Uncle Jack

So as many of you know I am not the most enthusiastic about hanging out with kids under the age of, well to be frank of any age less then my own. I feel uncomfortable, under qualified, and terrified that if something gets damaged or someone ends up bleeding I will have failed as a responsible adult. As such my child care skills are very underdeveloped and I have avoided situations where I would be in charge of an infant. Naturally I couldn't really avoid these kind of situations after my nephews started being born, I loved them to death but the idea of being their caretaker for an extended amount of time scared me still. Slowly but surely I have tried to get over this fear of losing control and having something bad happen to my little nephews. Well this week changed everything. I took the first part of the week off to spend with my sister Kate, nephew Hamilton, Aunt Mary Ann, uncle Torsten, and cousins Fiona and Linnaea. All of whom live far away and I don't see them often. So with 4 kids under the age of 5 hanging around I got nervous,  though with all their parents, and grandparents around I figured I could do the fun stuff but turn them over to others if things got hairy. Naturally as things do, I was left basically in charge of my three nephews for a good long while. At first I panicked thinking (over dramatically) that their lives rested in my hands. But through fights, time outs, and twenty minutes of me holding one nephew in each arm while marching up and down, I learned that I am more then capable of being a hands on uncle through the good and the bad. I had a great time making sure Hamilton didn't pull any hair, while holding Miles who wanted to grab fragile objects, while Luke kept trying to get his precious Speed Racer car back from Hamilton without getting in trouble and causing him to have a tantrum. I imagine this is what all parents go through when they have kids and I got just a little taste of it, and I liked it. Now don't assume that this automatically volunteers me to babysit all the time but I am definitely inclined to say yes after such a fun, bonding time with my little buddies.