Aunt Linda, part 2

Most of the time I say that toddlers are my favorites, and I totally choose to play with one-to-three-year-olds over babies or older kids, but I've discovered that seven-year-olds are tons of fun, too.

My oldest niece, Rebecca, is seven now, and occasionally I take her out to do something fun, just the two of us. Going out with Rebecca is preferable to staying in, because if we're at home, she'll try to convince me to play some sort of torturous 'pretend' game (like 'house'--except we often have to be animals), and let's face it, most adults (including me) kind of suck at 'pretend.' But if we go out, we can do things that I like, too, like shopping and eating and watching Disney movies.

Crucial components of a good Aunt Linda outing: more sugar than your mom would ever let you have in a week and some additional indulgence or allowances.

Several months ago, I took Rebecca out for ice cream. Of course, I let her get two different kinds--she wanted three--one in a fancy cone (chocolate-dipped and sprinkle-covered) and one in a cup. She originally wanted both kinds on one cone or two separate cones. But I figured that two scoops was a little too high for kid to eat before the melting set in, and I had visions of the top scoop falling off. I also didn't want to be responsible for holding cone #2 while she ate cone #1. So I convinced her that if she got one scoop in a cone and one in a cup, she could eat the cone at her leisure and the cup would be waiting for her when she finished. (I have special logic skills when it comes to sugar consumption.)

Afterward, we stopped at the pet store (apparently a favorite place for Rebecca) and looked at puppies. She fell absolutely in love with a little pik-a-chi (which cost something like $500) and called her mom to tell her about the puppy. The Rebecca named the puppy and started picking out little puppy clothes and pink rhinestone collars--Rebecca has really good taste.

When I took Rebecca home, I apologized in advance to my sister-in-law Kristine for the fact that she would be hearing about this puppy for the next several days, weeks, months, etc.

Earlier this week, I took Rebecca out again. This time, we went to watch High School Musical 3 at the theater. We got a huge rootbeer and skittles and Rebecca picked our seats on the back row. But after we came back from a mid-movie bathroom break (maybe the soda wasn't such a good idea), she decided we should sit on the front row, which was also fine with me.

After the movie, I wanted to do a little Christmas shopping, since we were already at the mall. We went to Bath&Bodyworks because they were having sales and my mom wanted me to pick up a few things for her there. I don't know if Rebecca, my super primpy-princessy niece, had ever been to Bath&Bodyworks before, but she loved it. She tried on lotions, perfumes, body sprays, body creams, bodybutters, and lip gloss. She actually had a different scent on every finger and both palms and the backs of her hands, and her wrists, and all sides of her neck. And she washed her hands once so that she could come back and try on more.

It was really useful to have her there because I don't like trying on all the different scents, but, of course, I want to know what they really smell like before I buy them. So Rebecca became my little tester, and she was more than willing. She also helped me make important purchasing decisions. When I asked her which scent was her favorite, she started smelling all over her hands, and then held out her left hand and pointed to the palm--and which bottle did that come from?

Then we went to Claire's boutique and tried on tiaras and hats and bangle bracelets. And then it was really late, so I took her home--and apologized to Kristine for fact that her daughter would probably smell like Bath&Bodyworks for the next week or so.

Rebecca is already planning our next outing: shopping followed by dinner followed by more shopping followed by ice cream. Sounds good to me.