On not being Mary Poppins

The wind did not blow me here. I cannot make rooms clean up themselves. I do not own a carpet bag. And Lord knows my singing does not put children to sleep.

I am not Mary Poppins, but somehow, this house is clean. The children are asleep. I have no energy, but right now I have wine, and that'll do.

I am in the midst of a 10-day "super aunt" situation. Today is Day 6.

And my "spoonful of sugar" was to let my nieces and nephew choose something fun they wanted to do while I was here. William wanted to watch Indiana Jones. Rachel wanted to bake a red velvet cake. Rebecca wanted to make cut-out cookies in the shapes of sea creatures.

Having been an aunt for more than half of my life, I have had a lot of time to think about the kind of aunt I want to be. Those early years of aunthood proved to me that I couldn't be the kind who gave the really cool birthday gifts, or even the money card. I was in college by the time some of them started to notice, and though I wanted to give cool gifts, I didn't really have that kind of cash laying around. That's why I quickly worked to establish myself as the Baking Aunt. I think it was a good move on my part. Sure, sometimes they'll ask me if I brought them something when I come over, but I can say, "Yes! I did! I brought my cookie cutters!" And they're just as delighted as if I brought them Calico Critters or Transformers.

That's why my nieces' baking requests were ones that I wholeheartedly agreed to grant during my stay. And today was our day for the cookies. (And also the day for William to watch Indiana Jones so I could enjoy some early morning solace.) After the Saturday chores were done, Rebecca and I cut out sea creature cookies, and added a few of Rachel and William's requested shapes. We used my mom's recipe for the dough, and we ate a few of the stray pieces. While the cookies baked, Rachel phoned a couple neighborhood friends and asked them to come at 2:30 for a decorating extravaganza.

Every time I mix the powered sugar, milk and food coloring for the icing, I think of the time Rebecca asked me, at age five, if I was making "angel cereal."

Over the years, the cookie decorating has gotten more efficient and neat. I do kind of miss the days of the dumped sprinkles and patchy icing, but this never ceases to be one of my favorite activities with them. Toys come and go, but these are the things we will always share.

10 days. Fun. Exhausting. Almost over.