Raising kids when you're not a parent

Winther is holding this month's IndieWeb Carnival on Parenting. So, as I do when I get the slightest chance, I'm going to talk about my niblings! The fact I don't have kids isn't really a big part of my personality. I don't think very much about it, or any 'decision' which I put in quotes because I don't think it's ever really a single decision but an ongoing series. That's just me, I know it's not the case for many people. Despite my complete indifference to being a parent I am very interested in parenting. I have read several books. I think about it. A lot. Raising kids. Being part of the village. I'm not a parent but my sister regularly points out: I'm raising her kids. As an aunt I am unshackled from the quotidian demands of parenting. Aunts and uncles, especially those without their own kids, can fill a whole other role. Parents have to keep the machine of the world going. They have to do laundry. They have to make kids brush their teeth. I do not have to do laundry. But I do…