The most disappointing birthday present in the world

I am a laat lammetjie. (Fact of the Day: that is pretty much the extent of my pathetic Afrikaans vocabulary, I blame growing up in Durban.) I have 6 nieces, 1 nephew, plus another boy/girl on the way.

The eldest are twin girls born on 25 June 2001. I was 13. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no idea what it is like to have a baby, and I can’t compare the love a mother must feel when she holds her child for the first time. But the first time I held these teeny tiny, wriggling humans, I instantly fell madly in love with them. I remember sitting there, watching their little chests rise and fall, unable to comprehend how it was possible to feel so much for someone you’d known for all of 5 minutes.

And now they are 12. Sure, we fight. Sure, they drive me mad. But I love them and the rest of the niece and nephew crew unconditionally. I hope they don’t remember the times that I shout at them, or tell them off, or refuse them anything. As much as I want to be the coolest aunt in the world, you have to balance it with being a grown up that they can look up to. 

I actually think that the fact that they aren’t THAT much younger than me, means even more so that I need to be more responsible around them. They’re actually going to be my age quite soon. I’ve only just realised this, and it makes me wonder what I may have done wrong in the past, and how it can affect them. I can only hope to be better in the future.

I love the girls like they’re my own. Writing this blog has me in tears, imagine the mess I will be making a speech on Sunday at their Batmitzvah. It’s the day in Judaism where they become “adults” and are spiritually responsible for their actions, speech and doings.

For their Batmitzvah/birthday present, I’m giving them each an ugly box filled with a pack of chips, gum, a shower cap, a pen, post-it notes, a kitsch red flower, tissues, serviettes and a pair of stockings. Little do they know, hidden in the stockings is an iPod.

Fingers crossed that they freak out.

Update: 

I walked in the house and their faces lit up when I gave them the boxes. I told them that I couldn't decide what to get them, so I got a whole bunch of stuff I thought would be handy. They tore off the ribbon and tried to keep from looking disappointed. "Oh, wow. Oh look! Stockings, that is nice" and "Thank you Kayli, that is awesome". 

By this point I was doing that silent, laugh-cry in the background. II managed to wheeze, "Oh, wait. Something is missing. Maybe it got stuck somewhere in the stockings."

They picked up the stockings and began to unravel them. The one yelled, "NO WAY!" and then they both immediately started screaming. 

Needless to say, they were happy and I felt like Aunt of the Year.