A family trip to Tennessee, as adult siblings, for a sister's wedding can be a defining weekend in so many ways. Prior to the nuptials I spent what felt like an era in Michigan completing preparations for the destination wedding. During this week I spent three nights getting approximately 2.7 hours of sleep as I was awoken by very excited nieces seeking cookies at 5am. By 8am we were having dance parties to "Hey Mickey" while wearing tutus and princess dresses. By 10am Aunt "Meme" was contemplating ovarian removal surgery and the possibility of profiting off the scientific plausibility that Bella's cat like abilities were supernatural.
I never thought a trip to Meijer could be so exhausting, but Ainslie (my five year old niece) educated me on why women will pay hard-earned money for a babysitter while they grocery shop. I was thrilled with Ainslie's declaration "Aunt Jamie, Yer reeeeally cool!" and thought I'd further my coolness by taking Ainslie to the store with me. She was excited as I expected, so the princess in her frilly dress-up costume and I went to the store. Upon entrance she saw the Halloween costumes and immediately found a devil horn headband declaring, "Aunt Jamie! Look! Monster ears! I wearing these around the store!" Ok, no problem, I thought. She then immediately began singing "I'm a princess monster." Loudly. So all could hear. Her song developed in to a dance involving the bobbing of her head and moving her hands much like she was walking like an Egyptian. Her song was frequently interrupted by, "Aunt Jamie, I looooove this. Can I get it?" To which I'd reply, "Do you want that or your monster ears?" (worked every time) An hour later we had monster ears, bags of bulk candy, stickers, and two bottles of wine. Oh, and a few things I had actually come to Meijer for.
With Bella and Jamison I couldn't tell if they liked me or not. Mostly, I think Bella just liked being naked, cookie in hand. She was also quite a dancer. She was all dressed in nothing but a diaper and tutu be-bopping about with her hands on her knees shakin' her hiney. While babysitting during one of Carrie's Mary Kay meetings I learned that she could be easily controlled by food, especially if it was a Rice Krispie Treat and that pushing toddlers on a swing delivers the equivalent amount of joy an adult experiences when they nail someone of higher caliber.
Jamison is still a little bundle of bones and skin. He doesn't contribute much to society, but he is always happy and sometimes reminds me of a cute little tree frog. Still, I can't shake the feeling that he hated me. Every time I picked him up I'd say, "No barfing on Aunt Jamie, 'cause we're name twins and I'm gonna buy you beer when you're older," and he barf. Every. Single. Time. Then he'd laugh and look cute like it was some sort of accident. He also laughed like it was a well planned joke when I changed his diaper. Kinda freaked me out.
So, that was the start of the family trip. I got to know my nieces and nephew and had a re-occurring realization that Carrie is the procreater and I am not. She does a much better job than I ever could.
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