By Ashley Coon, www.ovuline.com

Ashley works for www.ovuline.com, a site that helps women track their ovulation and get personalized advice on what they should be doing to conceive faster.

There are so many reasons to love and celebrate Savvy Aunties this Auntie’s Day on Sunday, July 28! Here are the top 5 reasons from Ovuline!

Having grown up in a house with two working parents and two much older brothers, access to sage advice about crushes or school or my first period was quite hard to come by. Even if my mom was home every night for dinner, I still couldn’t see myself asking her about getting boys to like me or how to handle rumors and fair-weather friends – enter Aunt Sue.

Aunt Sue didn’t have any kids of her own, but to describe the impact she left on me as anything less than formative would be an understatement: she was part role model, part friend, part Santa Claus – 100% Savvy Auntie Sue.

I wanted to have the same relationship with and lasting impact on my nieces and nephews that Aunt Sue had on me, and now that I’m an Auntie to six adorable nieces and nephews myself, I have that chance! So without further ado, here are my top 5 reasons why nieces and nephews love their Aunties so much:

1. The Best Advice

As Aunties, we’re often the first people that our nieces and nephews come to for advice about the things that they can’t or don’t want to ask their parents. Just last week, my elementary school-aged niece asked me why the boy who sits behind her keeps pulling on her ponytail and calling her names, even though she has asked him several times to stop.

Having had literally almost the exact same conversation with my Aunt Sue years ago, I had a pretty good idea how to handle it.

“It’s just because he likes you,” I explained to my so-not-buying-it niece. (Though I must admit my aunt put her criticism of the less-fair sex in far more adult language.)

I hope my nieces and nephews glide through school and life without a hitch, but if they ever run into a problem, they know their Auntie is here to help guide them through the things that parents just can’t.

2. Every Visit, A Vacation

Even though Aunt Sue lived in the next town over, each and every time I went to her house felt like a little mini-vacation. Whether we were hiking the Adirondacks, seeing a Broadway show, or just eating ice cream sandwiches and catching fireflies on muggy summer nights, every moment spend with my aunt seemed a getaway from the “normal.” Going out to dinner with my parents was nice, but sharing a pepperoni pizza with Aunt Sue at our favorite little restaurant was something else entirely.

3. Summer Adventures

Thinking back on the time I spent with Aunt Sue, I have trouble recalling a dull moment – surely it has something to do with the whole “every visit a vacation” thing, but it’s not like she was taking me to the podiatrist here. Aunt Sue and I used to go on a long-weekend camping trip every July, on which I developed my lifelong love of the outdoors, and that I looked forward to above all else throughout the school year – it was like having another Christmas in the middle of summer! This past summer, I took all of my nieces and nephews to the water park, and we had such a blast on the slides! Going on adventures is a great way to bond with and spoil your nieces and nephews, and leave them with everlasting memories of fun with Auntie.

4. They Think You’re Really Cool

To my 8-year-old self, Aunt Sue was Wonder Woman, Susan B. Anthony, and Joan of Arc rolled into one – a strong, educated woman born fifty years before her time. I used to tell EVERYBODY about all the awesome things that Aunt Sue did – real or imagined! Needless to say, my show-and-tell presentations were a bit more interesting than the other kids’ – with Aunt Sue being friends with Jimmy Carter, Cher, and the Dalai Lama after all! I wanted to be just like Aunt Sue, so I read her favorite books, watched her favorite movies, and simply did her favorite things.

Being just nine years older than my eldest niece and sharing all of the same interests (and much of the personality), I’ve always been in a unique position as a positive role model for her as she ventured down the same avenues of soccer, dance and writing that I did – there’s just nothing quite like seeing your niece or nephew follow so closely in your footsteps!

5. Nobody Else Makes Kids Feel So Special

The Auntie-niece or nephew relationship is amazing for a ton of reasons, but what it really boils down to is how special an Auntie can make her nieces or nephews feel because even though the thought never crossed your mind, there’s no actual obligation to love them and spoil them and see them whenever you can. When Aunt Sue wanted to spend time with me, it was because she WANTED to spend time with me! I felt so special whenever she would bring me surprise presents because I knew she did it for no other reason other than that she cared so much about me – there’s just nobody else in the world that can make a kid feel as special as their favorite Auntie!

Photo: Sura Nualpradid
Published: July 1, 2013