What Cousins Are for

The girls giggled as they sat at the dinner table taking about the nights when their cousins babysat. They spilled their deepest secrets as they watched our reactions.
They used to go to bed as we pulled into the driveway. They pretended to be asleep when we checked on them.
They didn't eat their fruit or their vegetables. Their cousins used to eat them instead.
They ate too much candy and drank too much pop.
They watched TV shows we wouldn't normally let them watch.
They laughed and laughed and laughed as they told stories about different things they did with their cousins. They waited for us to get mad about what they did with their older cousins.
We just smiled. The girls forget that we were once the older cousins letting our younger cousins get away with everything. It's a rite of passage that they won't understand as they will always be the youngest cousins on both sides. Soon enough, though, their older cousins will start having babies. Once that starts happening, I'd bet they will be happy to spoil those kids by letting them stay up late and eat too much candy. If they don't continue the tradition, who will teach those children how to spoil the next generation?