the cool aunt!

when there's an inkling that i am missing something by not having kids i can go and spend some time with someone else's kids.  there are hordes of them in the circles of people around me...from neighbors to friends to those kids that are actually related to me!  you must know that i love kids, but i also have a pretty realistic understanding of what it means to have them in your life 24/7.  my sister has three kids--yes, she moved beyond man to man to the zone defense as my brother in law likes to say.  i actually lived at her house for a couple of months just after number two was born, so i know what it's like to wake up when they wake up and never have a moment to yourself until they go to bed again.  i know you moms out there know more intimately what i am talking about, and i appreciate you all the more for having a bit of understanding.  with all that said, i am completely content with being the cool aunt!  i get to drop in for the fun times like birthdays and holiday and bring presents and candy and get to leave before the sugar rush wears off!!!  i also get to pass on the poop filled diapers, but be first in line to guest star in the role of bedtime story teller!  i also get to have my secrets with the kiddos that their parents never have to know--with number 1 it's that i love her all the way to the moon and back (see the book guess how much i love you!)  i bring my computer which allows us to take pictures and record us singing, which they get so excited about.  i am also the first to volunteer to them them on a walk on the beach...just us!  but then when it's all over they go home with their parents and i go home to my house and live my life remembering the good times we had together and planning the things we will do the next time we get together.