How To Be An Un-Cool Aunt? Sue Your Nephew On His Birthday

I consider myself to be a very lucky lady to be the aunt to two amazing nephews. The two of them never fail to put a smile on my face. I like to think that I am a pretty cool aunt. And even if my almost-five-month-old nephew, Wesley, doesn’t realize yet, the five-year-old certainly does.

Thanks in a large part to my job, I get to take William to some really fun events; he gets to test out toys, read fun new books and try some of the latest fashions.

I honestly can’t express in words how much these two mean to me.

So when I read the story about the aunt who was suing her nephew for jumping in her arms and telling her who much he loved her, I honestly felt a little sick.

Jennifer Connell of New York is actually trying to sue her nephew for his happiness and excitement at his 8^th birthday party. Sean Tarala, who is now twelve, excitedly jumped into his aunt’s arms when she arrived at his birthday party and inadvertently hurt her wrist.

Connell is seeking $127,000 in damages from her nephew, who is the only defendant in the case.

This story. I just, I can’t, I don’t even know what to do with this preposterous story, but let’s try to unpack the “facts” shall we?

On March 8^th, 2011, Connell arrived at the homes of the Tarala family to help celebrate the eighth birthday of her nephew, Sean. Seeing as how it was his birthday, and he had received his very first two-wheeler as a gift, Sean was undeniably excited.

When he saw his aunt, he abandoned his precious bicycle and ran towards his aunt, exclaiming, “Auntie Jen, Auntie Jen.”

Let me just interject here—he dropped his prized toy on the ground for Auntie Jen and she’s suing. Sometimes I’d be willing to pay William to drop the ninja turtle/superhero/dinosaur he’s playing with just to give me a “Hey Auntie Mimi”. Connell should have been flattered by this reaction… but I digress.

“All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground,” Connell said during her testimony. “I remember him shouting, ‘Auntie Jen I love you,’ and there he was flying at me.”

Ever the loving aunt, Connell didn’t say anything at the time of the incident because she didn’t want to upset Sean. But according to Connell, that was when her life got turned upside down.

“I live in Manhattan in a third-floor walk-up so it has been very difficult. And we all know how crowded it is in Manhattan,” she testified.

Oh and here’s my favourite part—Connell claims that the incident has done serious injury to her social life: “I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeurve plate.”

This is me, and my two adorable nephews this weekend. William is a proud big bro at Wesley’s baptism.

Oh. My. Goodness. I think I might be giving myself some serious whiplash from all this eye rolling I’m being forced to perform (maybe I can sue her?).

A lot is being made that Connell, who is 54, is not a parent. And I get that. Maybe (maybe) if she had kids she would never have reacted this way. But I think that’s giving her more credit than she is due.

I don’t have kids. I, at this stage in my life, am only aunt. But I would never, ever even dream of reacting like Connell.

I can’t even count the times that my nephew has accidently (or not-so accidently) hit, kicked, slapped or punched me while we play some kind of a game together. I have been knocked over from hugs, Charlie-horsed from dance moves and even had my fair share of toys stuck in my eyes.

Would I ever sue my nephew for it? No. Never. I simply explain to him why we shouldn’t play so rough/put toys so close to a person’s face/assume that I can lift more than fifty pound son any given day.

I don’t understand Connell’s reaction and I hope I never do.