The Joy of Being An Auntie

As I was holding my newest nephew, Joshua, last week, I was reminded of one of the great gifts that I have had by being part of a large family – the joy of being an auntie.

I can still remember the first time I held my oldest nephew, Clifton (Tank), when I was just 7 years old. I timidly asked my sister Wanda to hold him and when she put him in my arms, I was so mesmerized by his tiny fingers and toes. At age 23, he can now hold me (LOL!) and I’m so proud of the incredible young man that he is becoming.

Being the cool auntie to my nieces and nephews is great because I get to be the fun adult that they can share with and relate to. It’s also wonderful for me because I can be a vicarious parent and send them back home to my siblings when they start to get on my nerves! I have so many amazing memories with all of them, some of my favorites include

• Watching Tank and Chris during one summer and having to beat one of them with a plastic bat. I was unsuccessful because one of them (I think it was Chris) slid under their bed

• Babysitting my oldest niece Karin for the first time and since she didn’t poop, I left an overflowing pee-pee filled diaper on her for SEVEN hours! Rinn, I’m sorry for that diaper rash!

Taking joy in the fact that one of Karin’s first words was “Eeah”

• Babysitting my nephew Tyler and trying to figure out why he would not stop crying. I turned him over and discovered that he had poop going all the way up his back! After that, we were good. This little bugger is now 7 years old and takes great pride in kicking my butt in Dance Dance Revolution.

• My ABSOLUTE favorite memory is Tank and Chris’s excitement when the ice cream truck would arrive in our neighborhood. They could not pronounce the syllable “tr” when they were toddlers and they would replace the “tr” with the “f” sound. So, every time they heard the chimes of the ice cream truck, one of them would say, “Mommy, Daddy, here comes the ice cream f---. Made me laugh EVERY time.

With nieces and nephews ranging from 23 to 3 weeks old, it’s just awesome to see how these little people in my life are blooming and to take pride in the fact that Aunt Leah’s love had a little something to do with how wonderful they are becoming.

I look at my littlest nephews Thomas Jr. and Joshua and I can’t wait to have as much fun with them as I did with Tank and Chris. Hopefully, I will get a little bit more respect from them than I did with Tank and Chris, but I can’t ask for too much, right?

Thank you Tank, Chris, Karin, Emmanuel, Kezia, Tyler, Thomas Jr., Taylor, and Joshua for filling my life with so much joy. Being your aunt is one of the best gifts that I could ever have. I am so proud of each and every one of you and I am just bursting with excitement to see how great all of you are going to be.