How to Be a Good Aunt

Your sister or brother's child is as close to being yours as it gets. They may even be more like you in some ways than they are like their parents. As a doting beloved auntie, you have a special place in their lives that's all your own. Here's how to be a good aunt.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. When they're small, come visit during their school vacations. Become their personal property for the whole time you're there. Get up in the morning and do whatever they want to do--dress in all different colors, do puzzles, play ball, watch cartoons, read books or make gorillas out of clay. Go to the playground and watch them hang upside down and teach them how to make their favorite dessert.

2. When they're adolescents, be there to hear secrets they might not tell their parents. Read the short stories they might not show anyone else. Listen to their music with them and watch the movies they like. Hit the shopping mall with your niece. Choose earrings together. Tell her she is the most beautiful creature you have ever seen. Tell both your niece and your nephew that even AP calculus will pass, lost friendships can miraculously come around again and that it's okay to take your stuffed animals with you when you travel from home.

3. When they're grown, stay in touch. It still makes their day to hear from you. They still remember that time they visited you in the dead of summer and you took them down to get cool soft-serve ice cream dipped in a cap of cold chocolate. Play lots of games together at the holidays, cook food together, ask their views of the world and about the challenges and satisfactions of their work. And keep a box of their favorite Saturday morning crunch cereal always on hand.