B is for Becoming Aunties
My cousin’s mom works in an Islamic elementary school. She recently invited the two of us to attend her school’s all-girls ball. We did, and while we definitely had a great time, we both came to the same ground-breaking realization:
We were becoming Aunties.
For those who are not of South Asian descent, an “auntie” is basically any adult female at least a generation older than you. In a Western context however, it has a special connotation. It’s hard for me to describe without sounding offensive, so I’ll just let the examples speak for themselves:
(1) Complaining to each other about the girls spending way too much time primping in the bathroom.
(2) Having an unspoken understanding that chai is needed before we can properly party.
(3) Shaking our heads in shame at the girls who didn’t clean up after themselves.
(4) Cleaning up the spilled chai… that we spilled. Everywhere.
(5) Three times building up the courage to abandon all insecurities and walk in the fashion show… and chickening out each time because we’re too old for this.
(6) Getting super excited when songs from the ’90s and early ’00s came on… and then realizing that no one else was singing along because they didn’t know the song.
(7) Shamelessly using the boys’ bathroom because the girls’ room was too crowded. (Relax, it was an all-girls party)
(8) Becoming better friends with the DJ than the actual girls attending the ball.
(9) Begging our younger cousin to come pick us up early because we have more practical things to do than spend all night on a dance floor.
Islam On My Mind 