Aunt Dolly Rocks On....

Being so busy this week with "my" teenaged girls (L and C) got me to thinking that I've taken over my Aunt Dolly's role of "the fun Aunt." Growing up with my generation of cousins in our family, Aunt Dolly was the aunt who always made everything special, from a simple breakfast of French Toast, to a shopping trip to Green Acres Mall on Long Island. That shopping mall was just a 25-minute drive from where we lived, but getting in Aunt Dolly's car (a DeSoto first, then a Chevrolet) made that short trip seem like an adventure to the other side of the state.

Aunt Dolly was always the one with the treasures in the attic-- boxes of ribbons and gloves, feathers and fancy papers and old greeting cards. She always had something vintage (1920s & 30s) to see, something creative to do, interesting stories to tell. My generation of cousins, all of us now 50 and over, loved her to pieces. And we still do--- Aunt Dolly is 93 now, still living in Grandma's house, as we call it. My cousin R (who visited here in May) lives nearby and sees our aunt on a weekly basis. When we were growing up, the two of us were always at Grandma's house and spending time with Aunt Dolly and the rest of the family.

Aunt Dolly never had children of her own, so she "adopted" all of her nieces and nephews. I never had children either, and I guess I'm "adopting" my own along the way here. Maybe that's the secret to being the "fun Aunt" --- when you don't have your own kids, you don't treat other people's children as children.... you treat them like just adults, only smaller.

So here I am now.... far from Long Island... and sometimes my little friend C calls me Aunt Larrie instead of Miss Larrie. She wants all of her best friends to meet me and my husband, and we've included groups of her friends for holiday parties. C tells her friends that I'm "the best" and she lets all her friends know that she thinks my husband is "way cool." My neighbor V's two daughters were in and out of our home constantly when they were little girls, bringing their friends over for either ice cream or tea. This summer and last summer, I've had the pleasure of getting to know and spend time with A's teenaged niece L when she visits here, and the two of us keep in touch via eMail. L also has a younger brother and sister, both of whom I met during this past week while they were vacationing here.

Our neighbor across the street has two very young children who ring my bell to play with Gracie and the cats, and to ask me "Do you have anything special in the children's box?" Young E and her brother J know that I keep a box of books and puzzles and toys and surprises, all for the purpose of giving to kids who come here, so they have something interesting to do. That was a little trick of Aunt Dolly's--- keeping a child's hands busy with something appropriate so they don't bother with whatever you don't want them to touch.

While A's niece L was here this week, I tried to arrange a sleep-over for her and C... I thought the two teenagers could spend a night here and we'd have a day of shopping, or whatever the girls wanted to do. Because of C's summer schedule with the "Color Guard" group for her school's football team, the only night we could arrange for that is this coming Saturday night-- the first night that L will be back in New York, because they're flying home early that morning.

C still loved the idea of a sleep-over.... she has stayed over here many times over the years. C asked me if her best friend could come for the sleep-over this time. Of course I agreed, on the condition that both C's mom and her friend L's mom gave their approval. They both got permission and we're having a sleep-over here on Saturday night. Of course, invitations had to go out. I had the cutest pink invitation cards with a French theme--- poodles and cafe tables under the Eiffel Tower. The cards read: "Zee invitation..... zee time.... zee venue.... What else? Zee you!!" (I bought these cards a few years ago and knew they'd come in handy at some point.) So off I went, bringing one to C's house, and one to L's house--- to make sure they didn't get delayed in the mail, plus I wanted to personally speak to the mothers of both girls.)

With that in mind, my "Aunt Dolly genes" kicked in and I've been busy planning this weekend since the night before last. When C and L get here on Saturday night, I will have the lights off in the dining room so they can't see anything. When the chandelier is turned on, they will find the table set for a "Close to Midnight Tea Party." At each place setting, there will be a special china tea-cup and saucer (which I intend to give the girls as favors)... there will be platters of tiny tea sandwiches and biscuits and cookies, and frilly fancy napkins.

Each girl will have a rhinestone tiara to wear, a beaded and/or fringed shawl, faux-pearl necklaces, and of course we'll each need a fan and gloves. I've made placecards decorated with birds and tiny paper umbrellas, and I put together a Victorian party-cracker for each of the girls (filled with a paper crown, a riddle, and a hidden surprise of costume-jewelry). Each of the girls will have a small beaded purse at her place-setting, and I tucked a bit of shopping money into each one. I plan on taking the girls to the mall on Sunday (after we go out for brunch) and they can spend the money on anything they like, as long as it's within reason, as my rule for C has always been. And C has known me long enough to know that Shopping Rule #1 is that I am the voice of reason. And Rule #2 is that if her mom doesn't like what she buys when she's with me, then we have to take it back. I've told her all these years that her mother gets the final stamp of approval for the simple reason that I may be her Aunt Larrie, but her mother is her mother.

The final touch was found at the local Dollar Store yesterday.... they had very pretty over-sized shopping bags and I found two decorated with girl-y type accessories (dresses, shoes, gloves, etc). I bought two of those, one for each girl, and they can fill them up with their weekend favors, surprises, party keepsakes, and (of course) whatever they buy at the mall. It would have been perfect if we'd been able to arrange all of this for a day while A's niece L was still here, but I will do my best to repeat all of this next summer. Fortunately, this group of young teens are still of a mind-set to enjoy this type of sleep-over/tea party and just have fun with it.

Of course it took some time getting all of this thought-out and put-together, but it was fun, and as the saying goes "Love is in the details." My Aunt Dolly was all about the details when I was growing up in the 1950s. I always liked my Aunt Dolly's style and flair, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me or anyone else that I've totally embraced it and made it my own.

If 14-yr-old C could meet my Aunt, her opinion would be "Aunt Dolly rocks!"