I think I am more excited about being an aunt than I am about ever becoming a mother. Don’t get it twisted, though. I am already a mother. A cat mother.
And honestly, cats don’t get on people’s nerves nearly as much as actual human children do. The worst thing my cats do is steal food and disappear from the house. They disappear whenever they know they’ve committed a crime. By the time they return,especially Tiger, I must have calmed down and forgotten what they did as they come back looking ridiculously cute. So the case gets closed and I don’t put them in timeout.
That aside, I am already an aunt, but my nieces and nephew live about six hours away from me, so I only get to see them occasionally. The auntie I am about to become, however, is going to be a much more present aunt, assuming my sister doesn’t suddenly decide to relocate to the other end of the country. And I am very excited about it.
The pregnancy journey has been quite a lot, though, for both my sister and I and everyone else watching her go through it.
She was diagnosed with fibroids alongside the pregnancy, so those two have basically been growing together throughout this entire journey. In a few weeks, we’re supposed to welcome our little bundle of joy, but my sister is understandably scared.
She really wants to have a vaginal birth, but because of the fibroids, she isn’t sure whether that will be possible. From what I understand, whether vaginal delivery is safe depends on things like the size and location of the fibroids and how they affect the pregnancy and birth canal, so we’re leaving that decision to her doctor rather than trying to become Google-certified obstetricians at home.
My sister, however, has already appointed herself head of the YouTube School of Childbirth. She has been watching birth videos one after another. I have begged her to stop and it’s not because she shouldn’t educate herself, but because I can literally see her anxiety increasing with every video. She’ll watch someone else’s birth experience and then start imagining every possible scenario that could happen to her. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there thinking, if we can both survive this pregnancy without developing a new anxiety disorder?
Thankfully, she has her doctor to guide her through what is actually possible and safe for her particular situation.
And then there’s the part I’m genuinely excited about: Baby shopping.
My sister asked me to accompany her to the market to shop for the baby, and I didn’t even pretend to think about it. Of course I’m going. I am READY.
Whenever I’m shopping for myself and I see those tiny baby clothes, socks, shoes and ridiculously small hats, my heart melts a little. They’re so tiny! Why are baby clothes so unnecessarily adorable?
I can already see myself standing in the market picking up one tiny outfit after another while my sister is somewhere behind me saying, ‘we don’t need that,’ and I’ll be like, “but look at it!”
We’ll probably be shopping at the market because we can find lovely baby things for much less than we’d spend in some specialised baby stores. I’m particularly excited about documenting the whole experience because, knowing my sister, procrastination will be involved. She is such a professional procrastinator. If I don’t apply pressure, she may wake up one morning with a baby and suddenly remember that the baby’s clothes haven’t been bought.
So yes, I will be providing the necessary auntie pressure. I am already looking forward to the baby clothing haul. And, honestly, I may buy a few things for my cats too. Don’t judge me, I need to know whether Tiger can pull off a tiny baby shirt.
Speaking of my cats, Clover has also recently become a mother. She gave birth to three absolutely adorable kittens, and they are currently at that stage where they can’t properly walk yet but have enough cuteness to make you question every financial decision you’ve ever made. They are so cute I could cry.
I had already prepared the cutest names in the history of mankind for them, but unfortunately, I can’t name them. People have already shown interest in taking them once they’re done breastfeeding, and as much as I would love to keep every single one of them, I know I can’t afford to have a small feline kingdom running around my house.
So I’ll have to resist the temptation to become the crazy cat lady I clearly have the potential to become. And then, as if all of this isn’t enough, the rain has decided to move into my neighbourhood permanently. It has been raining almost nonstop, and I am tired. Tiger and Clover are tired too.
It’s clear that they miss their adventures in the bush. They miss roaming around, hunting squirrels and whatever else they can get their little paws on. Now they’re stuck indoors with me, staring at the rain like disappointed tourists whose holiday has been cancelled.
I miss the sun too. I mean I just want to wake up and see bright sunshine spilling through the windows again. Most importantly, I want my cats to go back to their outdoor adventures. I want to go baby shopping, I want my sister to stop watching terrifying birth videos. I want three kittens that I cannot afford to keep. Basically, I have a lot going on.
But, in the middle of all this chaos, I’m also incredibly excited. There is a baby coming and there are kittens wobbling around the house, there are tiny clothes waiting to be bought and there is an auntie, me, who is already emotionally preparing to spoil everybody’s children and then return them to their parents when the crying starts.
Honestly? I think I’m going to enjoy this auntie business.
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