NATCHEZ — For an hour or two each weekday afternoon, Dorothy Moore gets to spend quality time with one of the youngest members of her extended family.

When The Dart landed on Perrault Street Friday afternoon, Moore was hosting her niece, Kendia King, 4, after King’s day at Sadie V. Thompson Head Start Center. The bus drops King off after school every day, and she stays at her aunt’s house until her mother gets off of work.

“I get her from about 2 to 3 (p.m.) — sometimes longer if I want to spend a little extra time with her,” Moore said.

Moore enjoys several activities with her niece, including writing her ABCs, watching TV and swinging her on the swing in her back yard. The swing is one of the few additions Moore has made to her house in her 18 years of living there.

“I feel in love with (Kendia), so I got it just for her,” Moore said.

As someone who grew up with four brothers and raised a son, Moore said having a girl around is a nice change of pace.

“Boys are kind of independent,” Moore said. “Girls can be more needy. (Thursday), she put on my boots, and they went all the way up (her legs). She told me, ‘I have on Auntie’s boots.’”

Kendia is extremely shy around strangers, but her mother, Ashley Williams, said her daughter enjoys being around Moore every weekday.

“She loves it,” Williams said. “She gets so excited when I tell her she’s going over there. She does a lot of stuff with her.”

And Williams said it’s nice having Moore around to take care of her daughter while she’s working at Susie B. West Primary School.

“To have someone like that I can trust is a big help,” Williams said.

Moore said getting to take care of her niece can sometimes make other family members envious.

“Everyone has fallen in love with her,” Moore said. “Sometimes we’ll fight about who gets to keep her.”

That’s something Williams said she’s noticed as well.

“For Christmas, they all bought her a gift,” Williams said. “I guess the uncle and the cousin were trying to have a competition on who’s gift she likes the most.”