Friday, December 29, 2006

DeNieces and DeNephews

This post is inspired by a recent post by her Canuck Coolness, Snooze:

Nieces and Nephews are the best! It's so much fun to corrupt them and then return them to their parents...

Some of the highlights from my "career" as an uncle:

I first became an Uncle when I was just shy of my 5th birthday. I asked my father and grandfather (they were both in the room at the time) if that meant that when I grew up I'd be a grandfather. They explained that it didn't quite work that way.

When she was about 2 and I was about 7 my niece, Justine would say silly but cute things like "Unka Dawwin I want to marry you when I grow up." And then my sister and I would have to explain to her that "that just isn't done." Incidentally, Justine (who is now in her mid-20s) still refers to me affectionately as "Unky D" (which makes me feel like a failed white rapper a la Vanilla Ice or Snow-- although I think my bling would be far more fly than theirs ever was).

Convincing Justine and her younger brother, Michael, that their mother and I were brother and sister was met with disbelief at first. It was quite amusing.

I remember the first time I met my niece Kristy. I was about 12 and she was about 6 months. My sister and her husband had flown in from California from the holidays. Every time Kristy would look at me her face would light up brighter than the Christmas tree. She was absolutely adorable, my heart totally melted at that. I think that was kind of when the "daddy instinct" first kicked in. Of course I didn't want to be one at age 12, but from that point on, I knew that someday I wanted to have kids of my own.

I once convinced my then 3 or 4 year old nephew Gregory (he's now 16, btw) to go ask his mother if we could have "air biscuits" for dinner. She was not quite as amused by this as I was.

This past Thanksgiving Toni & I totally doted on my great-nephew, Kevin. I think moreso than with any of my other nieces or nephews baby Kevin feels like a nephew to Toni as well as he's been the only one born AFTER Toni & I married. The kid has the cheeks that babies in my family are notorious for (heck even my 18 year old nephew, Trevor, still has "the cheeks"-- poor kid will probably get carded even when he's old and gray).

7 comments:

Jay Noel said...

Doting on others' children probably plays to that emotional and biological urge to have children.

I wonder if 2007 is your year....hmmmm.

Snooze said...

omg - I love the comment about feeling like a failed white rapper by being called Unky D. All your nieces and nephews are lucky to have such a devoted uncle.

Bar L. said...

Hey Unky D!

I think its so cool that you and Toni can have a common bond with baby Kev (such a great name...)

I LOVE being a great aunt much more than I loved being a regular aunt. It's just so fun.

Jeff said...

I can't believe you were an uncle at the age of 5, that's crazy...

St. Dickeybird said...

Being an uncle finally hit me this Xmas, when I saw gifts for my nephew with "from Uncle Matt and Auntie ****" written on them!

And you'd make a great white rapper. Maybe "Vanilla Ice Cream?"

Bearette said...

wow...you became an uncle at 5! i became an aunt at 17 and thought that was young.

Perplexio said...

Phoenix: I know that both my wife & I have "the baby bug"-- but I'm not sure if this is our year or not. We'll see.

Snooze: It's been a joy for me to watch them grow up. To think that once upon a time I helped feed and diaper them and today they're in college, or have graduated from college, or are now married with kids of their own... WoW!

layla: I loved watching Toni with Baby Kevin. She and I both melted when we first saw him. He's got those adorable cheeks!

jeff: That nephew who made me an uncle at age 5 is now 25, is married (he got married 2 months after me), and has 2 kids of his own (1 by adoption, 1 by birth). So he made me a Great-Uncle at age 29!

St.Dickeybird: I was thinking more along the lines of MC Perp or GrandMaster Perplexion.

bearette24: I'm closer in age to many of my nieces an nephews than I am to my own brothers and sisters. There are 12 years seperating the youngest of my older siblings and I but there are only about 5 years seperating the oldest of my nephews and I.