Being an Aunt

When I met my husband, his first neice had just been born the month before. His computer desktop at school was covered in pictures of a round-faced, blonde cutie with the most scrumptious cheeks you ever saw! :D I didn't get to be an aunt to my own siblings' kids until I was already a Mom, but there is just something about being an Aunt! It's way more than having someone else to hand them off to when they have a stinky diaper. :D I just love building those relationships and working on the forgetfulness that happens when I don't get to see them very often.

It's never easy for any relationship to be apart from each other. Things get lost... forgotten... have to built up every time you do get to reconnect. For me, It's important to me that when my neices and nephews think of "Aunt Diana" they think of someone who is REALLY happy to see them and they know that I love them. I LOVE talking on the phone to them even if all they can say is repetition of the sibling of mine in the background. :D I love nothing more than a tiny voice saying "Hi, Aunt Di-nana" or "I-dana" or "Ji-tana." :D

Part of the joy I get from being an Aunt surely stems from the joy I get from being a sister. It's so fun to hear about their accomplishments from my sisters and brother (though hers is more of a blind commentary at the mo) :D and sisters-in-law and yes, even brothers-in-law. It is fun to comiserate and compare notes and just share the joy of raising children together. I love guessing which cousins will be the closest friends... by age, by personality, by name... how do their names sound together when you're looking for the two of them? :D We don't get to see all of our cousins all of the time, but we talk about them and to them and say their names often enough that they are not strangers.

There is something wonderful about being an Aunt! :D