Yeah, my ex had 2 boys, they were already 6 and 7 when I met them, it was OK.
You could talk to them, they could do certain things on their own already.

My oldest nephew just turned 4, he talks back and such for a while now, which makes me feel a bit better.
So once my Godchild is 3-4 years old, it'll be better.
But unfortunetly, when you have kids of your own, you can't skip the first 5 years or so hehe.