[Doriana] almost messed up

[Doriana]

I try to be a good aunt, but I messed it up. Thanks to the pandemic, however, nobody will know.

I = yours truly

[emeraldink]

Aunt as a relative? to your siblings' children?
Or figuratively, as in "older woman acquaintance"?

"Nepotism" relevant? It was a popular puzzle topic at one time

Do you have more than one nephew? Relevant how many?
Did you do something for one of the nephews, but not for others?

Did you promise your nephew(s) something and could not deliver? could not do it on time?
A special trip? a present? a party? to come over and meet with him ( her, them )?

[hominid]

Are your niblings*: HCF? HCM? HAF? HAM? Relevant how exactly they are related to you? Do you live near them?

Did you forget something? Some information about your nibling(s)?

Did something relevantly get cancelled? School? A performance? An event? A celebration? Something you organized?

*gender-neutral term for nieces/nephews

[Doriana]

emeraldink

Aunt as a relative? to your siblings' children? Yes to both
Or figuratively, as in "older woman acquaintance"? No

"Nepotism" relevant? It was a popular puzzle topic at one time No

Do you have more than one nephew? Relevant how many? I have three niblings, but only one is relevant to the puzzle - see below
Did you do something for one of the nephews, but not for others? No

Did you promise your nephew(s) No something and could not deliver? Yope could not do it on time? No
A special trip? a present? No to these a party? to come over and meet with him ( her, them )? OTRT to these, explore

hominid
Are your niblings*: HCF? The one niece that's relevant to the puzzle is HCF HCM? HAF? HAM? Relevant how exactly they are related to you? No Do you live near them? DOYD of 'near'. Approx. 4 h by train

Did you forget something? Some information about your nibling(s)? Yesish to both

Did something relevantly get cancelled? Yes School? Yope A performance? An event? A celebration? Something you organized? No to rest

*gender-neutral term for nieces/nephews

[hominid]

Is the niece's exact age relevant?

Was it some kind of school that wasn't regular school? Music lessons? Dance lessons?

Were you supposed to make an appearance at this "school"? At your niece's house? Somewhere else? Did your niece know about the plan? Did her parent(s)? Was there a planned surprise?

[emeraldink]

Graduation or entrance exams relevant?

[Doriana]

hominid
Is the niece's exact age relevant? Yes, she's 5

Was it some kind of school that wasn't regular school? Yesish Music lessons? Dance lessons? But not like that

Were you supposed to make an appearance at this "school"? At your niece's house? Somewhere else? Yes to all Did your niece know about the plan? Maybe Did her parent(s)? Yes, her mother did Was there a planned surprise? No

emeraldink
Graduation or entrance exams relevant? No, but OTRT

[hominid]

Some sort of preschool/kindergarten? (I see that you're in Germany; I'm not sure what the terminology is or what is and isn't considered "regular school" there.) Homeschooling relevant?

Were you supposed to pick her up at school? Bring her to school? Were you supposed to contact the school in some way?

[Doriana]

Some sort of preschool/kindergarten? No and potential FA (I see that you're in Germany; I'm not sure what the terminology is or what is and isn't considered "regular school" there.) Homeschooling relevant? No

Were you supposed to pick her up at school? Bring her to school? Were you supposed to contact the school in some way? No to all

[hominid]

Is your niece a student at this "school"? Are you a student at this "school"? Is it a university?

Are birthdays relevant? Your niece's birthday? Did you make a mistake regarding your niece's birthday? Her address? The timing of something? Did you make a mistake regarding your own school schedule?

If the pandemic hadn't happened, would your mess-up have upset your niece? Her mother? You? Someone else?

[Doriana]

Is your niece a student at this "school"? No Are you a student at this "school"? No, but... Is it a university? No

Are birthdays relevant? Your niece's birthday? Yes to both Did you make a mistake regarding your niece's birthday? Yesish Her address? No The timing of something? Yes Did you make a mistake regarding your own school schedule? Yesish

If the pandemic hadn't happened, would your mess-up have upset your niece? Maybe Her mother? Yes You? Yes Someone else? Not relevantly

[hominid]

Relevant when her birthday is? Was it after things were shut down? Before?

