Improve With Auntie

Aunties! Titis! Tias! Ciocias! Gather ‘round! Improve With Auntie is the show where YOU get to shine in a season loaded with sparkle. Let’s dish, brag, advise, and laugh together.

By brilliant design, the winter holidays light up some of the darkest months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This got me thinking about the special shimmer of an auntie’s love. We’re not mama, daddy, or grandparent. We’re unique to the family dynamic in general and the lives of the younger folk in our orbit specifically.

When we speak of “aunties” here, we mean anyone who wears the crown, regardless of whether they’ve received the honor by DNA designation or self-determination. Also worth noting, the term isn’t constrained by the binary; if that crown fits, by all means, wear it!

For this inaugural chat, fellow aunties Ashley Lana Scott, Caren Evers, and Lisa Brown joined me to talk winter holidays––with often hilarious asides.

Between Lego dilemmas and tales of frightening mouse kings, we explored the myriad ways aunties enliven holiday traditions (those passed down as well as those they’ve created) and put their spin on gift exchanges (even if that means no physical gifts at all).

As aunties are internationally famous for being storehouses of knowledge, naturally we also got to talking on topics befitting the other eleven months of the year. Some of the intel we traded is actually useful. I kid; everything aunties say and do is solid gold! We set aside some of the silly (fart piano anyone?) for sage auntie insights on:

• The shifting nature of the auntie/nibling relationship (time waits for no auntie!)
• Counteracting bullies and/or toxic masculinity
• Encouraging gender expression and general play

Whether they’re toddlers, teens, or full-fledged adults, this season is a special time for aunties to revel or reconnect with the children of their hearts. Here’s to holiday-centered activities, lessons, and memory-making––auntie-style!

***

Ask your question for "Ask Aunties", share a "Proud Auntie" moment, tell a "How NOT to Auntie" tale, or send us some photos of your fave holiday gifts for our IG. Upload photos or audio files here.

Or email your story or pics to Andrea: andrea [at] thecreativeimpostor.com

@improvewithauntie - Instagram

Ninja Nutz & Bolts

The House Theatre of Chicago

Bookshop.org (gift shopping that supports indie bookstores AND Improve With Auntie)

***

Produced by The Creative Impostor Studios

Edited by Maddie Shewchuk & Andrea Klunder

Technical Director Edwin R. Ruiz

Music Curation & Sound Design by Andrea Klunder

Show Notes by Lisa Widder

Original Cover Art by Cindy Alcantara

Learn more and visit us at ImproveWithAuntie.com

Well, aunties, we’ve come to that point in our episodic relationship where the conversation turns to love and sex. ‘Tis the season for roses and boxed chocolates after all.

Red and pink pile-up aside, Valentine’s Day does present an excellent opportunity for me to ask a trio of esteemed folks about engaging in “those” types of discussions with the younger set.

This auntie chat has tons of advice and resources from wise adults that I wish I’d had access to when I was growing up: Karen Yates is a somatic sex educator and host of the podcast Wild & Sublime; triple-threat Andrea Fellows Fineberg is a librettist, director of community engagement at Santa Fe Opera as well as host of Key Change, one of the organziation’s podcasts; and Helen King is a New Zeland-based podcast editor and host of The C Word Radio.

I’m thrilled that our understanding of consent has expanded and that those lessons are shared earlier now (yay!). On the flip side, body shame and fear of nonbinary expressions of gender persists (boo!). So, how should aunties proceed?

With love, of course, that’s our superpower!

Clear-eyed honesty, too, when it comes to any topic––but especially love and sex-–is also one of our superpowers (we’ve so many!). However, a question submitted to the “Ask Aunties” segment of this episode tests the possible limits of auntie honesty. My guests provide the most thoughtful (and honest!) answers, as you'd expect.

Ultimately, we aunties are at our best when we’re present for conversations about sex and love, vulnerable in answering, and as joyfully curious about the topic as those asking the questions.

