I agree, although I'm not a parent, I babysat my niece a lot throughout. She's turning 6 in a few weeks and it's pretty great how much more "interactive" she ca

I agree, although I'm not a parent, I babysat my niece a lot throughout. She's turning 6 in a few weeks and it's pretty great how much more "interactive" she can be now. When they're much younger you constantly have to fret over them, but now she's learning to write, asks fun questions and overall the "spark" of being her own person is really visible. While I used to enjoy babysitting earlier too, back then I still used to be glad to be done so I could rest and catch up on some hobbies while nowadays I usually feel pretty guilty having to leave. On the other hand the experience from my niece and now my nephew does make me wonder if I really want kids at all given the effort it takes to raise them to the point where they start to learn to be independent. I was exhausted dealing with them for just a few days in a row, I can't imagine how I'd handle it for several years.