February 9, 2002
I am an aunt. I do not have any children of my own (yet) so I tend to spoil all of them rotten. I spoil them not only materialistically, but also with love. I don’t think this is a bad thing. Some forms of spoiling can be good. I myself was spoiled, which is why I tend to spoil.
As I’ve mentioned several times, I am extremely close to my oldest nephew R. He’s 15 now and although he’s turned into a typical teenage boy, we still have loads of fun together. That is when he’s not embarrassed to be seen with me.
My sister’s children live in my building - my niece M (7) and nephew E (2 ½). I can’t tell you how awesome it is
Last October, my sister and her husband were going to a wedding so we decided that they should spend the night. It was E’s 1st time sleeping away and with Auntie. For M, it was old news. They were fine. We ate dinner in the living room, in front of the TV {what else are Auntie’s for?} and watched DVD, after DVD!! We played ‘Block pile up’ – {E’s favorite block game - pile blocks up as high as they go and karate chop them till they fall – giggling all the way} and ‘Candyland’. M fell asleep leaning against me and E fell asleep in my arms. It was sweet and wonderful. I was dog tired and fell deep into a slumber only to be woken up by their arms and legs punching out. Why didn’t I leave them on the couch I wondered! All in all it was worth it – but best of all, in the morning…they went back to mom and dad!
Because M is my only niece, she is the most spoiled of the group. I simply adore her. In February 2000 I took her to Disney World for a week. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed our time together. However, I wished she would’ve gone on a ride or two…rather than telling me no thank you to EVERYTHING!! I could have saved some money and taken her to the mall, because all she was interested in was the shopping. She is her Auntie’s girl after all.
So today I took M & E to the Shedd Aquarium for “Breakfast With the Dolphins”. It’s the coolest thing in the world. You get to go into the Shedd early – at 8 a.m. and watch them feed the dolphins breakfast and they give you a special little training show. After that you have a buffet breakfast and can spend the day there. It was awesome. The kids loved it.
After 5 hours at the aquarium, while we were on our way home, M looked at me and said I couldn’t bring them back to their apartment, because I had promised to spend the WHOLE day with them, so she wondered what we were doing next. So we got Happy Meals and a DVD and went to my apartment and plopped down. Finally, about 6 p.m. she agreed our day was over, but assured me that she’d stop by later that night to give me a good night kiss.
The pleasures of being Auntie Fizgig are so amazing and heartwarming. There is nothing like the sweetness of children that love spending time with you.