Is anyone relevantly a student at the school? The niece's mother?

[Doriana]

Relevant when her birthday is? Yes, in August Was it after things were shut down? Before?

Is anyone relevantly a student at the school? Nobody is relevantly a student at the school, but... The niece's mother? No

[hominid]

Did you think her birthday was in a different month? A different day in August? Did you get her age wrong? Is her 2020 birthday relevant? Is her 2019 birthday relevant? Are the circumstances of her birth relevant?

Are you a teacher at the school? Another kind of school employee? Is anyone? (I can't believe I didn't think of that before.)

[Doriana]

Did you think her birthday was in a different month? A different day in August? This Did you get her age wrong? Is her 2020 birthday relevant? Yes Is her 2019 birthday relevant? Are the circumstances of her birth relevant? No to rest

Are you a teacher at the school? Yes Another kind of school employee? Is anyone? (I can't believe I didn't think of that before.)

[hominid]

Did you plan to visit your niece for her sixth birthday? But you got the date wrong, so you ended up planning the trip for a different day in August? But the pandemic happened, so the trip got cancelled?

Did you mistakenly plan the trip for before the birthday? After the birthday? Did you buy tickets in advance? Train tickets?

Still not sure how it's relevant that your a teacher at a yopish school. Do you teach children? Teenagers? Adults? Was the school actually cancelled because of the pandemic? Or some other reason? Is remote learning relevant? Did you lose your job at any point? Did you just start teaching this year? Would this school normally be in session in August? Were you planning on taking the trip during your vacation?

[Doriana]

Did you plan to visit your niece for her sixth birthday? No... But you got the date wrong but yes, so you ended up planning the trip for a different day in August? No But the pandemic happened, so the trip got cancelled? No

Did you mistakenly plan the trip for before the birthday? After the birthday? I planned the trip for her birthday, but I wasn't planning to visit her for her birthday - explore Did you buy tickets in advance? Train tickets?

Still not sure how it's relevant that your a teacher at a yopish school. Do you teach children? Teenagers? Adults? Irrel Was the school actually cancelled because of the pandemic? Yes! Or some other reason? Is remote learning relevant? Did you lose your job at any point? Did you just start teaching this year? Would this school normally be in session in August? Yes Were you planning on taking the trip during your vacation? I was planning to take the trip when the yopeschool wasn't in session

We've established everything we need to know about the yopeschool: I was supposed to teach there in August, but it got cancelled because of the pandemic.

[hominid]

So it's not relevant what kind of school it is?

Were you trying to avoid seeing your niece on her birthday? Did her birthday enter into your plans at all? Were you literally planning to be on the train on her birthday? On your way to her house? On your way home?

So the school would normally be in session in August, but you planned the trip for when school wouldn't be in session. Did you plan the trip after school got cancelled? Or did you plan it for a day in August that would normally not have school? A weekend? Or did you plan the trip for July? September?

[Doriana]

So it's not relevant what kind of school it is? Correct

Were you trying to avoid seeing your niece on her birthday? Yope Did her birthday enter into your plans at all? Yes Were you literally planning to be on the train on her birthday? On your way to her house? On your way home? I was planning to be on the train the day before and the day after her birthday

So the school would normally be in session in August, but you planned the trip for when school wouldn't be in session. Did you plan the trip after school got cancelled? No Or did you plan it for a day in August that would normally not have school? A weekend? I planned it for a part of August when school wouldn't have been in session Or did you plan the trip for July? September?

[hominid]

Relevant what part of August school was not in session?

Were you planning to visit your niece on (what you thought was) her birthday? Before her birthday? After her birthday?

For the sake of argument, can we say that her birthday is August 15? Did you mistakenly think her birthday was before this? After this?

[Doriana]

Relevant what part of August school was not in session? Let's, for the sake of the puzzle, assume that school would have been in session from August 1 through 17.

