On Being an Aunt

January 28, 2025

6:30pm

Today I spent the day in Indy helping watch my nephew "E" (or Big Dog E as I call him as he was a big baby) while my sister went to an appointment. I enjoy spending time with him. He is currently 14 months old and it's a nice way to get my "baby fix". Especially since I can no longer have kids. Also, he thinks I am hilarious which is pretty nice. 

Although, I would not want to do the baby stage again. This kid has some ENERGY. I forgot how non-stop toddlers were. Or how if you do something one time they like to repeat it over and over and over and over and...you get the point. It is very nice to be at the stage where I love on the baby and then go home to my potty-trained, self-sufficient big kid. 

Anyways, this got me thinking about being an Aunt.

I became an Aunt for the first time at the age of 15. It's a side effect to having siblings that are 15+ years older than you. Ironically, a month after being an Aunt I became a big sister again. Anyways, I had no idea what being an Aunt was as a teenager. Don't get me wrong, I loved (and still love) my niece and I enjoyed spending time with her. The problem was I graduated High School and then went to college and never lived back at home. So visiting was less frequent. 

I did still see her and I got her this really cute Ball State University cheerleader outfit for little kids. But the role I played in her life then, is not the same as the role I am playing in E's life now. 

So of course, me being me, I have to over think it. I kinda feel bad that it is a different dynamic. I can acknowledge that different times of life and all that do make a difference. 

Then I also started to think about the fact that I really don't have any Aunts that I had lots of interaction with.  On my mom's side I have one Aunt and then as a young kid I had three great aunts that I got to interact with.  I probably saw my great aunts more often because when I was younger we spent more time in Minnesota. My aunt married my uncle (my mom's brother) when i was young, think like between 4-6ish years old. She is very nice and every summer we went to Minnesota we would visit. That was just every summer, until I was 17. She did come to my wedding though so that was nice. 

Then on my dad's side the only Aunt that I had in the States, my dad was born in England and a large portion of his family lives in England, lived in South Dakota. We visited her like every other summer/ every two summers from third grade until my junior year of High School I believe. 

Nearby extended family is not something I grew up with. So the fact that Kolby gets to see his grandparents, aunt and uncle more frequently than every summer or every other summer, and E does also, is definitely a good thing.  

Are you an Aunt? Do you have a favorite Aunt? What qualities make someone a good Aunt? Join in the conversation in the comments and let me know!!

Until next time Remember to be kind, smile lots and dance often!!