Well I'm not a father, and will never be one given my situation, I am an uncle and often am involved with babysitting my two nephews.
Being honest about this, babysitting just feels like a serious chore, while my mother loves kids both her own and her grandkids, unlike her, I don't really get much joy from babysitting, all the bad smells and the climbing all over you and having to watch them every moment incase they hurt themselves or dealing with if one has a tantrum and hits the other one and if there misbehaving and trying to get one to eat if he's refusing to have his dinner and having to sit and watch the same boring childrens cartoon every single time with them, you know, the annoying shit that comes with children on top of all the good things pampers adverts convinces you of them being.
But, I do love my nephews, not the act of babysitting but the kids themselves I do. Which is why I find this a very thorn between issue. My brother there dad, wants his kids to grow up quickly. I can already see the results of his with my 4 year old nephew, in how my brother keeps lumping him with things to do and rules to obay and lessons that just seem hardline sometimes. On the other side of the coin, there mother and my mother are wanting to follow the belief that kids should be kids as long as they want, and choose when they want to grow up.
Now, when I'm babysitting them and having my 4 year old nephew ram head first into my groin because.. thats what kids do, part of me prays for a fairy to fly down and make them age 5 more years then and there, but honestly, I am more of the opinion what my mother and sister in law says, they are only kids once, and shouldn't be forced to grow to fast. I see my older nephew go into absolute screaming rages, because hes trying to figure out a puzzle or toy thats a few years older them he is, but he wants to do it, almost as if he wants to impress his father. And that pisses me off.
Really though, anyone whos had kids or nephews or cousins or whatever, how did you handle it around this age?