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Co-sign. By the lovely Grace Farris.
P.S. Four types of aunts, and parenting methods I’ve tried.
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ahh, my niece. my first love.
Oh, does she sell this as a print? She should!
Same question! I want to buy this and I want Grace to get paid for it!
The unmarked blue one is Being the Person They Can Tell Anything To and the unmarked pink is Mischief
Those Niblings are some of my favorite people. One is honest and I learn a lot about myself from them. One texts me regularly the things she makes, that started out as projects we did in my basement. One thinks I am the soft place to land, when really I see her with much more sympathy than anyone else. And there is my favorite nephew (he is the only).
I love this! My husband and I are childless by choice but we are the proud aunt and uncle to some truly wonderful kiddos. It’s nice to be seen for what we contribute, despite not being parents ourselves.
One thing nobody talks about is that your aunt is the keeper of their brother’s or sister’s memories/history/stories. Now that my dad’s gone, his sister can tell me all about the time he threw a pancake out of the window at their grandmother’s home, got all the kids in the house in trouble, and denied it (with a mischievous twinkle in his eye) to the grave.
I love this perspective!
It the mom lets you… Oh to be so fortunate!
Also an only-aunt by choice – My 6 year old niece lives many states away but I facetime with her many times a week. Now that she has learned how to read and write, we are pen pals. I am currently looking forward to surprising her by joining her Spring Break/Christmas gift trip to Disneyland with her parents! My fun little goal is to surprise her at least once a year!
Oh I love being an aunt! You get to be fun and a safe place… i had amazing aunts, one who taught me skiing and another who made me so many costumes as a little girl… I think of them often… they passed away a long time ago.
I think I’m a pretty good mom, but I would have been great aunt!
Being an aunt is my FAVORITE thing in all the land. I get to be an aunt to all of my best friends kids. The oldest named me Gecca & it’s been my favorite name I’ve ever had. When they stop, I’ll be so sad. BUT my friends keep adding babies, so we’ve got a decade more of being Gecca, I’m sure! Chick-fil-a visits & sleepovers & playground time & movie nights. It truly melts my heart & makes me so grateful knowing that these best friends will be the aunties of our kids someday, too ❤️
Thank you <3
As an older mom, being an auntie is like being a grandmother while I still got it. Love spending time with my 31 and my 7 year old nieces.
My aunt died unexpectedly this week so this post was especially well timed. Thanks Jo!
This warms my heart and hurts my heart st the same time. I was so fortunate to grow up with two loving and doting aunts who did not have children. That meant a lot of undivided attention and care from them. They both lived long lives which I was grateful for. We don’t have children and my only niece died a year ago in her 20s. We were just starting to have a closer relationship as she grew up a long distance from us. I looked forward to our relationship growing and miss her every day.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Kristinanne.
Being an aunt is one of the greatest joys of my life!
My niece and nephew will be moving to South Carolina in a few weeks, so my auntie heart will hurt like nothing else. But the love and more love parts are very true. I said with both of them that my heart grew three sizes after they were born.
Good luck adjusting! My nephew has always lived a coast away from me, but we manage to FaceTime almost every night before he goes to bed. I hope you can find a way to stay close.
Aunthood is the best!
Thanks for the periodic aunt content. After a lot of fertility treatments, we may be reaching the end of the road this year. It’s nice to focus on the joy being an aunt brings. Still so much love to give even if being a Mum isn’t in the cards for me.
Andrea, what you’re describing has been my path. I wish you all happiness, and I hope that you find that you love and want the life that finds you, even if it’s different from the life you expected to love and want.
I don’t want to minimize any disappointment you have or have had, but I do want to tell you for certain that there will be brightness, fun, joy, and LOVE ahead for you. You have so much to look forward to <3
<3
Andrea I am CFBC so it is not the same but I can tell you that my Nibling relationships are some of the most fulfilling relationships I can imagine. It is because I am well-rested and well-resourced that I can give so much of myself to these kids and I can keep up with all of their lives. The Eldest is 20 this year, youngest is 4. When I arrive at a gathering I am ready to party with these punks. I have stamina for their stories and Big feelings. It is truly a gift I adore. And for me, the relationships are richer because there are no kids on the planet that outrank them. Goodluck, whichever route your ship takes you, if you dock at “Only” an Aunt island though, know that it can be truly magnificent.
