My niece just turned 7. I’ve spent the last 4 plus years sharing with her (and her younger brother) my love of astronomy and space exploration. So much so that my nephew thought I was actually an astronaut!
“Oh, that guy is an astronaut…just like you, Jenny!”
We’ve probably watched over 100 hours of videos about space, technology, physics, engineering, scientists, astronauts, rocket launches, booster landings, chemistry, and a few videos of unmanned rocket explosions. (My nephew is a big fan of the explosions.)
We’ve colored pictures of rockets and the Tesla Roadster that is flying through space. We’ve even had a Wysocki girl’s day lunch where I mentioned Elon, and my niece twisted her head, stopped shoving sushi into her face, and said, “Elon? Elon Musk?!”
My niece knows what LOXLoad and MaxQ are. She can tell you about the architecture of Starship and draw it. She has judged my father for not knowing the difference between a Falcon 9 or a Falcon Heavy…like the savage she is. Now she’s teaching her little brother.
With all my joy in their newfound knowledge, there are some things I was not ready for. I didn’t expect this desire to teach them would bring on a heavy conversation about death. We’ve talked about the Apollo 1 Astronauts dying in a fire. Which lead to a talk about not only death, but also pain, and my niece cheerfully said she knew that the astronauts are now in heaven, “With Snackies!”
(Snacks was my silver Labrador and is the first pet in her life she lost. Her first experience with a death that was personal to her. How she now emotionally connects to thinking about the afterlife.)
Whenever outside we look up at the moon, or talk about the glowing planets that look like stars. “Jenny! What star is that?” My best friend even gets them looking upward.
While every bone in my body wants her and my nephew to love space and creation as much as I do, my goal has always been just to get them to love learning. To always explore! I want my niece and nephew to explore their passions because those are the things that make will make them unique, and super cool. I want them to learn, grow, and know they can be anything. Their futures don’t have boundaries.
Every week I ask my niece about school. She has been telling me that her favorite subject in school is math. This week my brother told me that my niece is basically a math genius, to the point where the teacher had a talk with them about her. I’m so proud of her. Just another girl in our family being a badass!
I write this story to say this: look up and answer. When you look up to the heavens for a moment of quiet and peace, because that is what calms you, the tiny people in your life might ask you questions. Answer every dang one. No matter how simple they seem or how exhausting the constant stream of questioning is, help them love to learn.
I realize this call to answering every question is easy for an Aunt that only spends one day a week with them. I am not the amazing parents that keep them alive, work hard for them, and have to deal with every moment of their shenanigans. I’ve found joy in my place, and trying to support the amazing people raising them.
I can answer why the sky is blue, why we salt pasta water, what are floating embers off a fire, what happens when we die, why you need to go to school, why grandpa walks with a cane, how candy canes are made, if Willy Wonka is real, or where rainbows go. Aunts get a break from these questions. Moms & Dads do not. That is a privilege of being an Aunt that I recognize. It gives me a greater appreciation for what amazing parents my brother and sister-in-law are, because tiny humans are exhausting!
Be proud and supportive of the people in your life, no matter how young or old they are.
If my niece (or nephew) chooses to be a stay at home parent, a gas station attendant, a grocery clerk, an accountant, a police officer, or an astronaut…it will make zero difference of how proud I am of them.
As you look up remember that much like parenting, and our exploration of space, pride comes from the journey, not just the destination.
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