My little nephew, ZZZ, arrived from Karachi yesterday. He lives in Lahore but my sister-in-law had taken him to see his grandparents so this was the first I’d seen him since arriving from KL. He is very sweet, nearly two. I do still get a pang sometimes that my mother never saw him, but these are growing fewer. He resembles his mother, but with wavy floppy hair and a very mischievous smile, and sometimes I see a glimpse of our family as well.
I am a terrible aunt, though. I try to excuse it by saying that he is always surrounded by people – maids, nannies, relatives, who are far more assertive than I am but no, the truth is, no matter how adorable I find children, I don’t quite know what to say to them or do with them. It comes much more naturally to my other sisters who are similarly childless. By contrast friends – with or without children of their own – have seemingly endless stamina and interest in baby photos, videos, cute sayings, etc. It definitely feels like a deficiency in me.
It looks likely I’ll go to London by the end of this week.