People call me a lot of things. Dana, Mom, lady, Ma’am (aarggh!), and probably a few other names that I’d prefer not to know.
Of course, I love the name Mommy the most. But “Aunt Dana” comes in a close second. I always wanted to be a mom, but I never thought about being an aunt, and I was not prepared for how awesome it would be.
I have six wonderful nieces and nephews, and I am particularly close with my sister’s children. Jared is ten months younger than my son, and he would like to be referred to as “Bobby” on my blog. He is one of my subscribers and a reason I keep things PG-13. Jenna is the youngest at age 8, and she is totally cool with using her real name.
Why is being an aunt so great? Let me tell you.
1. I am family, so I can call the kids out on any crap they try to pull. And they do try to pull crap, because they are comfortable with me and don’t feel like they have to be on their best behavior. Because I’m not their mom, however, they are more likely to listen to me when I tell them to cut it out.
2. Like a grandparent, I can do fun things with my niece and nephew, and then give them back for the not so fun things. Unlike a grandparent, I’m not (that) old and wrinkly yet.
3. I am much cooler than my sister, by virtue of the simple fact that I am the aunt and not the mom. It works both ways, though. My kids think Aunt Amy is much cooler than their own mother.
4. When my nephew wins an award at 5th grade graduation, his parents and grandparents are there to see it. But I get a special phone call from the graduate because he wants to share the news with me too. My own kids never tell me anything.
5. When my niece gets an iPod touch and starts texting her family, I am treated to fabulous conversations with an awesome 8 year old. For the three non-iPhone users out there, Jenna’s texts are on the left and mine are on the right.
6. I have extra people to feed me and wipe the drool off my chin when I’m an old lady.
7. More unconditional love from some great kids.
I am all warm and fuzzy now thinking about being an aunt! Maybe I’ll call my brother and tell him that it’s time to start clocking ovulation with his new bride!
Ha – don’t rush them! Well, ok, you can rush them a little 🙂
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That’s great. Those texts are adorbzzzz (<– I love my nieces for introducing me to slang like that!) Being the fun aunt is SO MUCH MORE FUN than being the responsible mom! 🙂 Great post.
It is more fun (most of the time). And my niece, unlike my daughter, never rolls her eyes at me – she thinks I’m great!
Swinging by from The Hump Day Hook Up. Loved this post. I’m a new aunt and already love it!!! Can’t wait to experience all of these things
Thanks for stopping by! Congrats on becoming an aunt – it will only get better as your niece or nephew grows – enjoy!
Aw! I’m jealous of your texts! My niece and nephew are pretty cool as well but I hardly ever see them as they live in Colorado *SNIFF.* I hear you about being the cool one though – my niece thinks I’m the COOLEST EVER. I hope she never figures out that I have a blog…huh…
Mine think I’m cool despite having a blog, but give them time…
First of all, I love that last picture of you, you look great!
Secondly, I am jealous. An aunt is totally cool, I agree, much cooler than mom by definition. I won’t be an aunt since neither me nor my husband have siblings, but sometimes I comfort myself thinking at least my sons themselves will get to experience that joy 🙂
Thirdly, I’d try sending this to Scary Mommy. She loves lists like that.
Fourthly, OMG 49 comments? How do you that? Jealous all over again! 🙂
1. Thank you! 2. You could be an honorary aunt – I didn’t have any aunts either. 3. I will look into Scary Mommy – thanks! 4. Half of those comments are my responses, and at least 3 are family members, so no reason to be jealous 🙂
this is so sweet beyond words. It’s so true…uncles are cool too. My hubby is worshiped by his nephews…whatever he says is GOLD.
I totally agree – my kids love their uncles too. Not sure if I’d say worship, but love a whole bunch, definitely. 🙂
Being an aunty really is awesomesauce. I enjoy my nephews so much! My brothers haven’t given me a niece…but I have a few honorary ones. 😀
I have no biological aunts, but honorary ones are just as good!
I love being an aunt to my nieces and nephews ranging in age from 6 to 25. That relationship is certainly a special one! I’ve also appreciated the special relationship my kids have with their awesome aunts.
Me too, Mo – my daughter and my sister have a particularly close relationship. Gwen was the first niece, and my sister didn’t have kids until four years later, so those first four years Gwen was the apple of Amy’s eye.
I’m the cool aunt too! Sometimes my 5yo niece says “I wish you were my mommy.” and I say “No you don’t, because then I’d be mean.” Then she asks if she can sleepover and I say no. She keeps me up ALL NIGHT chattering. Maybe when she’s 10.
A chatterbox, huh? Not sure if that’s going to lessen at all as she gets older 🙂
Aunties rule! That’s all I can say as I am exhausted from hosting a 2 day sleepover from 4 eight year olds who requested that as their birthday present.
I saw all your posts on Facebook, Dawn – you are super aunt! I was hoping you’d read this – you are one of the best aunts I know, and those kids are so lucky to have you in their lives!
I can’t wait until my nephews are older so they can realize how much cooler I am than their mom!
And they definitely will realize it!
