Tuesday, July 28, 2009

House, yard, and inhabitants thereof, be ye warned!

Because...


Ethan and Jackson are coming tomorrow, and with their arrival, peace, quiet, solitude, calm, and order will set forth on vacation, not to return until Saturday evening, when the only traces of children will be the cookie crumbs scattered over every single square inch of this house and the left-behind shoes and underwear and power rangers.

And no, this won't be because of Ethan and Jackson alone, who are actually pretty tidy, as boys go. It will be because of the myriad of cousins and aunts and cousins and uncles and cousins who will take up partial residence while the boys are here.

If the trampoline and the cats and Marmee survive, I'll be surprised. Actually, I'll be pleasantly surprised if the house survives.

But when it's all said and done, I love Ethan and Jackson's visits, and they are two of the most wonderful boys in the whole, wide world. No kidding. I know I say "they're-the-most-wonderful-in-the-world" alot, especially about my nieces and *nevies, but it's simply true, true, true.

I love Ethan, with his geeky knowledge and his love for snakes and books. I love him because he was my very first nevy, and because I wasn't too old to really play-play when he was little. I love him because I can remember the night he was born when Jacob called me at Mamaw's house, after we had gone to bed, to tell me I was finally an aunt. For a six year old, that's really tremendous news.

I love Jackson, with his OCD little nature inherited from his mama, marmee, and me. I love that he can go the entire day outside in the dust and the filth and the heat and still be radically cleaner than Phoebe, Ben, and Lee all put together. I love that I so clearly remember praying for him to be born safely the weeks leading up to his birth, and praying for him to be okay the weeks he was in the hospital afterwards, because he was born several weeks premature.

I love that they want me to cuddle in bed with them before they go to sleep, and tell them story after story about dragons and race-cars. (I like the dragon stories best, because I can usually work in some damsels in distress and heroic knghts.)

Basically, I love them a whole, whole lot. This week is going to be wonderful, even if we never get the rugs clean again.


*Oh, and in case you were wondering, Jo March calls her nephews "nevies" and it's quicker and far catchier than just "nephews". I haven't found a short-cut for nieces, but if you think of something, comment away.

2 comments:

Heather Brandon said...

What a power trip for a 6yo! I bet you relished your new role. It is very special to become an aunt. I found I was one early morning on the trampoline with my fiancee', Ron, and my little sister. Never forget the awesomeness of that moment.
Jackson sounds IMPRESSIVE! No dirt on a boy? How can that be possible? Macrae, gets 3, sometimes 4, baths a day, 2 or 3 sets of clothes and they have to be washed with Ron's work clothes & Neo's. That kid sounds comparable to my dad who was like that.

"This week is going to be wonderful, even if we never get the rugs clean again"

Proverbs 14:4
"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean:"
Oxen were necessary, and as I see you agree, dearest nephews are as well.. :-) :-)

Katie Larissa said...

Mrs. Heather, yes, nephews are definitely necessary.

And becoming an aunt at six was one of the coolest things ever. I'm pretty sure nothing could be better for a little girl.