I thought extensive childcare experience would prepare me for being a mother. I was very, very wrong.

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I have three nephews and four nieces, and I babysat them from the time they were newborns until they started school. My sisters dropped them off at our home every morning, and my mother and I cared for them until their mothers returned from work. It may have looked like we were running a daycare, but to me, it was pure joy. I was in my late teens at the time and I adored those kids, had endless fun with them, and still think of them as my own, even though they're all in their late teens now.