In your ^20s , you also want to do something more meaningful. I've been wanting to do some volunteer work for a while and decided that working with children is the most fun.

A friend of mine has been volunteering at FNV summer camp for years and encouraged me to do it too. Last year I couldn't because of work, but this year it worked out perfectly. To be honest, I was really worried I wouldn't be able to manage 7 or 8 children in a tent for 6 days. In the end, I learned a lot from it. And that I can actually do it! I loved doing it, and the best part is that the children you've dragged everywhere all week say, "I'm going to miss you so much," with tears in their eyes. They hug you and say they'll come back to camp next year because they had such a great time. And all this despite the rain!

When I left, I said to my boyfriend, "What if I come back and don't want kids at all?" To which he replied, "Yes, or maybe you want them even more." The latter is definitely true; I still want kids, and I think I can handle being a mom. That's a good feeling. When I got back, I said, "I still want kids, but I'm glad we're starting at baby level, because stepping in at 12 is pretty intense." You learn a lot of things that your mother nods enthusiastically to when you tell her about when you get back. I also said that for the first time, I truly understand what it means to be a parent "24/7." Our mom laughed out loud when I told her about the time a girl from my place who talks a lot said to me, "Do you feel sorry for my mom yet?" To which I replied, "No, but I do feel sorry for mine." I was quite a chatterbox myself as a child. You learn a lot this way, and some kids really hold you up to the mirror. But I loved it, so I'll be back next year, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in joining us for a year!