Snap shot of the future?

This week, I have the pleasure of watching my neighbors' children, ages 4 and 6. Having never had a 4 or 6-year-old child of either gender, I must admit I was a wee bit nervous. I wasn't sure what to "do" with them, what to feed them, how to entertain them, etc. Today was the first day and I kind of feel like I got a small glimpse of the future.

Now granted, when I have more than one child, I'm sure it will be different. I'll be very familiar with their likes, dislikes, routines, personalities, and the likes. Jackson will (obviously) be the older child as opposed to the youngest. Having three children running around is drastically different than having one.

But it was cool and crazy and fantastic. It was fun having kids around with words. They actually told me what they wanted and didn't want. They have great senses of humor and it was ridiculously awesome to hear the "-isms" from the mouths of babes. I love their logic and rationale. The insights and observations honestly surprised me, in a really good way. It makes me so stoked for when my own knucklehead starts talking! It was nice not having to worry about coming up with things for them to do. Instead, my role was more of judge and timekeeper. "He gets the toy for two minutes, then it's my turn." "Hey, I don't want to be pushed on this lap!" "Is Jackson almost up from his nap? What time will he be done? Can we go get him?"

They all got along really well and it was a different kind of joy to be so surrounded by little ones. So it makes me excited for the possible future of having more and older kids. (Although I am absolutely LOVING this stage.) All that being said, I had a great time today. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week.