Bad, bad auntie

It wasn't my fault. Really, it wasn't.
I shoved my niece today. Well, I wouldn't call it a shove...a forcefull suggestion of different direction of movement? Ok, I shoved her.

It wasn't violent, I'm not a mean person. I was provoked. I was prodded. I was pinched.

Although I was completely and utterly entitled to said shoving it is still incredibly crushing to hear my niece tell her mother, while crying, "'Cause Auntie Susie pushed me into the table!"

What happened was: I was sitting on the couch working on my Christmas gifts for Caroline, Abigail, Emma-Kate, and Brooklyn when Caroline (6 yrs) decided it would be great fun to stand on the armrest on the opposite side of the couch and jump *knees prepped for full digging-in capacities* straight on to my left side.
She did this many times and Emma (4 yrs) soon wanted to join in. They were having fun and I was only in a minimal amount of pain so I just tried to ignore them, while bracing myself for the impacts. They were laughing, I was hurting, but was glad they wanted to play with me. Being leaped upon repeatedly is better than being ignored, I decided.

At one point Caroline pulled away the blanket and two pillows I had had near my side, cushioning the blows. I jokingly told her it was no longer a fair fight and I would have to discontinue my role in the game.

With the pillows gone I was getting more and more beat up. (I am sure I will have a bruise somewhere tomorrow.) I started to attempt to catch them in mid-jump, sending their little bodies back from whence they came. This is where the shove came into play.
Caroline-the dictator in every game they play together- told Emma to start pinching as she landed her knees into my chest. I did not agree to this plan. I tried to catch her before she landed, but was unsuccessful, little Emma was too dang wiggly. She landed and started pinching, hard, and I tried to pick her up and send to back to the other side of the couch. It didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.

I didn't get any air on my picking her up, so it ended up as more of a shove than a pick up and place in a different area thing. Oops. She would have been fine with it if she hadn't hit her little foot on the coffee table. That's why, while crying, she stated to her mother, my sister, "'Cause Auntie Susie pushed me into the table!"

Oops