Let's Hear It for Aunties, Loud & Clear

For some bizarre reason, the New York Times won't allow commenting and conversation on this article. Too bad, because it might get some good stuff going!

The piece celebrates childless/childfree aunts. Yay, childless and childfree aunties! It's less snarcastic than my piece on the same subject was for Bust and Utne. It's nice. It's equal handed. Has a very strange ending that requires elaboration or, even better, should've been cut. Anyway, enjoy it here:

Let's Hear it for Aunthood from Style section, NY Times, Sunday Sept 19.

Comments

[katelyn at DINKlife]

It is a good article, but it is much more than aunts, it is uncles and even more people who are only children and currently DINKs (like me)

[tioffany]

i totally agree. and in my long-ago articles, i mentioned that you don't have to be a literal family auntie to be an aunt. now that i do have a bio-child, i refer to lots of nice grownups in his life as aunt and uncle. which kind of reminds me of being in India, where all older people are "auntie" and "uncle".

[Liz @ MaybeBabyMaybeNot]

As someone who's totally undecided about having kids, the idea of being a really active Aunt has always appealed to me. But my (and my husband's) family is totally scattered. We live in Los Angeles, and our sibs live in New York and Chicago. Being a full-time Aunt/Uncle isn't really an option for us. I wonder if this will become less of a reliable option for the Childfree as families get more and more spread out?

[Lynn Ray]

liz, i think you're very right. i moved closer to my hometown at one point and that was definitely in my mind. i was aware that my niece and nephews were growing up fast while i sent them cool presents from new york city and visited once a year. the whole lack of extended family thing, the isolated nuclear family business, is also really hard on parents. and on kids. but what're we going to do, stay in big huts together forever?

you can be an "auntie" to other kids though. when i was in India i loved how everyone called their elders auntie and uncle; and i like the Native American tradition of talking about "grandmothers" who may not be blood related.