After graduating from high school, most people want to dedicate the summer before their freshman year of college to fun before entering the life of a full-fledged adult. They make plans to go on a cruise, or a cross-country road trip, or just do something crazy. I had bit of a different plan.

Over the summer, I babysat my niece who'd been born in January. I've always liked kids, and have gotten along pretty well as a babysitter. Previous experiences included watching my brother, my younger cousin once or twice, and entertaining my second cousin at family gatherings when she was a toddler - not exactly the widest range of experience.

Nothing could quite prepare me for spending a summer watching a literal baby. I had never before babysat someone who couldn't say or indicate what it was that they wanted.

Thankfully, I didn't go into the summer completely unprepared. I'd spent time one-on-one with my niece before my babysitting gig started. I didn't typically eat when the rest of my family did, so whenever my sister and her husband visited after the baby had been born, I'd watch the baby so that they could all eat together. There was one time when they needed to go to the store to get something, so I ended up watching the baby by myself for quite awhile.

These little moments spent one-on-one with my niece before I spent an entire day alone with her really helped my self-confidence. I put a lot of pressure on myself in the months leading up to my first day babysitting. This was my older sister's daughter; I had to do beyond a good job. I had to be so amazing that no one--especially myself--would ever doubt my ability to take care of this small, precious, helpless child. I love my sister to death, I love my niece to death, and I was not about to royally fuck up.

I remember on the morning of my first day I'd been feeling nervous. I don't think I slept much that night because I was up around 6:30 and ready to go within twenty minutes. The drive from my house to my sister's was a little under an hour, so I had a little under an hour of time where my anxiety would take control and I'd try to talk myself out of the irrational line of thought long enough to remember how to get to my sister's house (there was a lot of going straight so it was easy to get a little lost in thought). I ended up getting to my sister's earlier than I needed to be there, so I sat in my car for ten minutes trying to calm myself enough to push the button to open the garage door and get out of my car.

I really didn't have much reason to be too nervous. My sister explained pretty well where everything was, what I was supposed to do to prepare a bottle, and what to do should there be an explosion in her diaper. I had never actually changed a baby's diaper before babysitting my niece, and, unfortunately, I knew she had had more explosive diapers than I would have liked.

She assured me she would check in throughout the day through text when she could and usually asked for a picture of her daughter, joking that it was to make sure she was still alive. Since Snapchat filters recognized my niece's face, I typically sent ones with a filter that made me laugh.

The summer fell into a routine. I'd wake up early, get ready and head over to my sister's house. Once I got there, I'd take the baby and my sister would get ready for work while we chatted. I'd spend the hours between her leaving and my brother-in-law coming home alone with the baby, playing, feeding, and changing her. I'd put her to sleep when she got tired and she was usually still asleep when my brother-in-law got home. I'd hand her off to him and gather my stuff to drive back home, where I crashed on the couch for a brief nap before dinner. Repeat the next day.

It was certainly hard work watching a baby all day, especially since it wasn't something I hadn't done before or knew what exactly to expect. It was a new experience and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Despite the amount of dirty diapers changed, the number of times an unimaginable amount of spit up drenched my clothes, or even the time in which my niece got sick and the illness spread like wildfire (seriously, it knocked out eight people in four days; I have never thrown up so much or so violently in my life), I wouldn't trade it for anything. I got to spend entire days with this child who hardly ever stopped smiling, who would fall asleep on my shoulder clutching part of my shirt in her little fist, who laughed when I said "oops" when I dropped a toy, and did her best to make putting on pants the most difficult thing in the world. I was given the opportunity to watch her grow up for the summer.

I was there when she sat up by herself for the first time. I was there when she rolled over from her back to her stomach and back onto her back. I was there when she reached out, grabbed her bottle from me, and held it up by herself to feed herself. I got to experience these moments that I otherwise would only have heard about through my sister.

I cannot thank my sister and brother-in-law enough for the special opportunity and experience that they offered to me by asking if I'd babysit their daughter. I will cherish how much time I was able to spend with her when she was so little, and I can't wait to see how she continues to grow up.