*sigh* Wish I had nieces and nephews to pamper too!! 🙂
Well, I wouldn’t say I pamper them – but I do love’em!
Just had my 13 year old niece stay with us for 2 weeks. It was really fun to have her around. Plus she was a great help with my little ones. I like being an aunt too! Those texts are adorable!
They are so cute, aren’t they? You should see the texts between Jenna and my daughter, the Queen of Texts. They go on for pages and pages…
Your siblings kids always hold an extra special place in your heart don’t they? I don’t even like ‘most kids’, but I adore my nieces & nephews–as if they were my own. This is a great post, Dana!
Thanks, Kari. They do hold a special place in my heart, and I think it is reciprocated.
What a sweet post!! I don’t get to see my nieces and nephews as much as I would like but we still try and keep in touch. I have 1 Aunt that I used to stay with part of every summer when I was in high school – we are still close!!!
Oh, that’s nice to hear, Kim. I would love to stay close to my niece and nephew as they get older.
Love being an aunt to my nieces too. It is cool!
It certainly is nice to be thought of as cool for a change 🙂
This is so sweet, I love it! I don’t have kids, so I too am enjoying the aunt role. I can’t wait for them to get old enough so I can text with them. 🙂
Careful what you wish for – and make sure you have unlimited texting!
Mom, you may not be as old as my grandparents, but I still think you’re wrinkly <3 love you mucho
You’re hilarious, my darling daughter. Now get off your iPad and read a book!
Love the texts. I do think aunts are way cooler. Moms are a little more strict and aunts lets you get away with a few more things than mom does. I used to love visiting with my aunt when I was younger. My kids have no aunts but I sure wished they did. Happy Monday.
I had no (biological) aunts growing up, so this experience is totally new to me. Thanks for stopping by!
I love being an “Auntie.” And, yes, it’s much cooler than being “Mom.”
Auntie – so cute! I kinda wish I had gone with that instead of just Aunt, but either way is fabulous.
I really wanted to be an aunt first, but no one pulled the trigger on that and so Scarlet made me a mom and made my four siblings and Cassidy’s two siblings become uncles and aunts. So we were the guinea pigs! I have one nephew but he’s far away and a little young still to know who I am. I love him so much, though! And I know many more will come because I have three siblings who have babies on the brain.
Can’t wait.
Karen, No tears today but a happy heart! Dana, I’m not that wrinkly – yet!!
I love being the cool aunt to my nephews. It cracks me up when their mom calls me and says, hey can you talk the boy about XYZ? Cause I know they won’t listen to me.
Now that they are older (yikes, does that mean I am older) they will now drive down with their girlfriends and hang with their much younger cousins. So cool.
Yet I never thought about the fact that I can depend on two extra people to wipe drool off my face. Double cool.
That is cool – I know Jenna thinks her older cousin (by 6 1/2 years) is cool to hang with. And yes, extra drool wipers are always a plus.
Great post! And I suspect Lynne & Mike are wiping a tear away ; )
I’ll let her answer that one for you – see below.
You do sound like an amazing aunt!
My sister would agree with you – she’s so good with my boys, and she admitted that as much as she loves them (and she does), she’s glad she can hand them back 🙂
It’s so true, and I imagine grandparents feel the same way!
So cute! I do have nieces and nephews that are texting but they tend to text among the cousins, not the aunts and uncles. My youngest nieces and nephews are so sweet though with their hugs and kisses and we’ve finally gotten to where I am Aunt Shell…for a long time I was Aunt Shelf. It is SO true though that the aunts (and uncles) are way cooler than the parents!
And I bet you are super cool, Aunt Shell! My kids are the oldest of all the cousins, so it’s nice to be able to turn back time a bit with the younger kids.
My kids adore you and are so pumped that they made the blog! We are both blessed to have such wonderful relationships with each other’s kids.
Yes, we are, Amy. I heart Bobby and Jenna 🙂
I am an honorary aunt to many. I feel so blessed and it truly is one of the best jobs you can have!
I totally agree, Kate!
It is so terrific that you have such a great relationship with your nieces and nephews Dana. You sound like a cool Aunt!
I try to be – I have slightly more success at being cool as an aunt than I do as a mom 🙂
Those texts are *SOOOOOOOO* precious! How wonderful.
I hope that one day when Niece and Neff grow up, I get that kind of response from them.
At the moment they’re small and snuggly and push boundaries and give wonderful hugs. I can’t wait til they have a bit more autonomy, a bit more idea of their own character and (hopefully) still want to know their Aunty.
I want to be the cool Aunty they run away from home to, y’know?
A really gorgeous post. Loved it 😀
I actually thought of you while I was writing this, Lizzi, because I know you are an adored Aunty. I’m sure your niece and nephew will continue to think you’re the best!
Then you’re even more AwesomeRockin’ than I ever knew. I really love it 🙂 Your relationship with your niece and nephew is really lovely to read. Gives me something to aspire to 🙂
Everybody wishes they had a nephew as good as me
You are very modest, Jared/Bobby.