about having kids

I've always loved kids, and I've always wanted a few in the future. But living with my cousin (plus her 3 children) has given me a rare insight into actually being a parent, especially with my cousin and her husband away on a holiday and the kids being looked after my their grandma (my aunt).

For one thing, your time is never really your own. There's always someone to look after/feed/bath/put to sleep/play with/teach something to etc etc. I usually get home from wherever I've been the whole day, and then the kids come to play with me, sometimes I bring them out to the park, then it's dinner (where I now have to gobble my food up so that I can concentrate on getting the other 2 to finish their food), giving them a bath, then finally tucking them into bed. One eats superbly slowly as she keeps talking and talking!

Quote from gwenda (as I was telling her about the dinner thing)
"Gwenda says: hoho you know what i'm now thinking abt my bird assignment and the many ways you can encourage them to eat novel foods.. "eat in front of your budgie and make loud smacking noises. show him how much you are enjoying it and he will want to try some of it too"

Even getting some exercise- I managed to drag my bum out for a bit, but one of the girls wanted to follow me down, and you can't exactly go for a proper jog with a 7 year old trailing you. So we just bummed around at the playground/exercise stations for a bit. Except the exercise corner is for senior citizens (I've to take a photo of the "free gym lookalike" that's downstairs) so it's not really that much of a workout.

I will probably miss them when they leave, and who knows when we'll all meet again. But at the same time, I'll be relieved to get my life back somewhat. One thing is for sure, R.E.S.P.E.C.T to all parents out there! I've now gotten a glimpse of what it means to live a life that isn't yours anymore, a life of many sacrifices...