Labeling Your Cousins - Easy as 1,2,3

      I have a little article I clipped from the paper that explains how to correctly label your cousins. It can get confusing trying to figure out who is a first, second, or third cousin, and how many times removed they might be.  Here's the trick to getting it right:

First cousins - Your parent's siblings are the parents of your first cousins.  The children of your first cousins are your first cousins once removed.  The children of your first cousins once removed are your first cousins twice removed.  The children of your first cousins twice removed are your first cousins three times removed.

Second cousins - Your second cousin is the grandchild of your grandparent's brothers or sisters.  A second cousin's child is your second cousin once removed.  The child of a second cousin once removed is your second cousin twice removed, and so on.

Third cousins - Third cousins go back another generation.  They are the great-grandchildren of your great grandparent's siblings.  The "removal process" is the same as for first and second cousins.

     The relationship between me and my burlesque dancing cousin from yesterday's blog was first cousins once removed.