got promoted to aunt today. my favorite kiddos next door are moving away. eight hours away. and today was our last day together. I love these kids with everything I've got. I've known them since they were born. and before the 11 (!!) year old was born, her dad asked me if she could call me Aunt Heather. and because it was a serious moment, he broke the tension with a joke, saying "that way she can ask you for money" cuz apparently you only ask family for money lol. anyway, I said yes. and that really has been my role in their lives, but the name and title didn't officially stick.
but as they were getting ready to move, I was really worried that I wouldn't get to be part of their lives anymore. even though I've been friends with their parents for like 15 years, they're so busy that we haven't been as close in recent years. and when we are together, the kids hit me with the force of a thousand suns (they're so happy to see me and have so MUCH to say) that I don't actually get to talk to the parents much.
but the kids and I are close. I'm the only babysitter they've ever had. I taught the kids how to blow bubbles and I keep chalk for them to use outside. I learned pokemon for them. I've always been a part of their lives. and we love each other. really, it comes down to that. we had the hardest time when the pandemic hit, and we had to social distance. when we finally started relaxing our social distancing rules and going near each other again, the older kiddo would whisper in my ear "I love you. you're just like family" to me, completely unprompted. and that's really what it comes down to. we love each other. we're family.
so back to the aunt thing. I told the kids about what their dad had asked me a while back. and I told them his joke about asking me for money. so today, I told them to ask me for some money to make it official. I did it while their mom was here, so she was in the loop. I went back and forth between a symbolic dollar with a note written on it (and even mentioned that to them) and just a solid 20 lol. I talked to them about it earlier in the day and when I mentioned the one dollar idea, they were excited to get to spend it lol so I opted for 20s instead. practical rather than sentimental. and they were excited about it. about saying we're officially family, AND about the crisp 20s.
because that's the thing about kids, they want to be able to put you in a box, to better understand what you mean to them. even when they already know, it's hard when you don't have the words for it. they've always struggled with the language around our relationship. american english and american culture don't really have a word for what I am to them. we don't really have a word for what they are to me either. so my favorite kiddos next door are officially my niblings, my niece and nephew. some of my favorite human beings on the planet.
and we have a plan to keep in touch. we planned from the beginning of the day, that we wouldn't have a big goodbye. that I wouldn't give them a sentimental goodbye gift (I have nice journals and was going to write letters, but that felt so FINAL) instead, we would say "I'll talk to you tomorrow" and they're going to call me from the car.
and I gave them a bunch of small gifts. I let them have their pick of pokemon cards, some american, some japanese. I gave them both a small sketchbook and a 24 pack of crayons. last minute I let them keep a pair of skip-its that I bought for my cousins, because their new house has a driveway. and as a housewarming gift, this 48 pack of chalk (the good stuff).
and we did shirts. there had been a joke about starting Heather's Shirt Club, when I gave them a few shirts that didn't fit me. and so I got us all blank t-shirts and I had these fabric markers... still from BrittanaCon, believe it or not. and we decorated shirts together. we had so much fun doing it, and now we have these dorky adorable shirts that we can all wear.
we spent the last two days together while their parents packed. and we had so much fun. and I'm going to talk to them tomorrow.
