Another Mother's Day Post

Subtitle: I'm glad the children have aunts

An aunt is a special person; they are nurturing and sweet like your mother on a good day, and they have little responsibility to see that you behave minute by minute or day to day. They enjoy socializing you when you're young, because at the very least, you're a change of pace from their own children while still being quite familiar, and maybe, you're one of the only children they regularly interact with, making you extremely charming and clever.

As an adult, I've discovered an aunt can spell you a bit from the insanities all mothers share. Somehow, an aunt saying the exact same thing your mother said last week doesn't rankle. Also, an aunt can be a bit more direct than your mother; maybe this isn't always true, but it seems there is less muddy water between an aunt and you than between you and the woman who tried to raise you well. Of course, if you have a bad connection with your aunt, then this is all bunk.

However, my children are blessed with some lovely aunts in a wide variety of types. Maybe, they'll know this as they mature. Personally, I had two aunts teach me how to tend a house and another how to paint a house and mow a yard. I had some great-aunts who showed me how to be a lady (these lessons did not stick) and that even wildflowers are beautiful. One aunt taught me about the river and another showed me a gentle way to parent. And all of them laughed often and loud.

Now that my own mother is dead, I find myself often needing an elder, and my aunt is willing to advise and sympathize. I hope my children are so lucky.