My aunt has played a huge role in my life, and has been a massive support system as I am an adult. I come to her for different things than I would come to my mother for, and her love has helped me weather a lot of storms. All this to say that the aunt role can play a profound role in someone’s life and I’m sure you are an incredible aunt already.
But I’m also rooting for you, from a fellow fertility patient who hasn’t seen the light at the end of the tunnel yet either. This journey sucks so much. Sending you hugs.
I was looking for this comment, as I am in the same boat. Sending hugs.
I’m also likely reaching the end of the road soon following many fertility treatments and procedures. It’s so tough, especially since somehow I don’t know anyone in real life who has been through this. But reading comments about people’s love for their aunts is really nice. I hope I can be that aunt for my nieces and nephews, no matter how treatment ends for me.
Love! I am an aunt to two tween boys and I loved playing basketball, Wii sports and backyard games with them on a recent visit. And they know I will bring the books. :)
The most wonderful thing to come out of this past holiday season is that my husband reconnected with a cousin he practically grew up with, and they cut off ties with their MAGA family. They have now rebranded as “brother and sister” by choice and we now have young people in our lives (we don’t have kids) who visited with us over the holidays (the last we saw them, they were small children) and now refer to my husband and me as their Aunt and Uncle. We had such a blast holiday shopping for our new-found family, and I want to be the best aunt ever! We’re all getting to know each other and are already making plans to visit and spend time together. Gaining new family, and nieces and nephews at that, was not on my 2025 bingo card, but I’m so excited by this new chapter!
This is lovely! Thanks for sharing and best of luck in this new chapter!
BEAUTIFUL!
I just sent my 15 year old (16 in 6 weeks!) nephew back home after he spent a week with us. I caught glimpses of his childlike wonder while we went to the Kennedy Space Center, played in the sand and body surfed at the beach, and had all his favorite foods. He’s the youngest of my 10 nieces and nephews so I cherished these moments!
My grandmother died when I was five years old. Her sister, my great Aunt Rita, stepped in and became my surrogate grandmother. She lived in San Francisco and I lived in the San Fernando Valley. I visited her every summer, and it was wonderful. I learned to love buses, hilly streets, cold, foggy weather and most of all getting all her attention (I had one brother and two sisters)! I am now 76 years old, and I still think of her often and am so grateful for these wonderful experiences.
Oh I love this, what a gift! I was lucky to have my grandmother, but her sister was also like a bonus grandmother to all of us. Great aunts are so wonderful!
A good life is one that is filled with lovely chapters by the sounds of it. It sounds like you were very much loved.
I’m 38 and have recently established a much closer relationship with one of my aunts. As I have gotten older, I’ve realized how many things we have in common and what a special person she is. We plan things with my daughter and also just the two of us. It’s wonderful to get to experience aunt hood at every age!
Alex I’m the same. Last year my daughter was very unwell and my Aunt and Uncle just turned up on our doorstop with flowers from their garden, a card, food and a hug. They also offered to help and offered such practical things. So for over a year my aunt has been driving us to appointments and to hospital and out for coffee and listens and makes conversation and jokes and boom recommendations and asks my daughter for advice (what exactly are the lyrics to pink pony club? We had it playing at senior water aerobics and I want to tell the gals). She’s been a “stand in mum” as mine died in 2020 and I know she would feel so good knowing my aunts were there in her place. I’ve found too we have so much in common and we can talk about my Dad and his quirks with loving knowing! She’s been a a gift and one always there but I hadn’t seen her fully until now and I’m so grateful.
This is the sweetest thing! My husband and I are going thorough IVF and my nieces are such a bright spot in my life when I’m feeling discouraged. Here’s to all the bighearted aunts and the lovable littles in our lives!
