Within the past three years, I have been blessed to become an aunt. Having three beautiful nieces in my life has taught me so much. They have taught me more about life within these past three years than I have learned in my whole 22 years of existence. In the past three years, these are the five main things I have learned from being an aunt.

1. How to compromise

Being around a child who is younger than two, you quickly learn they want EVERYTHING. They want the whole bag of baby wipes or they want the food you are eating. You learn how to compromise to give them what they want without upsetting their parents.

2. How to remain a child at heart

Being an adult, or in my case trying to be an adult, we often lose our child-like qualities. We get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to stop and breathe. Being around one of my nieces reminds me that I need to stop and color with them. Or I need to spin around until I get dizzy while we both laugh. Most of all, we need to stop and breathe from our busy adult life.

3. You are their first best friend

A child loves their parents first. After that, they pick who they love. Becoming an aunt, you fall into the category of they decided to love you. Along the way, you become their best friend. They decided to make you a part of their life and they trust you with it.

4. What unconditional love really means

I live at least three hours away from my hometown, and at least nine hours away from one of my sisters, so therefore, I don't get to see my nieces as much as I want. Yet when I do see them, it's like magic. They run up to me and hug me around my neck like I'm their favorite person in that moment. Loving somebody that much is unconditional love. They don't have to love me that much, but they do.

5. How the little things can mean so much

One of my favorite things in the whole world is when my nieces hug me. I don't have to force it, they just run up to me and do it. Little things, like random hugs or them coming to sit in my lap, brightens my day and life.

Becoming an aunt was one of the best things that happened to me in my life. It doesn't matter if you're an aunt by blood or an aunt of friend's child, it's the same kind of love. Once you have found that kind of love through a child, consider yourself the luckiest person alive.