How To: Be a Super Aunt!

March 8, 2013    |    By +
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I may not have any children of my own, but I do have the honor of being the Aunt of eight boys and two girls, all between the ages of 6-13. And, they all love me! (If I do say so myself) And after all of this practice, I definitely know a thing or two about being a “Super Aunt”. It’s really not that hard once you know the ground rules and the rewards are awesome to say the least.

Who doesn’t like being the favorite aunt?! Well, if you’re a new aunt and need some tips or are struggling with bonding with your nieces or nephews, here is my secret bag of tricks that never fail to win over my nieces and nephews.

I make a concerted effort to be their favorite Aunt by following 3 basic rules when visiting any of them:

1)      My handbag always has candy in it – enough that everyone can have one.  A rookie mistake is to only have 1-2 pieces – crying is inevitable if there isn’t enough to go around.

2)      My iPad is always fully charged & packed with free & $0.99 game apps.  Although I am sometimes unsure which they love more, my iPad or me, they always greet me with a huge hug before asking for my iPad.  They know that they each have 10 minutes to play with the iPad before passing on to a sibling/cousin. They also know that if I hear any fighting over the iPad, it will be taken away from all of them.  Believe it or not, this threat works 9/10 times.

3)      While I am a gift guru, I don’t always know what they already have when shopping for a gift.  I always ask them what they want – not their parents.  Otherwise, they’d all end up with socks and sweaters.  Practical gifts do not equal favorite Aunt!

I guess my efforts have paid off because a few years ago, they gave me a candle holder in the shape of a giant ant.  (“Cause you are a super Aunt!”) Even though big insects (live, dead, faux or otherwise) creep me out, I have kept that big ant proudly on display in my apartment. It even came in handy during Super-storm Sandy, when my power went out for a week.  If it had completely melted, I might have had to get rid of the creepy crawler.  But, I doubt I could ever find a good enough reason to trash my prize. I mean, why wouldn’t I want to show off my hard earned “Super Aunt” award?

What did I miss? Share your tips for being a “Super Aunt” in the comments!

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Dana H.
Dana is Editor in Chief at Gifts.com. She loves helping make every occasion stand out with her unique gift ideas, handy tips & special touches. She has over a decade of experience with matching fabulous products with fabulous people.

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As the Men’s Gift Editor, Dan is fortunate to be able to blend his work week with off-hour hobbies. Dan’s marketing background goes back over a decade, but he's always been passionate about the “guy” things like sports, electronics and grilling.

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