Monthly Archives: July 2012

How do you say “good aunt”?

Posted on by
4

Pearls Before Swine is one of my favorite comic strips, and this past Saturday’s strip got me thinking about the different ways and reasons we say “aunt.” (Take a moment to read the strip and then come back).

Sociolinguistic differences
The way we say the word “aunt” depends in large part on where we grow up. Many of us (and I’m talking about the United States, primarily) pronounce it like the insect “ant.” There are others who say it like “ahnt” to rhyme with the way many of us say the word “daunt.” Others say it in a way that sounds almost like the word “ain’t.”

I found a cool map showing regional differences of how we say the word “aunt” that those of you who are word geeks (like me) might enjoy seeing.

Of the women I interviewed (all of whom have at least some connection with the southern United States), here’s the break down of how they say the word:

  • 18% say the word like “ahnt”
  • 9% say the word like “ain’t”
  • 73% say the word like “ant”
  • All of them pronounced the word like “ant” at some point during our conversation, possibly a reflection of the way I was saying it.
  • One women also spoke of “aunties,” pronounced like “ahnties”

Fortunately, as Goat points out to Pig in the comic strip, we’re not all shooting each other over this difference in how we say “aunt.” Continue reading →

A grassroots compassion campaign

Posted on by
4

compassion – (n) [kuhm-pash–uhn] a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering (Dictionary.com).

~~~~~~~~~~

In last Wednesday’s post, I wrote about the “parasol” God brought to Jonah’s pity party. That parasol was a vine shading Jonah from the heat of the day, and God used it to teach Jonah several lessons. One of those lessons was about the value of compassion, and that’s where I’d like for us to sit together for a while today.

Here again is the compassion part of God’s conversation with Jonah:

Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did
not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight
and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the
great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not
know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many
animals?” – Jonah 4:10-11

God’s main frustration with Jonah during his pity party was the lack of compassion he felt for the people – and animals, too – of Ninevah, the people who had heeded his warnings and put on sackcloth and fasted in hopes of turning away God’s wrath.

I wonder how often God gets frustrated with our own lack of compassion. Those moments when we make snap judgments about those around us or refuse to consider a person’s circumstances before dismissing them as unworthy of our time or patience or help. Those shameful encounters when we tear down even more instead of reaching out a hand to help back up. Those blind eyes we turn to others’ pain.

This struck me hard over the weekend after reading a blog post from a woman who was in that movie theater with her two teenage daughters. Yes, that theater. Though shaken emotionally, she felt compelled to share a message of her unshaken faith (and some amazing faith statements from her daughters) through her blog. The post went viral, and instead of her usual 30 or so readers, more than a million readers from around the world read her testimony to the goodness of God.

Most commented with compassion, but there were some who decided to tear her down instead. To call her selfish. To criticize her actions that night. To correct her grammar. Yes, you read that right. One commenter felt it important to write in to instruct her: It’s “champing at the bit,” not “chomping at the bit.” Continue reading →

The rejuvenating power of play

Posted on by
2

Deep in conversation

I wanted to follow up on a comment to last week’s post. A woman wrote in to thank me for challenging her assumption: “As a friend with kids, I just always assume my children are annoying people who don’t have kids.”

This assumption – that kids annoy adults who don’t have children – immediately made me think of so many of the women I interviewed talking about their own aunts playing with them or describing their love of playing with the children in their lives. I don’t have any evidence of how widespread this assumption is, but I hope today’s post will help dispel the notion that children always annoy those of us who aren’t parents.

The ways we play
Remember the aunt who made clothes for her niece’s frog? By ensuring that the frog had a proper wardrobe, she was honoring her niece’s desire to play and showing her that playtime was valuable enough for her to contribute her own time and talent. I’m pretty sure I never played with frogs when I was little, but one of my mom’s friends (an unmarried, older lady) always brought me clothes she made for my Barbie. I cannot describe how special I (and my Barbie) felt to have these fabulous clothes. Continue reading →

Celebrate Auntie’s Day this Sunday

Posted on by
Reply

Time for a bonus post for the week to let you know about Auntie’s Day this Sunday.

One of my very best friends reminded me that Sunday is Auntie’s Day. She’s a mom to four children (whom I consider honorary nieces and nephew), and she’s a fabulous friend, too.

If you’d like to know more about celebrating Auntie’s Day (with ecards and more), here’s the Savvy Auntie site. You can also click the graphic above, and it’ll take you to the site.

Celebrate
How will you celebrate? With an ecard or a real card or a phone call or a visit to your favorite aunt? If you’re an aunt, do your nieces and nephews even know about Auntie’s Day? (Feel free to send them a link to this post as a not-so-subtle hint about your special day.)

If any of you have especially fun celebrations this Sunday, I’d love to hear about them here. And whether your nieces and nephews honor you this weekend, I hope you’ll do a little something special to honor yourself. Because as the tagline of the Auntie’s Day promo says: “Aunthood is a gift.” Happy Auntie’s Day!

 

When God brings a parasol to your pity party

Posted on by
5

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found myself praying for shade a lot this hot summer. I’m more grateful than usual when one of the rare spots under a tree in a parking lot is open. Clouds make me almost giddy when I’m out for a morning run. And I’ve even found myself thankful for a large truck’s shadow cast over my car while I wait at a traffic signal.

But I’ll admit. Sometimes I forget to be grateful for these gifts of shade and comfort. Sometimes I’m stuck in a one-woman pity party, and I can’t see past my own bad mood to acknowledge all that’s wonderful around me.

God had to know when He created us that we humans would tend toward pity parties. We have plenty of biblical pity parties to learn from, and in one of my favorites, God even brings a parasol to the party.

A parasol for a pity party?

Continue reading →