This may not be an inspirational or motivation post but it’s a reflective post that I think a lot of us can relate to.
How many times were you eager to grow up as a kid?
How many times now do you wish you could go back to being a kid?
As a teacher, I have worked with kids for the past seven years. I can’t count the number of times I have heard phrases about wanting to grow up because of this or that. So often, I think to myself that they need to enjoy their childhood. I don’t think anyone really enjoys childhood until they’ve moved onto adulthood. Everything about being an adult seems so glamorous until you’re actually an adult.
Let’s take a look at the common things kids say and what they don’t know about adulthood.
I can’t wait to be a grown up with no bedtime. I’m not going to lie – I love having the freedom to go to bed whenever I want to. There is a downside to this one though – sometimes I stay up too late. Then, I suffer the next day. At least when I was a kid, I was forced into bed at a certain time no matter what.
I can’t wait to have money of my own. What we failed to think about as a kid was the fact that money comes from working. Finding a job and going to work everyday isn’t always fun. This is a little detail that we often overlooked as a kid.
I’m so ready to move out and be on my own. Living on your own can be a lot of fun. It can also be a lot of stress. There are a lot of responsibilities that come with living on your own – rent, cleaning, organizing, fixing things, and so much more. It’s not all sunshine and roses everyday.
I can’t wait to fall in love. I love being in love, but it was a difficult journey getting here. Hearts were broken and self-esteem was tested more times than I can count. Loving someone and putting your trust in them is a lot harder than you picture as a kid. It’s certainly no picture perfect fairy tale like you imagine as a kid. It’s definitely worth every difficult moment.
I’m looking forward to getting to eat whatever I want. It’s true – as an adult we get to plan our own meals and make our own choices regarding food. However, we also have steeper consequences of our choices. As a kid, we often didn’t have to deal with the negative side effects of poor eating decisions. We were always active and growing, so our body reacted to food differently.
I’m not saying that I hate adulthood – in fact, there are many things I love about being an adult. I’m simply saying that it’s a bit different than my childhood expectations.
What sorts of things did you wish for as a kid? Has being a grown up lived up to your childhood expectations?
