Lots of families have one. You may have had one growing up. That one, childless aunt who always gives the best presents. Or how about the bachelor uncle who, in contrast to the other grown ups, paid attention to what you were saying and listened to your side in a dispute.

My childfree friends, you can be that person. It's actually pretty easy.

Step 1: Pay attention. This is the most important step in being The Cool Aunt. It means you know what your niece/nephew is interest in and what's going on in their lives. Parents tend to have, for better or worse, pretty fixed ideas regarding their child's likes and dislikes, as well as the motives for their actions. You, on the other hand, claim no control over your niece/nephew, and no responsibility, so you can listen without ego or bias.

Step 2: Apply the resulting knowledge toward gift-giving. Here, it's really about quality over price or price. Don't compete with their parent for greatest number of gifts, and don't buy them that expensive electronic device they've been dropping hints about. That's in the parent/grandparent sphere.

Instead, look for something unusual that caters to their interests. Maybe your niece has a peculiar interest in furniture. Buy her an interior design drawing book. Or your little cousin has a real fascination with the planets. Buy him the original Cosmos series on DVD.

This is what makes you the cool aunt. You know them and encourage their interests, even the ones that seem strange for a child, and especially the ones their parent thinks are silly.

Have experience in this area? Share your successes, flops, or other comments with the Spinster Community.

Thanks to Kaboompics for providing the stock photography for this article.