1 Big Sister + 1 Big Brother = Big's Day (aka Nephew Bonding)

Blueberry ice cream

I have two nephews. This is of my older nephew, E. He just turned four on February 14th, Valentine's Day. Yesterday E turned in his birthday coupon for a Big's Day.

One of my auntie goals is to create experiential ways for us to bond. Since I'm the big sister in my family and he's the big brother in his, I thought of the concept of Big's Day. Small simple days with just of the two of us to have some quality time to bond over being the oldest child in our families.

Yesterday E turned in his birthday coupon for a Big's Day. He has shown a love of art lately and I gifted him a painting pottery session for his birthday. We visited the local pottery painting shop at the mall. Neither of us had been had this experience before. As we entered, we were guided to a table and then told to choose our object to paint. If you haven't visited one of these shops before, there is an insane variety of objects you can decorate. It can even be a bit overwhelming. From fire trucks to frogs to plates. From olive oil bottles to butterflies to bowls. E chose an ice cream cone to adorn with five delicious colors of glaze.

A brilliant Big's Day 

The shop assistant told him he before painting, we had to wash the cone with a sponge to remove the dust. After this direction, we were told we needed to add three coats of glaze to obtain a strong color after his ice cream was fired in the kiln. As E and I worked together through the pottery painting process, I was reminded of how cultivating my auntie relationship with him has some similarities.

I recently moved closer to home. Closer to my family. Initially, I felt a bit distant from him since we only really knew one another from time together during vacations and connecting weekly during a FaceTime chat. But like the process of glazing, where you add layers of paint to enrich your pottery item, we too can achieve this beauty. Each time we visit the local playground, learn about nature center animals, visit the zoo and paint pottery, we too are creating stronger bonds. Just like E's ice cream cone will be more brilliant from adding the required three layers of glaze, our relationship will too have greater depth and strength each Big's Day celebration. I'm looking forward to tasting these vibrant bonds.

My New Tattoo

On my left cheekbone, just below the corner of my eye is an tattoo which I hadn't noticed till it was there this week.

It's in the shape of a heart.

In actuality, it's an age spot.

A tattoo of sunshine and years.

A tattoo of oceans and pools and lounging in the sunshine while sitting with friends.

A tattoo of AYSO soccer games and orange wedges on Saturday mornings.

A tattoo that I've earned by living 39 years.

Of all the random shapes this tattoo chose to be, I don't think a more perfect shape could have appeared. A heart.

As I observe college and high school friends embrace their 40th year on Facebook, I've been noticing the love that surrounds them. I notice they are celebrated by people they love. I noticed they're posting more photos from those celebrations than any other year. I notice they're embracing our age and the tattoos that go along with it. Strong self love.

I'm going to make a declaration so when I, in rare moments, freak out about turning 40 in a few weeks, I'm reminded of the grace and honesty that comes with aging. I'm embracing my age and the tattoos and wrinkles and all that go along with it because as cliche as it sounds, age is just a number.

Thank you to my strong women who are doing the same this year or who I've celebrated previously. It's your love of yourselves and embracing our age that remind me even our funky shaped age spots are something really wonderful.

Note to readers: Rereading this while taking a break from grad school just shows how completely obvious it is that I'm on vacation from school for a week. Time to appreciate the small stuff AND actually write about it.