This is Reagan, my two year old niece. www.babyscholars.com messed up and didn't send her birthday gift (a giant indoor tunnel and tent compound)on time. Never use them. Toddlers can't be bothered with supply chain logistics, they want cake. I thought this would be a great gift because 1) what kids don't love a fort? and 2) it will monopolize a huge footprint of my brother's house which he just may find irritating.
Anyway, my brother and his awesome wife, Tanya, had their second today, a boy. He's perfect. I knew someone who used to say that when each of her grandchildren were born..."He / she is perfect!". Makes you wonder at what point we might stop being perfect? 2? 6? 12? 25? Could it be possible that you stay perfect and you're just human? I'd like to believe that...that these two can grow up thinking that they are exactly right.
One of the consistent things we hear here is that people are homesick, that they miss their families. While we can go back every year or so and people can come see us here, it's going to be hard for me to have these two growing up without my knowing them. I hope that by the time they are in school (and old enough to think about things other than cake, which we're hoping I, myself, will jump that shark soon), that they can come spend some summers or long vacations with Tom and me.
It's an incredible gift to be able to pick up and move wherever we want without having to worry about how it effects our own kids. We are often told how much more challenging it is and see the amount of investment it takes to raise a family. Clearly, there's a huge reward in it too, but a lot of missed sleep and spilled milk, for sure.
I desperately want to be a good aunt...we'll have to figure out what that looks like from 8,000 miles of ocean away.
My favorite aunt used to send me postcards from around the world; sometimes she'd send sketches, or seeds, or hand-carved boxes or figurines... I looked forward to her missives more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI'd say just staying in touch with your niece and nephew, with special notes just for them, is enough.
Hey, just FYI: Blogger is having some issues with Safari, my browser; half the time I cannot read the verification letters I need to type in, in order to post a comment. I've lost a bunch of comments this way. Is there a way you can turn that feature off? Or would that make it too dangerous?
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