Removals 101 part deux

This is not the first time I have posted this picture but I realized that it is probably the best visual aid I can come up with to explain the “cuzzints” removed, et al.

In the top row, we have three first cousins, that is, we share a pair of grandparents. That’s Pooh, me, and Uber Kayak Woman. We don’t look much alike, do we? Trust me, we are cuzzints. Mutually beloved ones. We are all 31 in the pic and those babies are our first-borns — vDan, Lizard Breath, and Robyn (don’t have a blahg name for him). They are all under one year in the pic and they are second cousins to each other. That means they share a pair of great-grandparents. The pair of great-grandparents that they share is the same two people that make up the pair of *grandparents* that I, Pooh, and UKW share.

Okay. Each one of those babies is the first cousin once removed of the two ladies who is not their parent. So vDan and Robyn are my first cousins once removed and I am theirs. Lizard Breath and Robyn are Pooh’s first cousins once removed and she is theirs. vDan and Lizard Breath are UKW’s first cousins once removed and she is theirs.

I hope y’all are still with me. Going on? Well, if each of these babies (who are now 23) has a child, those children will be third cousins to each other. Lizard Breath (for example) would be 2nd cousin once removed from vDan’s child (for example) and vice versa. My relationship with vDan’s child would be 1st cousin *twice* removed.

This is a simple example where each generation represented in the pic consists of people who are the same age and there’s a one-to-one relationship (in the pic, anyway) between mom and kid. What can really make this stuff hard to wrap your brain around is when there are a lot of cousins and the oldest is 20 or 30 or even 40 or more years older than the youngest. You end up with people of the same relative age occupying different generational levels. I think I’m done with this little functional specification but I’ll entertain questions if y’all aren’t running around holding your heads and screaming.

7 Responses to “Removals 101 part deux”

  1. Maquis Says:

    Hey, check out those babes!

    No not the lil’tikes.

  2. Dog Mom Says:

    That was a *fabulous* explanation of the “removals”!!!

    Yeah, I have a situation where the same-age/different generation has kicked in: my uncle (who via first marriage had a son my age, same generation as me, therefore first cousin to me, FC-once removed to Valdemort & Nook) in his second marriage produced two sons, both of whom are younger than Nook (my younger daughter). Therefore, while Valdemort, Nook & my youngest first cousins are about the same age (within a couple years or less), they are [mutually] “first cousins once removed”, right along with the boys’ much-older half-brother. Which I find absolutely hilarious!!! Hence, my contention that there comes a point where we just *forget* about all the descriptors when the family is together, and just *be* a family!!! LOL!!

    BTW, Nook’s never heard the term “kissing cousins” before…. can’t wait for the blog about THAT definition!! I’m looking it up, myself, now that I think of it….

  3. Kathy Farnell Says:

    I still think it is a shame to remove those adorable babies! Bill and I and the rest of the Courtois siblings did not have cousins around very often. I don’t know any of my/our “removed” cousins. Thank you for the explanation. Hope to see you Saturday at Jim Courtois Jr’s. (My grandkids will be there and you may want to remove them!) As for kissin’ cousins – I always thought that them thar hillbillies that married their 1st cousins were kissin cousins.

  4. kayak woman Says:

    I know you Courtois’s didn’t have cuzzints around a lot. I *always* felt lucky that I had so many of them. I didn’t have a lot of siblings though. I loved The Ol’ Boy (my bro’) but I *always* wished I had a sister, too. I have a bunch of them now!!! So happy about that! 🙂

    Dogmomster: I absolutely agree that families are not just about the various biological relationships. Just be and whatever. Dogs and archaeologists and whoever all belong.

  5. Dog Mom Says:

    KW: Ya betcha, EH!!! 😉

  6. Kingfisher Says:

    This is excellent! I have a 1st cousin I’m very close to with kids close to my son’s age, and I’ve often been confused with the differentiation of “second cousin” and the “1st cousin once removed”, etc. (In their early 20s, my son and his second cousins are very close, and I think that’s so cool, and somewhat unusual). Our family has had cousin gatherings every other year and I find it fascinating to see resemblances through all the generations. Yeah, it’s true, we’re just family when we get together, but those connections are really fascinating.

  7. Pooh Says:

    And the beat goes on…

    Buzz, (G5 and 5 years old) came up to me on the beach and said, “You’re my grandma’s cousin!” He was right about that, and he knew that the triplets and Lila were his cousins. (and he has other cousins too, but they weren’t at the beach just then.) I didn’t ask him if he knew that made him my cousin twice removed! I wonder if he’s figured out how he’s related to Betty?