figure out who was who, but she has. Aunt Granny isn't too bad a name!

I am a great aunt to a 2 and 1/2 year old very active boy. I don't have any grandchildren so I share him with my brother and sister in law. I try to see him at least every two weeks and we are very close. I am in FL for 10 weeks so we FaceTime. He plays and chats and I listen. He tells his mom he wants to FaceTime because "I love her". He lights up my life.