I love being an Aunt

Ok, I really need to take a moment and be an extremely proud Aunt. I know that everyone thinks their nieces/nephews are the smartest, but seriously I win.

My niece Ashlyn is 5 years old. Her birthday is in November, so she missed the school cut off and won't start Kindergarten till this fall.
However, she really had a desire to read. My sister Courtney had already taught her the alphabet and what sounds the letters make. So with a little more schooling and a workbook, my niece Ashlyn basically taught herself to read!
It's incredible! The kid will look at anything and read words. Coke cans, signs, things on tv, backs of packages, books, etc. She is remembering all the rules like "when you see two vowels together, the first says its name and the 2nd is silent", "T-H says TH", "C-H says CH", etc.
So I got her a few of those first level reading books and she read her first entire sentence to me yesterday, and I'll probably always remember it as it was a proud Aunt moment: "A princess likes to dress up."
I know of a lot of kids in kindergarten (and a few in 1st grade) that can't even read as well as she does. She doesn't even have to always painfully sound out each letter. She just looks at it and sounds it out in her head a lot of the time. And she already knows a lot of words by sight that she memorized! I am SOOO proud of her!
But her genius is not what touched me the most, nope it was last night.

As most of you know, my parents are leaving for Israel tomorrow. They will be in Israel for 2 weeks, then they are going to Cyprus for a few days and then off on their 50th birthday cruise around the Greek Islands! We had their "last supper" last night with my entire fam and just ate burgers and talked. We had a family meeting and figured out some things (they are going to be gone for an entire month so there were a lot to of details, like making sure my 15 year old brother ate dinner every night!) Then my dad and the girls watched Enchanted. The girls had never seen it before and loved it.
Well here it comes.
The most touching part came at the end of the night when we were all saying goodbye. My mom of course started crying when she was hugging us all. Well Ashlyn asked my sister why Gigi was crying. Courtney said it was because Gigi was going to be gone for a month. Ashlyn asked how many days were in a month, and Court said about 30. Ashlyn looked so sad, and with a quivering lip said, "but I'm really going to miss Gigi..." and with that, tears started streaming down her face. It was so precious. Of course that made us all cry and my mom cry harder.

My little niece Ashlyn is not so little anymore.

It's strange watching this child that you have been in love with since birth. I am not your typical aunt, as I have been extremely involved in her life since before the beginning. Before she was even born, I was obsessed and had basically bought her entire wardrobe. She stays with me whenever it's possible, just because I like to be around her. One of the happiest days in my life was when they moved 4 houses down from me. I really view her and my other nieces/nephew, as an extension of myself. I've watched her grow up and seeing her last night have a real grown up emotion of recognizing the fact that she was going to miss her grandmother was so touching.

There are few things in life (besides being a mom myself) as rewarding as being an aunt. I know that the time and love I have given my nieces and now nephew has made me a better parent. I practiced on them, learned things through them.
I learned kid's songs and popular cartoons (and their theme songs) long before I had a child of my own.
I learned what to do when a 3 year old is puking in the backseat of the car and you are driving.
I've learned how to comfort a child when they wake up in the middle of the night with a bad dream.
I've learned how to get incredible fulfillment out of laying on the floor and coloring a picture.
I've learned how a $10 toy shopping spree at Target can take HOURS.
I've learned that giving them an unlimited supply of candy can come back to kick you in the butt.
I've learned what to do when a potty training child has diarrhea.
I've learned how to trick them into eating "just 5 more bites"
I've learned to not ask them if they think I'm fat.
I've learned how even when you are having the worst day in the entire world, having your niece tell you that you are "their best Dee ever" and that they love you as "high as the sky" can put a smile on your face in any circumstance.

If you are a proud aunt or an Aunt-By-Choice (an ABC), a fantastic new website is underway just for you!
It's www.savvyauntie.com and the founder is a fanatic aunt just like me. The site will focus on giving aunties a platform to brag, to learn, to get ideas and more. Currently you can read the SavvyAuntie blog at http://blog.savvyauntie.com/

So anyways I just wanted to brag on my oldest niece Ashlyn Rose today. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is I am so proud of her and the woman she is growing into.