4 Days of Pseudo-Parenthood

These past four days, I've been blessed to spend a lot of time with this little girl:

I love those wide and happy eyes  :-)

This is one of my adorable nieces.

The reason why I've been seeing so much of her is because my brother and sister-in-law just had their second child on Thursday and they've been in the hospital recovering.

During that time, I've been enjoying pseudo-parenthood.  I got her dressed in the morning, made sure she ate breakfast/lunch/dinner, coordinated with others for childcare, and got her ready for bed and laid down to sleep each day.  On Sunday, I even had her bathed and dressed for church and made sure she behaved in her nursery class.  (I also had to figure out when to go visit at the hospital so she could see her new baby sister.)

Aren't they so precious?

Through all this it has been very clear that being a parent really is a full-time job, and that's after only doing it for 4 days!

Even though it was possibly some of the most demanding days, I miss it and wouldn't change anything.  Seeing her eyes light up when she smiles, hearing her laugh her head off at the silliest things, and even calming her precious tears (and tantrums) from missing her mommy make it all worth it.

I don't exactly know why, but whenever I get to spend a significant amount of time with my nieces/nephews, I always walk away a little sad to say goodbye.  I think part of it might be because I've always wanted to be a parent and part of it could be that it's mostly just fun and games for me (since it isn't full-time and I'm allowed to spoil my nieces/nephews).

Anyway, this adventure, as one of many, in pseudo-parenthood, has been really fun and rewarding.  I can't wait until I have kids of my own that I can watch grow and learn.  ...I guess I should probably find a husband first...  Well, I guess while I'm waiting for my prince, I will just have to suffice with practicing on other peoples' children.  :-)

Dreaming of babies,

Katrina

PS, I'm totally okay with blind dates (hint hint)  :-)