On aunts

Our twin nieces got to come home from the hospital last Saturday. Circumstances worked out just right that Blake and I were able to visit them that day. They are awesome! Being there with these new little ones has gotten me thinking about being an aunt.


I am very excited about this, probably because I have such wonderful aunts myself. My aunts (and uncles) have been a part of every major event in my life and most family vacations as well. I remember them cooking for me, reading me books, telling me stories, and rescuing me from all sorts of childhood perils, from the too-tall tree house to a case of head lice. I know I could show up at any of their homes at any time and be welcome. It still is comforting to me to know that if something were to happen to my mother, my aunties would take care of me.


I love my nieces and nephew. I look forward to a literal lifetime of memories with them. I want them to feel welcome in my home and sure of my love and concern for them. Some of my favorite times with my family are when we just sit around and tell stories and share memories. We love to laugh about all the funny and exciting things that have happened to us. Planning for similar future conversations, I try to remember things that happen with my nieces and nephew. I file these memories away in a special I'll-remind-you-of-that-when-you're-older part of my brain.


I'd like to remind Cora of how cute she was when she watched our fish, singing him songs and reading him stories. When Lachlan does something silly or makes one of those dumb mistakes that we all make, I'll let him know that we can just blame that on Uncle Blake, who let him fall back on his head onto the table on the family vacation in Hawaii. When Millie and Jo are fourteen and convinced that their parents are determined to make their lives miserable, I can tell them about when they were first born and how their parents spent days on end in the hospital just looking at them, how on their first day home their dad gave me the most detailed and adorable lesson on how to hold the bottle just right for Jo.

Mostly, I want to have lots of fun playing with them. Let's play, guys! (And we better do it fast, before I get all mom-ish and, therefore, by definition, much less fun.)