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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsYou may now call me Uncle 'Batou
My older brother and SIL had a baby earlier this morning. She, Eleanora, is doing fine.
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)You'll love it -- you get to spoil 'em rotten, then send 'em home!
rocktivity
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)My big brother would buy my son the most obnoxious battery operated toys he could find. Remember the Ghostbuster car?
Little did my childless, carefree, single brother know...he would eventually have a son of his own. Vengeance was mine.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)It's been almost 20 years. Anything that required batteries and earplugs.
I will never, ever, ever forget that damned Ghostbusters car. I think I cried the first time my son turned it on.
OH!!! I remember!!! I bought him a fire engine with extra batteries! A year or so later I bought him the cop car.
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)Will she be an 'Ellie' or a 'Nora'?? Can I vote for Nora?
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)ret5hd
(20,515 posts)I need $50 and my folks can't find out about it.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)ret5hd
(20,515 posts)sakabatou
(42,170 posts)zanana1
(6,125 posts)May you and Eleanora have a fine relationship.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)and best wishes to your brother, sister in law and new niece!
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)Uncles are cool! I liked a lot of mine.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,682 posts)I hope you and your new niece will have many happy times together!
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Gorp
(716 posts)It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Limited budget and all.
Gorp
(716 posts)You: "Do you want a cookie?"
Mom: "No, uncle, she doesn't. It's almost time for her dinner."
You: "Oh, come on, one little widdle cookie wookie won't hurt her, will it? Do you want a widdle cookie wookie from your uncle wunkle?"
Kids instinctively know to reach out and make encouraging gestures for such queries. Face it. You're obligated.
Gorp
(716 posts)You have an obligation. It's a sacred vow you took when you were, um, born or something, I forget. Isn't it in the Bible somewhere? "Thee shalt spoil thine niece or nephew with cookies or other treats, lest the wrath of GOD shalt strike thee dead in some sort of bloody, fiery, Hollywood special effects event that shall be an abomination EVEN unto GOD." I forget where that line appears, but it's probably in Leviticus or something. Definitely not Numbers - every other word is "begat".
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)but I did get some good incentives if I did stuff as a kid.
Gorp
(716 posts)Curiously, despite the spoiling, my daughters and nieces all turned out rather conservative (in ways of life, not politics). Kids need to be spoiled to some degree, even if it's just an extra serving of vanilla pudding. You're only a kid for so long. At the time you can't wait to become an adult and after you become one you wish you were still a kid. It's a rather brutal curse, eh?
rocktivity
(44,577 posts)Spoil the nephews and nieces, be strict with your own kids!
rocktivity
Gorp
(716 posts)bluesbassman
(19,379 posts)Glad to hear they're both doing well.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)Here's another thing nieces and nephews are good for...
Many many years ago Disney re-released Cinderella in the theater and I wanted to see it. Well, an adult male by himself at a kid's movie is going to draw attention so I called my brother and sister in law and got permission to take their little girl. We both made pigs of ourselves with the popcorn, candy, and soda and then I took her home all hopped up on a sugar buzz.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)frogmarch
(12,158 posts)Eleanora is beautiful, and I love her name.
Congrats also to your brother and sister-in-law!
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)mrmpa
(4,033 posts)spoil them rotten
I have 4 nieces & 4 nephews. Ages 18 to 31. I am in the process of taking one out weekly for breakfast. Did it last Saturday with the 27 year old MBA. I asked him to leave the tip and learned he never carries cash!
He leared early that his aunt will take care of things.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)The Major approves, too
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)It talks too. My six-year-old nephew loves to play with it when he comes over. My sister won't let me give it to him. You want it so you can give it to her later? Her parents would love you for it.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)I love Achmed!
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)Omedetou gozaimasu!
