Definitely an Adjustment

So my one year old niece may break me. She is adorable, she is cute, she is giggly and sweet. And she does not know who I am. Somehow I imagined it would be easier. I hoped that she would accept me quickly and my absence for her entire time post womb would be ignored. But this little girl does not have amnesia. She knows who each member of our family is and knows that she does not know me.

It is a very tough pill to swallow. She cries when she thinks she is being left alone with me and we have had to resort to trickery when I babysit (me taking her for a walk in her stroller while my sisters, dad, or mom escape the house). My mom continues to insist that it will just take time, which I know is right, but it also makes me fear that I will also be the last resort family member because of my late start. I do not regret this year or the year before that. How many people can say they spent 2 years in Africa, have friends in numerous countries on numerous continents, and have traveled the globe? So I feel and fear that this is one consequence that I will just have to deal with.