I loved having an aunt who was my heart – she wasn’t exactly fun, she was actually very posh and bossy. She bossed my mum around a lot too (older sister). But I loved her. She helped me select my wedding dress, found my first rental at uni and took me to enrol, and she was the only one who knew what it was to have have a sick child, to fear they might not last… She had a daughter and their relationship was difficult (her daughter is the most selfish person I have ever met), to the point that when my aunt, her mother was dying, she told her mum there wasn’t enough inheritance to see her through, so my cancer ridden aunt wouldn’t even take a taxi home from chemo! But when my aunt passed her final breath it was with her hand in mine. After all our years, she was safe in my company. Her sisters and daughter had left the room for a cup of tea, and I held her hand and thanked her for the love. And her chest rattled and then it stopped. I loved her and she knew it and she left. What more can one ask of life than to love and be loved? Anyone who knows the love of someone like my aunty is a mighty lucky person indeed. Aunties are marvellous. They are also the only people who know even more than you how annoying one of your parents can be (haha). If you can be one of those aunties, then you make the world a much better and brighter place.
Wow, this is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing about your lovely aunt! Brought tears to my eyes. May her memory always be a balm.
@Kirby ♥️
Made me smile. During my recent visit with family in Los Angeles, my nieces and I created a hook swap. Started this month. Zoom discuss. My first is Book 1, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. My nieces are reading Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross and The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. Having family on both coasts can be hard so I’m hoping a virtual book club will open new topics to talk about. They both travel for work and crave reading rec’s so I also shared CofJ with them. I love being an Aunt to 8 adults/a Great Aunt to 14 young people.
LOL, ofc, “book” swap. 🤦♀️
That looks about right. I’d add pride in there somewhere…
I’m curious how people juggle being a parent and being an active aunt. I was much more involved with my nephews and friends’ kids lives before having a kid of my own. For instance, I usually visit my brother on the east coast rolling solo with my kid, so I’m on parent duty to my own kid for my entire visit, so it’s hard to have one-on-one time with my nephews. I try, but I wish I was a better aunt.
This is hard and will probably get easier as your kid gets older… but can you do a kid swap while you are there visiting? Have your brother watch your kiddo while you take one or both nephews out to do something special. The 1:1 time is the best, and it doesn’t have to be long! Go get a donut or ask them to show you their favorite playground. I try to also just ask my niece and nephew questions when the family is all together, so they feel like I’m trying to get to know them as people… even if I can’t get away.
I agree, it’s difficult ! I have one nephew and one niece and I love them, but they live far away and when we see each other, I have to watch my kids too and it’s not easy!! My kids are 6,4 and 2 years old and my nephew and niece , 5 and 3 years old, so it’s kind of perfect, but I hope I will have more quality time when everybody will be a little older !
I absolutely feel this! My oldest is three weeks older than his cousin, so I never was my niece/nephew’s aunt without being on parent duty too. My BIL came to visit recently solo and spent time with my kids and it was lovely. I’m hoping I can do the same in the future and spend one on one time with my niece and nephew as the kids get older.
My nephew is older than my son so he has instagram. I comment (privately) to almost everything he posts – telling him he’s amazing. I applaud his wins, I applaud even louder his attempts and I tell him he is fabulous. I tell him he would be my favourite even if I had 16 nephews. I also scramble to sit next to him at family events, because I want him to know he is interesting. My son loves his cousin – so being a parents and an aunt can come hand in hand… remember that together they will remember you and your brother in 60 odd years, so it is important to build their bond too. It’s this sort of thing that creates an extended family. Seriously your nephew is lucky that you come with a cousin!
I was in the delivery room with my sister when my nephew was born. While I don’t live in the same state with them, we FaceTime nightly. This warms my heart!
I love this so much. My Auntie Sophie specialism is astonishment.
My beautiful nephew is 1.5 years old and yesterday gave me a snotty, damp, face-eating kiss accompanied by more than a little scratching, and I loved it ❤️
<3! I'm an aunt-only by choice and this is spot on! I recently saw my 7yo niece over the holidays after not seeing her for a few years and at first she was shy, but by the 3rd day: We were having a sleep over on bunk beds and chatting about cats and doing "would you rather…" while we drifted to sleep. Heart explosion!!!
Love love love being an aunt. This illustration made my day!!!
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