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)Demo, arigatou gozaimasu.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)not for a person. To use it as such is very insulting. Hence the honorific after "Oji" uncle. (Oji~san) Elder people are very respected in Japanese society.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)Japanese writing.. You have hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.. which is Chinese style lettering. (put all of them together you have kana). Not sure what you mean by Kanji.. Kanji also means; impression, effect or ..it can mean feeling; "Watashi no Kanji de wa kare wa konai to omou" = "I have a feeling that he will not come."
kanji can also mean: secretary, manager, steward, organizer.
I am not sure what context you are using the word. Tell me what you are trying to say.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)"watashi wa hukete mieru"
or you could just say: : tonikaku kibun ga warui = i feel like hell
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)I don't know what hukete means.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)hukete mieru: look old
I checked with someone and they suggested: "Watashi wa dare ka no sofu no yō ni kanjiru" "I feel like someone's grandfather".
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)its most difficult to find words that pertain to Senior citizens.. as I told you fururi refers to objects or places. Like an Old Temple or Shrine.
To say "That person is old" is "Ano hito wa toshi wo totte imasu."
I am old. "Watashi wa toshi wo totte imasu."
Even that sentence would not be considered too polite in Japanese conversation. So, they may use... ojiisan (Grandfather or used for elderly males) roujin, toshioi are used for older persons as well.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)I wonder if there's a similar phrase with the same meaning.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)He did mention to me that many sentences do not translate well to English and Visa versa. I try not to use Google translate too much because, see, even if you tried to write.. "that person is old" it will give you the word Fururi .. which is wrong. I guess that's why I always tell people to never use Rosetta Stone if you are going to try to learn Japanese. There's a good reason not to..they don't tell you about some of the little hidden traps in the language. They don't tell you about how the Japanese language is based on levels of politeness.. that the way you speak to one person, is not always the way you will speak to another. That many things are often implied in the language.
For example.. In Japanese (and in watching Anime or Jdrama)..you will hear people say " Jyaa ne!" When they are about to leave. Translation will often come up with " Well, see you later." But that is not the true meaning. "Jyaa" simply means "Well" (like in, "well, than".) Ne.. is a word that asks for your confirmation.. like.."right?"... so when its spoken "Jyaa, Ne" (or appears as Ja Ne) it's an implied meaning. "Well, right?" ..which in English makes no sense.
Much of Japanese is often like that. You think, "Wow, they are expecting me to read their minds" ..but that's how it is. You have to know the Culture and how things work..when you learn the Language.
Another thing I learned, unlike most languages, is that you simply can't just pick stuff up you heard and use it.. A good example of that;
I was watching a Japanese drama. In the scene, a guy on a motorcycle is run off the road by a woman in a car. She is of course concerned for him, so runs to his aide and asks..
"Daijoubu"? (which means, are you okay?)
His reponse was "Betsu ni" however the translators must not have known Japanese very well and made the translation "Yeah, I am okay."
But in reality, his use of "Betsu ni" was very rude. It was like saying.."I don't care, or I don't give a damn". The proper response was to simply say "Daijoubu." I am okay.
When I first heard "Betsu ni" I had asked my teacher about it, and if it was okay to use it. He said, firmly "No!" I told him about the scene on the Drama, and he explained it to me it was not a polite response. That he should have used the proper response.
I have met many people who have tried to learn Japanese by copying what is said in Anime. Anime language is considered very rough and not considered polite language. To pick it up and then go to Japan using something say from "Naruto" might get you either a black eye or ignored by the local people you try to talk with.
Not only that, but the Naruto character tends to use a made up word at the end of his sentences.. "Dattebyou!" which has no meaning at all. To go to japan and say (I come from America) "Amerika kara Kimashita, dattebyou!" might get you a lot of weird stares..laughs or people will think your a "baka gaijin" (Stupid foreigner).
I knew a guy once who told me he had learned Japanese from an Anime and was planning on going to Japan. I tried to warn him that the language he was using, was very rough and offensive but he seemed to think he could get by with it. I have not heard from him, but I had asked him to report to me when he got back, about how it went. I can only imagine.
sakabatou
(42,170 posts)I know of the different levels of formality. But yeah, some expressions don't go exactly the way you want it too.