The Simpsons Valentine’s clip - You choo-choo-choose me

Julián is a Mermaid - Jessica Love

Scarleteen: Sex Education For the Real World

S.E.X: The All-You-Need-To-Know Sexuality Guide To Get You Through Your Teens And Twenties - Heather Corinna

To Raise a Boy: Classrooms, Locker Rooms, Bedrooms, and the Hidden Struggles of American Boyhood - Emma Brown

Bookshop.org (gift shopping that supports indie bookstores AND Improve With Auntie)

Karen Yates

The Wild & Sublime Podcast – Wild & Sublime

Andrea Fellows Fineberg

Podcasts | Santa Fe Opera

Helen King

Cancer Support | The C Word Radio

Ask your question for "Ask Aunties", share a "Proud Auntie" moment, tell a "How NOT to Auntie" tale. Upload audio files here.

Or email your story to Andrea: andrea [at] thecreativeimpostor.com

@improvewithauntie - Instagram

***

Produced by The Creative Impostor Studios

Edited by Andrea Klunder

Technical Director Edwin R. Ruiz

Music Curation & Sound Design by Andrea Klunder

Show Notes by Lisa Widder

Original Cover Art by Cindy Alcantara

Learn more and visit us at ImproveWithAuntie.com

Emotional intelligence, like sharing, is one of those competencies that’s best acquired early on. Anyone with access to an auntie has an advantage here. But my roundtable guests Pam Covarrubias, Caren Evers, and Lisa Widder all agree that they’ve received just as much as they’ve given when it comes to emotional intelligence. Possibly even more.

Aunties play a significant role in reinforcing a child’s ability to assess, express, and work with their emotions.

From navigating playground disagreements to sleepover cliques, an auntie can bring into focus aspects of a situation that parents might take for granted–– Caren points out that our ability to observe in this way often means we’re more acutely affected since our time with the ones we love is limited.

It turns out I’m battling some of the same patriarchal messages that my roundtable aunties experienced growing up, such as girls remaining genial at all costs and boys stoic.

Lisa's pleased to see that needle moving. She points out that kids receive more encouragement to explore and examine their feelings in real time now.

Pam says that her role as an auntie is to provide more overt emotional support to her nieces and nephews than she experienced growing up.

Don’t mind us. We’re just a few aunties vanquishing outdated norms and helping the world cultivate greater emotional intelligence.

***

Ask your question for "Ask Aunties", share a "Proud Auntie" moment, tell a "How NOT to Auntie" tale, or send us some photos of your fave holiday gifts for our IG. Upload photos or audio files here.

Or email your story or pics to Andrea: andrea [at] thecreativeimpostor.com

@improvewithauntie - Instagram

***

Produced by The Creative Impostor Studios

Edited by Maddie Shewchuk & Andrea Klunder

Technical Director Edwin R. Ruiz

Music Curation & Sound Design by Andrea Klunder

Show Notes by Lisa Widder

Original Cover Art by Cindy Alcantara

Learn more and visit us at ImproveWithAuntie.com

Money. We don’t talk about it nearly enough. Given that conversations centered on that word often come with tons of familial baggage, I can understand why.

Who better to unpack those taboos than a collective of fiscally forward aunties?

Modern aunties are in a position to enhance the financial awareness and even the physical well-being of their families like never before. Those without children, for example, carry different economic burdens than parents; our experiences provide intel that differs from what kids may receive at home. Aunties with offspring of their own lend an inside-out perspective to ideas about earning, spending and sharing the wealth.

Guests Monica Rivera, Pam Covarrubias, and Diana Solomon-Glover agree that aunties––like parents and grandparents––are motivated to generate abundance for their families. As a result, each of these aunties has taken steps to make that happen! From casual gift-giving to long-range estate planning, they’ve ensured that their legacies have value beyond dollars and cents.

***

Ask your question for "Ask Aunties", share a "Proud Auntie" or "Cool Things Aunties Do" moment, tell a "How NOT to Auntie" tale, or tag us on IG @improvewithauntie in your fave auntie posts. Upload audio files here.

Or email your story to Andrea: andrea [at] thecreativeimpostor.com

@improvewithauntie - Instagram

More Than Money with Jaquette Timmons

UTMA

Stash

Key Change podcast featuring Diana

The Creative Impostor featuring Pam

The Creative Impostor featuring Monica

***

Produced by The Creative Impostor Studios

Edited by Maddie Shewchuk & Andrea Klunder

Technical Director Edwin R. Ruiz

Music Curation & Sound Design by Andrea Klunder

Show Notes by Lisa Widder

Original Cover Art by Cindy Alcantara

Learn more and visit us at ImproveWithAuntie.com