About 9 years ago I became an aunt. Honestly "Auntie" is my favorite name to be called. I have 6 nieces and nephews and I love them all so much, but so differently. For me being an aunt is the most important job I have. Maybe it's because I love babies, or that babies love me.

Seriously babies usually love me and it's weird. Whatever the reason is I love being an aunt, I love the word aunt. I love when my 4-year-old niece calls me 'auntie kessie' because L's can be hard and she got most of the letters down right. There are a lot of reasons I love these kiddos who call me auntie and I have learned why this title is so important to me.

The first thing is that I get to be a mom without being a mom. I'm young, not that being a mom at my age is wrong, just not the thing for me right now. I'm not ready for kids right in this moment. I do, however, love being able to rock my niece to sleep, play games with my nephews, take them trick or treating, and spoil them on Christmas.

I get to do all the fun stuff and some of the not so fun stuff like diaper changes and timeouts. Majority of the time we get to have fun together. It's like parenting but with less discipline and I love it!

I get to do fun kid things because I'm just being a "good aunt". That's what I say but we all know I am singing along to Frozen because it's my jam, and also because it makes my nieces happy.

I've gotten into a bounce house on more than one occasion because of these kids! You know what's more fun than a bounce house as a kid? A bounce house as an adult!

Honestly, that just scratches the surface of why I love being an auntie. I can go without bounce houses. It's the way these kids are showing me how to grow. I am the one watching them grow so it's a little funny that I say this. A lot of people believe that kids are selfish, but these kids are teaching and showing me the exact opposite.

I babysit a lot for my nieces and nephews there is one particular experience that will never leave me. I was a senior in high school and we for some reason had the day off. I think we were going to practice for graduation that week or something. My oldest nephew who was about 5 needed someone to watch him.

That morning we had a lot of fun we created a game that I don't remember how to play but it was a relay of some sort. We ran around playing for at least 45 minutes then he got tired (which really means I got tired) and we watched little Einstein's. We're watching this show and there is a part where the kids are feeding an elephant peanuts to help him grow.

I thought my nephew wasn't paying attention then he looked at me and said, "I wish I was a peanut so I can help an elephant grow." For some reason 4 years later this event is still fresh in my head. I can't ever forget how precious and sincere he was. Whenever I get the chance to tell that story I take it.

I think about this story and I think about how my aunts have some of the most interesting stories about my siblings and I. It is sweet how well they can recall things. I can understand how they were able to remember these stories so well now. It makes me feel special and I hope some day my nieces and nephews feel the same way.

I love that I always get a happy face from my nieces and nephews when they come to visit. They're excited to see me for some reason. When I was little if one of my aunts was coming over I would get super excited! Holidays were great because I got to be around my aunts who have always been my favorite people.

Come to think of it I still get really excited when I know I'm going to be surrounded by my aunts. They're a good time and they have taught me how to be an aunt to my nieces and nephews.

When my nieces and nephews run up and hug me, or say cute things about how much they love me they remind me of myself. It makes me think it is possible for them to think of me the same way I think of my aunts; which, is kind of neat!

Being an auntie makes me cherish my own aunts even more than I did as a kid. I love being around my nieces and nephews. They are all so sweet and so different.

I am so lucky to be called auntie Kelsie and sometimes auntie Kessie.