I remember being a kid (11-15). Playing basketball in the driveway with the neighborhood kids. Visiting the grandparents in the summer. Talking to girls in the neighborhood. Church trips. Dreading school dances. Selling candy I bought at Sam's to kids at school. Those were the days...
I don't really remember getting into much trouble, though. Grades were a big problem with me, sure. My lack of ability to commit to school work made my life considerably worse (at least every 9 weeks), and put a permanent wrinkle on the forehead of both my parents. However, I think I was a good kid... and I think that's why I enjoyed being a kid.
I'm tempted every once in a while to tell the little one who's living with us now the same thing. "Child, the reason you aren't enjoying yourself is because you live a bi-polar life. You get to do things... you get sneaky... you get grounded. You get off grounding... you go do things... you get sneaky... you get grounded." Noone's winning in this situation. The people responsible for keeping you honest don't like it. You don't like being grounded. So why don't we both just call off this game of cat and mouse and we'll both be much happier.
As a person with a sneakiforous teenager in my house, I've been contemplating this subject for a while now. Is sneaky britches going to look back at her childhood and remember enjoying it like I am able to do now? Or will she remember being grounded and pouty over the fact that she "never gets to do anything"? Then again, maybe my childhood was just as full of sneaky events (I know yrs 15-18 were) and I'm just shedding favorable light on them now that they're so far in the past... I don't know. I know my parents read this blog every once in a while. Maybe they'll have an opinion on the matter.
Posted by Jordan at May 11, 2007 7:47 PM | TrackBack