I’m an aunt!

Aside from the change in my relationship status, the biggest change in my life over the last few years is that I became an aunt! My nephew, B, turns three this weekend and is pretty much the cutest kid ever (yeah, I’m biased but that doesn’t mean it’s not true!).

When my nephew was born, I went through a brief spell of thinking that maybe I did want a kid after all. It’s hard not to be seduced by an adorable baby who doesn’t do much except sleep, eat and poop – especially when I didn’t have to deal with the poop part! I made enough comments wondering if I wanted one that I think J started getting a little freaked out (he’s already a dad but with his daughter finally out of the house, he has zero interest in starting all over again). As usual with me, rationality eventually took over again, but I do love being an auntie. I get to love and spoil the little guy without any of the real responsibility. At the same time, unlike with other kids, if I feel like B is doing something he shouldn’t, it’s generally OK for me to say something to him (mostly without annoying my sister :-)).

One interesting thing about becoming an aunt is that it has given me a clearer understanding of why having kids is often such a huge divider of people (particularly women). As someone who does not have kids, and has no intention of ever having kids, I have never really understood why it is that when people have kids, they inevitably stop having a life of their own. It’s not just that their activities revolve around their kids but it seems like there are many women who can’t/don’t want to even talk about anything other than their kids. That used to be something I found really annoying. But now that B is in my life, I feel like I understand it a bit better. I still think women who really can’t talk about anything but their kids are fairly annoying, but I have a much better appreciation for why they do it, because I find that I have a similar desire to talk about B a lot. He’s just so damn cute and smart, how could people NOT want to hear about how cute and smart he is? I don’t actually talk about him that much (at least, I don't think I do...) but it sure is fun that when other people bust out with annoying stories about their kids, I can now match them with equally annoying stories about B!