Were you planning to visit your niece on (what you thought was) her birthday? Before her birthday? After her birthday? I was planning to visit her on a certain day before her birthday

For the sake of argument, can we say that her birthday is August 15? Let's say her birthday is August 25 Did you mistakenly think her birthday was before this? This After this?

I'm sorry if this is confusing, but there's still a missing element that should clear things up.

[hominid]

Is a holiday relevant? Someone else's birthday?

If her birthday is the 25th, did you think her birthday was August: 24? 23? 22? 21? 20? 19? 18? 17?

[Doriana]

Is a holiday relevant? No, but OTRT Someone else's birthday? No

If her birthday is the 25th, did you think her birthday was August: 24? 23? 22? 21? 20? 19? 18? 17? None of these, I thought it was while yopeschool was in session

[Balin]

Yopeschool: day care? Homeschooling?

[Doriana]

Yopeschool: day care? Homeschooling? No to both (it's a 17-day summer school program for high school students, but that's largely irrel to the puzzle)

[Balin]

Were you planning on remaining in your niece's location surrounding her birthday? Surrounding the day you thought was her birthday? Is avoiding extra travel involved?

[hominid]

Anniversary relevant? Wedding anniversary?

[Doriana]

Were you planning on remaining in your niece's location surrounding her birthday? No Surrounding the day you thought was her birthday? I was planning to travel there the day before the non-birthday, be there on the day, and leave again the day after Is avoiding extra travel involved? No

Anniversary relevant? Wedding anniversary? No to both

[hominid]

Can we say that the non-birthday is August 10? So you were planning to travel on the 9, be there on the 10, and arrive on the 11?

Were you planning to take time off from work for this trip? Or did you plan the trip before you took the job?

[Doriana]

Can we say that the non-birthday is August 10? So you were planning to travel on the 9, be there on the 10, and arrive on the 11? Yes, that would work

Were you planning to take time off from work for this trip? Or did you plan the trip before you took the job? Irrel to both

[hominid]

So, did you want to be at your niece's house on August 10, because you thought her birthday was August 10? Or did you want to be at your niece's house on August 10 for some other reason?

Was your mess-up forgetting when her birthday was? Or something else?

[Doriana]

So, did you want to be at your niece's house on August 10, because you thought her birthday was August 10? No Or did you want to be at your niece's house on August 10 for some other reason? Yes

Was your mess-up forgetting when her birthday was? This was part of it Or something else? But there's still something else to discover. We're almost there - find out why I was planning to be there on August 10 and what her birthday has to do with it

[hominid]

Did your niece's mother (your sister?) invite you to visit on August 10? Was your desire to go there on August 10 the result of a mixup on your part? Is August 10 the date of a special event? An event that has significance to your niece? Is it relevant why you thought your niece's birthday was August 10?

Did you mix up the dates August 10 with August 25 (like, you thought that your niece's birthday was August 10 and some other event was August 25, when in fact it's the other way around)?

[Doriana]

Did your niece's mother (your sister?) invite you to visit on August 10? Was your desire to go there on August 10 the result of a mixup on your part? Is August 10 the date of a special event? An event that has significance to your niece? Is it relevant why you thought your niece's birthday was August 10?

Did you mix up the dates August 10 with August 25 (like, you thought that your niece's birthday was August 10 and some other event was August 25, when in fact it's the other way around)?

YES to all! Time for the

********SPOILER********

This summer, I was supposed to teach at a summer school and I was given the choice between two sessions, one in early August and one in late August. One would have clashed with my niece's first day of school (big deal here in Germany), the other with her birthday. Trying to be a good aunt, I asked my sister which one would be more important for my niece. She said the first day of school, since she has a birthday every year. So I picked the session that would allow me to attend her first day of school -- only to discover I had the two dates mixed up.

Due to the pandemic, the summer school was cancelled. If first day of school celebrations take place as planned, I will be able to attend, and if they also get cancelled, I can at least be there for her birthday. In either case, nobody will know about the birthday mix-up.

[hominid]

Nice puzzle! Sorry you lost the summer school job, but at least your mixup wasn't noticed.