Just as dangerous (or not) as a brush cutter, a chain saw, or a kitchen knife. It all depends on how you use them, and what you intend to do with them.

What are you going to use them for? We own guns. I live in a suburb full of over-protective parents who probably wouldn't let their kids come to play if they knew there were guns in our house. However, the guns are in pieces, locked in a safe, with the ammo. We couldn't "brandish them in anger" if we wanted to. My husband goes out with friends on the occasional weekend to shoot pieces of paper at a gun club. When the kids are old enough, we'll take them shooting, so they understand basic gun safety.

There's a huge gulf between responsible gun owners, and people who feel compelled to have an AK-47 under the bed "just in case." Examine your own motives and intentions, and find out if you think you are responsible enough to own guns. How are your guns stored? Would you let your hypothetical toddler play in your house? Safely? These might help you find the answer to your question.

A trained career counselor might be able to point you in the right direction, and at a community college it possibly won't cost much.

Good luck to you.

When you think about the drinking water that your average American community "needs", remember the drinking water systems also provide what we put on our lawns. I think I read, maybe even here in Salon somewhere, that the amount of square feet of lawn in the US is more than any other crop under cultivation.

I like a nice yard as much as the next person. But the American obsession with the perfect green square out front is patently wasteful, and contributes to global warming on a number of fronts--use of precious clean (sometimes desalinated) water, use of fertilizers and pesticides, use of fossil fuels in two-stroke engines to mow the darn things. Even my neighbor with the environmentally friendly electric mower is using resources that could be better spent in other ways.

I can't afford to rip out the whole yard, but I've started, in small ways, to put a combination of native plants, food plants, and shade trees in my yard. Native plants have the advantage that they grow here in my part of the world naturally, so they can survive (with the right amount of shade or light) with whatever rainfall we get naturally.

I like to grow veggies, no they aren't native, but at least they're useful. Shade trees (some day when they're big enough) will help to cut down the summer AC bill. The lawn is slowly disappearing as I dig it up bit by bit. Good riddance to it.

I got a nice hefty tax credit from my state, my county, and my local water district when the washing machine died last year. We got a new spiffy front-loading low water use machine. A large load in the old (traditional, top-loading) machine uses 60 gallons. A large load in my new machine uses 9 gallons. I had no idea how significant the difference was until I started shopping.

I imagine if I did the math... how many zillions of gallons of water could be saved if we outlawed sales of new high water use residential washing machines. Certainly the old ones will live out their useful lives, but we should not be selling new ones.

But then don't get me started on clothes dryers and clotheslines. I could use a clothesline for a good 3-4 months of the year, except that my neighborhood association won't allow them. I just may have to be subversive this summer and subject my neighbors to an objectional view of my family's clean socks.

I'm sure you know your own sisters and their husbands well enough to find some balance. While any parents of young children appreciate help, I'm sure they don't want you in their house 24/7. But you're no doubt smart enough to figure that out.

Make sure that you're well-versed in everything to do with child safety. Car seats, baby and toddler proofing your own house (ditch the glass vases full of dried flowers on the sharp-edged coffee table), and whatever rules the parents insist upon, even if they seem arbitrary to you. There's nothing more irritating to me than discovering Grandma decided on her own that one of my rules isn't worth following. Grr.

What I've appreciated as a parent are the times to focus on one child at a time, to give each kid a chance to be special. As an extra pair of hands, you can provide this, along with date nights for the parents, and when the kids are old enough, sleepovers at Auntie's house. When they're even older still, you could take them one at a time on vacation with you. The other letter writers are correct, the time goes fast. Being there to be a regular part of their lives will be something they will not forget.

When they get older, the parade of diapers and sippy cups ends and the parade of sports practice, homework, music lessons, and dance class gets into full swing. Having an extra pair of hands, a willing transporter of kids to various events, someone to sit in a folding chair at tee-ball practice while mom or dad can start dinner at home, would grease the wheels and make them turn immeasurably easier.

Good luck to you. It's an adventure, one I wouldn't trade for the world. I'm sure you will be appreciated.