Pages

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Aunty Business

I am participating in the Blogging From A-Z Challenge. Each day in April (except the last 4 Sundays), I will post topic themes that begin with the letters of the alphabet, from A-Z. There is a saying that a woman wears many hats. I'm no exception. During the course of the Blogging From A-Z Challenge, I'll be posting about the different facets of my life. Today's letter is A, which brings us to my role as an aunt.


Being an aunt is my next favorite thing to being a mom & wife. I have 2 handsome nephews (ages 4 & 14) and a beautiful niece (age 11). It took me awhile to find my groove as an aunt to my oldest nephew & my niece b/c they were already 6 & 9 when I met them. I feel like I've got a good handle on the aunty business now, though.

Much like the mommy business, aunty business can be tough. I've had to make some difficult decisions, particularly when it comes to my youngest nephew. I don't want to rehash the details, but suffice it to say, we fostered him for awhile back in 2010 & I was his daycare provider for several months last year. His life has been anything but stable & it's my strongly held belief that when your immediate family can't get the job done, your extended family should. (Ideally everyone would work together, but that doesn't happen often.) With my oldest nephew & niece, the challenge has been more along the lines of trying to play referee when they start arguing w/ each other. Those 2 weren't blessed w/ a terribly attentive mother & there for awhile they were acting out as a way to get attention. Most of that has stopped, but there were a couple years or so when we preferred having them visit separately rather than together b/c it was just too much sometimes.

For all the ups & downs, I wouldn't change a thing. I love being an aunt! Since words are failing me this morning, I think I'll share a photo of one of my all-time favorite memories as an aunt. This photo was taken at a local pumpkin patch back in 2008. My hubs & I took all the kids there to pick pumpkins to carve for Halloween. We took a hay ride, searched a huge patch for the perfect pumpkins, and the kids spent a lot of time in the bounce house. Now that they're all older, it's harder to find a single activity that they all enjoy, but I'm grateful for the times when we did manage to keep them all entertained at once. :)

24 comments:

  1. the best part of being an aunt - you can sugar them up and send them home LOL

    Happy A to Z
    baygirl32.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your nieces and nephews are beautiful! They are blessed to have an attentive, loving aunt like you, Trish.

    I have six nieces and nephews, three from my siblings and three from my husband's siblings! We have four nieces ages 11, 2, 2 1/2, and 1, and we have two nephews ages 7 and 5. I also have a godchild, my best friend's son, who is 6 months old. :) I love being an aunt!! My husband and I don't want children for a long time yet, so it's super fun getting to play and spoil them and then give them back to their parents at the end of the day, LoL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. They are my pride & joys. I'm looking forward to the day my youngest brother has children. That's the last opportunity I have to be an aunty again. I love the 3 I have, but also hope to one day have more nieces & nephews to spoil. :)

      Delete
  3. All the kids look so happy, nice start for the challenge!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! :) We all had a lot of fun that day.

      Delete
  4. This totally sums up the Aunt experience. It's a great gig, especially BEFORE having your own.

    Enjoyed this a lot. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  5. Being an aunt is kind of like being Grammy. All the fun with none of the work and worry. :O)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You hit the nail on the head right there. It's the next best thing to being a Grandma. I have MANY MANY years before I get to be a Granny, but I'm looking forward to that day! (Especially when I get to tell Trin "that's your payback for all you did to me when you were a kid". *lol*)

      Delete
  6. That's quite a challenge you have there, Trish, but you can have a positive influence as an aunt. Keep up the good work...you will never regret it. Stopping by from the A to Z challenge...enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by. There have definitely been some challenges, but I hope that I can be a good influence. I broke the cycle of addiction & abuse from my childhood & if I can have any part in helping another child break the cycle, I'm happy to do whatever it takes.

      Delete
  7. That is a cute bunch of kids!! If I had to pick, I would much rather be a mommy which I am. Great post!!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's nothing like being a Mommy, for sure. :) Being an Aunty is pretty awesome, though. My niece & nephews are a sweet bunch o' rugrats.

      Delete
  8. What a sweet picture, and they definitely look related with those adorable cheeks and smiles. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! :) They all have those puffy cheeks that are perfect for kisses. (Though the older they get, the less kisses I can plant on 'em.)

      Delete
  9. You sound like a wonderful mom AND a wonderful aunt!

    And I am here to welcome you to the Challenge!

    KarenG

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I do my best. It's a constant learning experience, for sure! :)

      Delete
  10. Great to hear of families being there for each other. I'm not an aunt yet, but I hope to be a great one when the time comes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's sad that more families aren't there for each other. My family is pretty broken & scattered, but there are a few of us who do our best to keep it together as much as possible.

      Delete
  11. I'm going to be a aunt for the first time this summer. I'm super excited to meet my nephew. I commend you for being there for yours.

    Christi ツ
    Beach Dreams and Love Always

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey there! Stopping by courtesy of the A to Z challenge. I'm not an aunt (or a mom!) yet, but being a former teacher I viewed all my students as my own, and having a large family, I have cousins that are young enough to be nieces and nephews. I'll agree that having young ones look up at you with love in their eyes is one of the best feelings in the world!

    Great start for the month's challenge <3

    *~* Julia *~* http://beautifullywhimsical.blogspot.com *~*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! :) Whether related or not, it's impossible not to love the kiddos that come in & out of your life.

      Delete

 

Template by BloggerCandy.com | Header Image by Freepik