the auntie hat
january 28, 2006
thanks fishpimp!
l'espoir - "traditionally sustained flavor of kobe" - since 1976
yummy.
and luckily for me, i'm not allergic to them.
:: ::
last week, both of my nieces came to stay with me for around 4+ days. their parents went to tahoe for a skiing trip and i had agreed in advance to take the kids during their vacation. of course little did i know i would be reeling from my anaphylaxis and being still under the weather from god knows what is ailing me.
but i made it through the 4 days of babysitting and it was tough only because i was still weak and shaking from the anaphylaxis plus dealing with a lot of pain around the eye area. but now i know what a parent has to do even in light of illness. you just gotta keep on chugging along and living like nothing has bothered you.
having my nieces here was a good distraction from what i had to deal with healthwise. when i got home from work, i had to just put on a different hat and get to work being a "mom". feeding, playing, chatting, watching movies, reading bedtime stories, helping them change their clothes, baths, changing diapers etc. luckily for me, jasmine at over 4 years old now knows how to take care of herself quite well. she chooses all her outfits and still asks a ton of questions: "how come...." "why does..." "what if it doesn't..." "how does it feel..." "what if you don't"
i've always been (and will be) one of those aunts who do love to dote on their nieces but i believe i am also pretty darn strict. i really demand good manners and politeness. some people may not agree with me and think that's the job of their parents only but as a guardian taking care of children while their parents have left them in my care, i think it's important to assume the role. i tell you, it's been an excellent learning experience for me as well. to assume responsibility, making choices for them, learning how to answer their questions and making sure of their safety. it's hard work to instill the knowledge you want them to have so early on in their little minds. but like a sponge, they absorb everything so quickly.
although i spent alot of time with the 10 month old younger sister sofia at home, i took jasmine out most of the time with me. it's easier to divide and conquer. i took them on daily walks along my street with snowbie to visit our neighbor's dogs but only jasmine really went out to restaurants, stores and other places with me. i now know how hard it is to pack up 2 kids to go out. period. i don't know how mothers like peg, karen and cyn do it. they make it look so easy and they still look so HAWT! i really look like one of those live in asian nannies when i take my nieces out. :p
perhaps the only really awkward moment during their visit was when jasmine and i were on the way to my haircut appointment. we were talking about the need to take her shower that night and all of the sudden she blurted out " you're fat." it completely caught me off-guard. so i inquired as to what fat means. and she replied "really big". o-kay. that really wasn't any better but at least i like to know what she thinks of the meaning behind the word. she told me she learned it at school from her teacher but i'm not really sure. i guess the thing that bothered me the most was not that she was pointing out a fact but the fact that children her age are already so aware of the societal standards of size and the labels we tag onto people to classify them. as an aunt, i always hope that my nieces will see beyond people's differences and embrace the diversity in people's sizes, shapes, color and gender. and that's exactly how i countered that comment.
maybe this is where i ought to solicit your opinion as to how you would handle a situation like this. anyone? i didn't bring this to my brother or sisinlaw's attention when i saw them on sunday as i'm not really sure how they would react and for all i know, they might not really think it's a big deal at all.
anyway......4 years olds.
overall, i had a really good time with her. she did everything that she was told....even taking the dreaded bath with a hairwash as well. the last time we had to do this didn't go so well. in fact, it's something that's always on her mind whenever she visits. so i don't push it, although i end up having one slightly sticky niece. :p but this time, she agreed to get into the shower and was surprised at how quickly i finished washing her hair.
since both her and sofia were so good during their visit, i made them little
certificates to take home. you know, just some little motivational award for
their stay here. i listed out their accomplishments and the foods they ate
and what they did. and perhaps i should have added the word fat with
a strikethrough on it or something.
yeah, um.
the one really really sad part to the weekend was that i didn't pay enough attention to snowbie and did not notice that she was losing her hearing. apparently after being put on antibiotics for an ear infection, she wasn't able to tolerate the medication, which in turn started to cause deafness. by wednesday of this week, she was about 50% deaf. i started noticing her being really lethargic and hiding away in her crate. she also wouldn't come greet me or respond to her name. she typically would run to meet me at the door when i come home from work but i literally had to walk up to her bed and touch her sleeping body to let her know i was home.
*SIGH*
it really broke my heart.
so i rushed her to the emergency vet and had them flush out the ear. they concluded that the meds just stayed glue-like in her ear. she has improved immensely but i think she has sustained some permanent hearing loss though.
and that makes me really fucking pissed off.
and disappointed in myself for not noticing earlier because i was so busy with the kids. :\
i really need to sleep now. it's 4am.
currently listening to: madonna, la isla bonita
