All Grown Up

We spend our whole lives wanting to grow up. We had these wild imaginations while we are young and youthful about what our lives will be like when we become adults. We dream about being lawyers, doctors, fire fighter, even models or princesses. We had the unrealistic idea of how growing up would be the best thing in our lives, but what we didn’t know was all the problems and responsibilities that came along with it.

When we were little all we wanted to do was grow up and become adults like our parents. We even played “house” or “news” or “doctor”, so anxious to leave our youth behind, but why? Why we would want to leave such a wonderful, joyous, carefree time in our lives behind for something so horribly terrifying? When we’re younger we look up to adults, they’re our role models, and we look at them and want to be just like them. We were too young to see that being all grown up really isn’t all we made it out to be... So when exactly do we realize what being a grown up is really all about? It slowly crept up on us as we got older. We slowly got more and more responsibility through school as the years went on. When we turned seven, we started having to make our own beds and clear off the dinner table. When we turned ten, we not only had to do what we did when we were seven, but we had to wash the dishes and take out the trash. When we turned thirteen, we had to babysit our siblings, and while we would get angry our parents would tell us “it’s part of growing up”. Responsibility crept up on us slowly and then all at once, like a lion stalks its prey. Suddenly, we’re eighteen years old, graduating high school, with a job, going off to college, completely overwhelmed and terrified for what lies ahead of us.

Growing up really isn’t what we thought it would be, now is it? It’s not tea and cookies with our stuffed animals, or a dress up party with Dr.Frederick Fluffy Pants. No, it’s something you can’t quite understand, it’ll be sunshine and flowers one minute, and leave you in the pouring rain the next. So why do we rush to leave our youth behind for something less magical and beautiful? I think once we get older we realize, being grown up isn’t quite what we thought. I would do anything to turn back the clock and have my youth back, would you?