[QUOTE] 18th was a big deal when I was that age - no one I know had a 21st. Don't think I've ever been to one - surely it's completely anachronistic now?[/QUOTE] I'd agree and as I get older birthdays mean less but I guess for the youngsters it's still a bigger deal. [QUOTE] I'll admit to being completely out of step here (sorry if I appeared bolshy). NP I don't have any cousins (in fact, I have to think quite hard to work out what a cousin is), so I've no real idea whether they count as close family or not.[/QUOTE] I stay in contact with my siblings so they see their cousins fairly often. Whereas my Mother was an only child and my Father wasn't close to his siblings so although I have many more first cousins[1] than my kids apart from a couple I've not seen most of them in 30 years. [1] 25 from memory but I'd need to check to be sure.