I live in Atlanta and my niece and nephew live out side of Boston. Not very conducive to a lot of in-person cuddle visits which made me rather sad. In the days before web-cams I wondered if Jessica and Scott would know who I was in the a few times a year visits. My sister Susan had a great idea. She put photos of me on the fridge. There was Auntie Toby in between the abc magnets and finger paintings smiling at them every day. When I did visit I was a familiar face and not a stranger.

I do something similar when I send gifts - instead of a card, I put the most recent picture I have of me & my niece so she can put a face with the gift.

I used to make frequent phone calls to my nieces who lived across the country from me. I always remember their birthdays and any other special days. They would mail me pictures they had drawn which I proudly displayed and then saved. When I did get to visit, I wasn't a stranger at all to them. I have to also credit my brother who often told the girls many stories of our growing up years together.

I use the same technique as Rikihalo. When I send books to my great-niece and nephew, I send a recent photo so they know who it comes from. I also, at the request of their mom, write a note in the book with their name, my name and the date. Mom likes that.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions so far. I really struggle with coming up with ways to stay connected to the kids who I love so dearly (and who are so far away). I've been subscribing to kids' magazines like Wild Animal Baby and National Geographic Kids -- instead of sending them directly to my far-away kids, I send them to my own address so every month I can send a little package with their magazine and a note or picture.

Hey Aunties - there's currently discussion on the forums about aunts (and families) going above and beyond this holiday season. Got any stories to share? Post them on the forum for the whole community to enjoy!

I come from a big family of 9 sisters and 1 brother who have given me 18 nieces and nephews unfortunately they are all back home were I grew up in England and I now live in New York for almost 6 years. I am very big on family and we are very close infact till I moved here I practically helped raise some of them. I would say that was the one down side of me moving away leaving my family and babes. So here is some of the things we do to keep in touch and make sure they dont forget there Auntie Dan Dan!: * Skype: we skype every 1 or two weeks and its a blast I get to see them and they get to see me and they love it! Plus its free and we can talk as long as we want. * We always send each other recent photos me and all my sisters also have facebook which is a great way of sharing photos with all my family too * I send the gifts and cards for all birthdays and holidays (it takes me most the year to get them all but its worth it for me lol) * We always visit at least once a year most of my sisters come here with the kids usually summer or sometimes I go there

I'm from the US but moved back to Barcelona, Spain with my husband (who is Spanish) in March. My niece Bree was born a couple days ago and now I feel pretty bummed. I had no idea I was going to feel this way. I have a nephew who I love to death but he was born when I was 17 shortly before I left home so I'm used to being away. But now that I am older, being away from this child is hitting me hard. I don't want kids of my own but I feel a responsibility to this little girl. I'm sad that I won't get to see her very much. I'm trying to figure out how I can be a big part of her life only seeing her a couple times out of the year. Anyone else live countries apart from their nieces and nephews? What do you do to make sure you stay a part of their lives?

I'm living in Poland and both my sisters live in England. Since there's a big age difference between us (I'm 18 now and my sisters are 37 and 33), I first became an aunt when I was 10. It's easier now to go and visit, but it was difficult when I was younger to use all of the benefits of aunthood. I love my nieces so much and I miss them, even though we have Skype and all of the technology now, it's still hard for us to use it sometimes due to school :c