Being the favorite auntie is work, people

Don't get me wrong, I'm up for the challenge, but it requires vigilance.

With GH's little nephew Carson, it's not so much about being the fave. He has two Aunts by Blood already, so they come first. And he was nice enough to just accept me as one of his "approved persons" without making me jump though too many hoops. The little strawberry milks from Gossner's I make sure to pick up for him when I'm in town help keep me on the list.

With Savvy and Ethan, however, I have to be on my game, because Spitfire is pretty tough competition and it's not like either of us are going to back down. In my dealings with The Precii, however, I sometimes feel like it's a two-steps-forward, one-step-back kind of a deal. (And yes, commence humming Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul . . . now.)

It goes a bit like this:

Steps forward: Gave Savannah her Very Special Day in which I played supporting actress (Bride) to her protagonist (Darling Twirling Flower Girl Extraordinaire)

Step back: Have not yet provided her with a baby girl cousin, like my brother & his wife have. (Seriously. My stock, she plummeted.)

Step back: Now have a husband person in my big comfy bed, so I do not have slumber parties at their house like I used to.

Steps forward: Have a husband person who came with video games. Which Savvy and Ethan love playing, even though they never seem to actually get any better at them.

Steps forward: Have a desk chair in my apartment that spins.

Step back: Never let them spin as much as they want. Also, never let them play video games for as long as they want.

Steps forward: Offered to knit Savvy the knee-socks she wanted for Christmas in the yarn she picked out.

Step back: Did not initially understand that what she actually wanted were hooker-length thigh highs, and was then resistant to her vision.

Steps forward: Took Savvy and Ethan to the BYU Creamery for an ice cream date.

Step back: Used The Mean Voice to Savvy in the car when she tried to snap her brother's neck with her hands because he was in her space.

Steps forward: GH and I take them out on a movie date as an early Christmas present, thereby giving the Gift of Experiences.

Step back: Ethan decides he does not want to watch The Princess and the Frog, he just wants to stay at my apartment and spin in the chair and play video games. We drag him off to the movie anyway, and make snot jokes in the car to try and cheer him up. He does not love the movie, and then he gets a blister on his foot, and then when his parents come to get them he gets his head slammed in the car door. (I am SO very grateful that it was not me who did this, but instead his mom whom he will keep on loving anyway.) So what was supposed to be this fun treat was instead probably one of his worst days ever.

I think Christmas was one for the forward steps, though:

These bad boys were for Ethan and Carson. I think my favorite part was watching the boys put them on and then seeing the lightbulb go off over their heads. Ethan immediately growled and lunged for his sister, who shrieked and jumped backwards in a gratifying (to Ethan) way. Carson did not immediately terrorize anyone, but let out some very impressive growls.

And then there were The Socks:

I did eventually get them long enough for her tastes (but not long enough for, say, a hooker's), and it sounds as though she loves wearing them. This then provides her and everyone else with a visual reminder that the best auntie is the one who spent 1,937 hours knitting dental floss together with toothpicks for her. (Aaaand this is the part where I'm going to conveniently forget how Spitfire spent close to the same amount of time playing Barbie with Savvy over Christmas and I played exactly none hours with her. Not factoring that in at all.)