Gifts to my PANK
A few months ago, Jory des Jardins wrote a piece at BlogHer.com that I really loved – all about the acronym PANK.
PANK stands for Professional Auntie, No Kids. I’ve had two PANKs myself; one is Herman Anne’s mother, my Aunt Linda (who is obviously no longer a PANK, according to the strict definition of the term, but remains one in spirit), and the other is my Aunt Carol.
Aunt Carol has no children, and she married for the first time almost ten years ago. Yesterday was her twenty-ninth thirty-ninth forty-ninth never-mind-how-old-she-is birthday.
I always loved going to Aunt Carol’s apartment because she would make taco salad with Doritos for dinner and feed us Yoplait yogurt for breakfast. I have Yoplait in my refrigerator now, and I hope they never change the design of the package – that slightly tapered cylinder with the foil top always reminds me of Aunt Carol. I’d draw pictures with Mr. Sketch scented markers, and we’d watch Sha Na Na on a tiny color TV mounted on a rolling pedestal.
Aunt Carol saves everything. She’s not one of those crazy ladies with a houseful of cats (she’s not fond of animals, for one), nor is her house at risk of being condemned. But it is what Herman Anne termed “fancy” when she was around eight years old – “fancy” meaning full of interesting stuff all over the place, so watch where you step, okay?
And it’s not just stacks of catalogs and piles of photo albums that Aunt Carol saves; she still has – and displays! – two of the gifts I made for her when I was a kid.
One is an ornament – a cross-stitched sleeping mouse (ostensibly the one from The Night Before Christmas) – and the other is a pillow with a mallard duck stitched on it (inspired by The Official Preppy Handbook, no doubt).
She hangs that ornament on her tree every year, and that duck pillow is always sitting on the sofa in her family room. She doesn’t just get it out when I visit.
They’re amateurish and more than a little embarrassing now, twenty-plus years after they were given as gifts, but it means a lot to me that she saved them.
Thank you, Aunt Carol. That goofy little ten year old self deep inside me still beams every time she sees that ornament and that pillow at your house.
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I’m betting that in the vast library of Klutz books, there’s probably at least one that gives instructions for how to make a duck pillow. I swear, Klutz makes something for everyone. Maybe you don’t want to make a pillow yourself, but you can definitely find some really cool gifts there for other people – especially those who are a little difficult to buy for.
Thanks to our PBN Blog Blast with Klutz, you can get free shipping and a free copy of the Activity Book when you order $50 or more via this link. Or, if you want to be greedy, you can write your own post about handmade gifts for a chance to win a whole bunch of Klutz books – either the grand prize (15 books, $230 value) or a $50 or $100 gift certificate to Klutz. Cool!
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Ooh baby baby…Amazing Baby is one baby book worth reading. Or just look at the pictures. But be warned, the pictures are so droolworthy that you’ll want to double-up on your birth control methods for a while.
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Um, hi. Yeah, that’s just me. Drinking wine in my pajamas. With a PB&J in my hand. Chunky PB and strawberry J, in case you wanted to know.
(Tune in tonight around 7pm if you want to see Kyle and me over at the Greeblemonkey household with Gwen, Tara, Lemony Sarah, and other pajama-clad winos!)
November 15th, 2008 at 8:07 am
[...] Gifts to My PANK [...]
November 15th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Can’t wait to meet you tonight at @greeblemonkey’s pj party. Dressing down for wine, for the win!
November 15th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
My husband has a PANK. She is in her 60’s and adores OUR children now, too! Her house is also filled with interesting stuff: African masks, etchings from France, a Japanese kite hanging from the ceiling, tall and delicate orchids… my kids love it there. I think every kid needs a PANK.
traceys last blog post..Broomsticks and raptors and Sneetches! Oh my!
November 16th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I liked that post a lot, too. Someday I wonder if I’ll end up just being a PANK or if I’ll ever feel ready to try to become a mom.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
What a great PANK she is.
patoiss last blog post..Sunday Scribblings: Stranger