I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Boxing Day, pippa! (MB is a dual citizen of the US and Canada, you see.) Now do I know what Boxing Day is? No. No, I do not. But that doesn’t stop me from hoping you had a good one, whatever it is.
Here’s a moment from our Christmas, frozen in time forever. All the nieces and nephews together:
From left to right: Piper, now 11; Elder Nephew, now 20; Original Banshee, now 7; Middle Nephew, now 17; Banshee Boy 10 months; and Banshee Girl, now 4.
Things that amuse me about this photo:
~ EN is wearing a beanie he wore all day because he has a “fauxhawk” and my sister, his mother, told him our mom would probably vociferously object to it if she saw it. Instead, mom objected to the hat. (Insert eye roll here.) I saw the fauxhawk unveiled privately and thought it was kind of neato.
~ Banshee Boy was the best dressed of any of the fellas that day, including my dad. Check out his little red vest complete with fancy schmancy insignia. Good LORD, so cute. Never mind that he didn’t wear shoes all day. He’s a well-dressed baby boy with a sense of occasion.
~ Please notice, Middle Nephew, that your baby cousin is contemplating stuffing that plastic potato chip in his mouth. You’re paying attention, right, Middle Nephew? Oh, wait. That’s right. You’re 17.
~ Original Banshee’s dress had a petticoat. She wore it all day. Uhm, even while we all got sweating playing my invented game of “Hot Hot HOT! Potato” on the trampoline.
~ It’s finally dawning on family members that OB looks a lot like Tee Tee as a child. Especially now, with her hair like that, just how mine used to be. She has my eyes exactly. (And, really, family? You just now noticed? The kid’s almost 8.)
~ Piper is wearing a skirt. This is revolutionary, pippa.
~ She is almost taller than I am. Sob.
~ The look on Banshee Girl’s face kills me. It reminds me of this post from Halloween where she said, “Tee Tee, I am baaaaaaaaaaaaad!” Obviously, she is contemplating naughtiness. Now that presents have been opened, she’s in the clear, right?
I smush them all!
Even the huge ones much bigger than I.
Even the one who regularly beats up on me. (Looking at you, Middle Nephew.)
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how involved you are in each of their lives and how you know and care for them as individuals. I’m absolutely convinced that my children would not be the wonderful adults they are today without that input from their aunts and uncles on both sides. Bless you for being there for your sister.
And Banshee Boy’s fat little feet are just made for tickling….
MT — Aw, thank you so much. You don’t know how much I needed to hear that. (I’m still reeling a bit over a family member who said to me on Christmas, “Well, you’re just the crazy aunt,” so all is not perfect, you see ….)
I don’t know. That really hit me hard, as if that’s all I am — just the crazy aunt without any further or deeper value in their lives. And maybe that’s true. Maybe that’s the extent of it. I can’t know for sure on this side of their lives, I guess, whether our presence makes more of a difference than that.
I image the family member who said that didn’t necessarily mean to be disparaging, but I would also say it’s true that none of my family really understands what it’s like to be the childless aunt and uncle, to be sort of second-handers to their lives. It’s sometimes painful for us when we’re all together as a family, but MB and I work very hard to stay engaged with the kids.
I think the adults don’t really get it… but the kids value you in ways even they don’t entirely realize.
NEVER second-handers, but in Prime Positions to influence, shape, encourage, lift up,and love on the next generation. Aunts and Uncles fill in gaps that parents can’t fill. They are “safe” in sticky wicket times when the kids aren’t sure how parents will react. They reinforce family values. They CAN do some crazy stuff and get away with it. Aunts and Uncles are Very Special people with roles only they can fill.
And I know that’s not how it is, always, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. I’m greatly blessed in my own life with that; any adults that don’t “get it” are shortsighted for sure.