Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Why I'm Not Actually a Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Aunt

Okay, so every single time Jaxon is at my mom’s house and we show up, the very first thing he asks me is if the girls can spend the night with him at Gram’s.

Now, I always answer in the negative because I know my mom doesn’t actually want them all there over overnight. She doesn’t have the sleeping space for them, they’re a lot of work and honestly, the girls would rather just go home with me anyway.

So I knew what was coming when we showed up last Monday evening. My mom was cleaning her car, Jaxon was there because he was going with us all the next day and there was still much packing to do in both my house and my mom’s house. The minute I stepped foot in her house, Jax was asking, “Hey, Tommie, can the girls spend the night?”

I told him we still had some packing to do and for him to enjoy the girls while we were there and that we’d all be together for the next three days.

He walked around the house muttering, “I wish they could spend the night.”

Then he started crying, “They never get to spend the night when I’m here.”

I managed to not laugh when I told him, “Buddy, they don’t spend the night when you’re NOT here.”

He didn’t appreciate my humor, not one little bit.

As the girls and I got ready to leave, the tears started flowing. He wandered out to my mom’s front yard, where a swing hands from an enormous maple tree. He sat forlornly on the swing as I buckled Olivia into the car.

I glanced over at him and said to Alyssa, “If he’d asked to come to our house, I’d have said yes.”

And it hit me. I was being a jerk. If I’d have said yes to him if he’d asked to come to our house, why wasn’t I just inviting the poor kid?

So I went out to the tree swing and asked, “Buddy, the girls can’t stay here but would you like to come to our house for the night?”

The tears stopped instantly and he leapt from the swing to run in and tell Gram that he was going with us.

My mom gathered the few things he’d need for the night and thanked me for taking him. I told her I kind of figured it would actually be easier for me to have him at my house where he and Liv would entertain each other than it would be for her to try and soothe his hurt feelings even as she packed for the coming trip.

So see…I was a nice aunt on Monday but by Thursday, I was tired and ready to be back down to just two kids. And that kid…he’s great but he can take a lot of mental energy, what with the talking and the talking and the talking and the demand for near constant interaction and did I mention the talking? Whew.

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