Extended Family Definition

[BreadandButterscotch]

AIBU to think that when you are married with your own children, they are now your 'immediate family' and your parents and siblings become part of your 'extended family'?

My mum and sister will always be my immediate family. DP and DC are also immediate.
To me extended is aunt's uncles grandparents or cousins

Thank you. So, your immediate family is different to your children's?

I count our parents as immediate family so therefore our children's grandparents are immediate family.

I've been thinking that my child is my immediate family and then estranged mum and siblings were extended family

Not sure if that's correct though x

Any direct family member parent, grandparent, siblings and aunts/uncles is immediate family for me. Anything that is separated by at least one external member of the family is extended - cousins, second cousins great aunts/uncles etc.
But there obviously isn't the right or wrong answer. A sibling you are not keeping in touch with can me more "extended" than your cousin who lives next door and you hang out with every week.

I’m Indian - so I class parents, brother, niece and nephew as immediate family.
I class aunts, uncles and cousins as family.

Extended family I class as being my cousins spouses immediate family 🤣

Dont even get me started on close family friends who are basically family but we are not blood related..

I find it lovely, but I’m sure many wouldn’t!

Immediate family is the nuclear family i.e. me, DH and DC.

Extended family is outside of this, so includes parents, siblings etc.

Interesting that your niece/nephew are immediate family, but your aunt/uncles are not. So, your niece/nephew are your immediate family, but you are not in their immediate family (since you are their aunt)?

Immediate family is DH, DC parents and siblings (and grandparents). Extended family is aunts uncles and cousins.

No, it's actually lovely and I grew up in a similar setup in continental Europe. We don't have words for immediate family and extended family. It's just family

I do think of us 4 as immediate family but obviously our birth families are just as important. Extended family is grandparents aunts uncles cousins.

Of course, a mother, father, sibling to you are 'only' grandparent, aunts, uncles to your children.

What happens if you consider your children to be immediate family but not your parents and then your children have their own children? Can someone be your immediate family even if you’re not theirs?

My dad, brother and DC are immediate family. I’d consider grandparents immediate family too, and aunts, uncles and cousins. Extended family is anyone more distant than that.

I consider ExH family too, via the DC.

But I think is because I live in the same country as my niece and nephew.

Im very close with my family in India still.

There’s no logic behind it - this is just my feelings! Maybe for me, immediate is being close by too??? I am not sure!

edited to add that I don’t have any children of my own (through choice) which I wonder if that impacts my thoughts too on my niece and nephew!

Yes! That’s a much better way of explaining it :)

I’d say immediate family are dp and children, and parents and siblings.

My immediate family is my DH, kids, my mum and my sister. Everyone else extended family.

My immediate family is my DH and DS, my parents, my brother and SIL and my two nieces. Everyone else is extended family (including my in laws). DH would have a different answer for who he thought of as his immediate family, I'm sure. I don't think there's a definitive answer though.