When I was your age!!

I remember hearing these words from every elder person in my life. When I was your age we never caused those problems at school or for our parents. When I was your age we had to make our own toys and fun... and so on. When I heard these words come out of peoples mouths all I could remember thinking was, You have obviously forgotten what it is like to be my age. I do sometimes think that people forget how different we think as kids... how smart we are as teenagers.... and how no one over the age of 20 could possibly know what it is like to be a kid. I don't think that after 20 that we don't know what it is like to be a kid, it is that we know how Innocent just being a kid can bring on all kinds of unwanted responsibilities, debt and lifelong regrets. I mean how many of us can think back to what we were conversing with our friends in gym class and say that we would even want to have those conversations as an adult, because of the nonsense and innocence of the conversation? "I cant wait to get out on my own someday" as if moving in our own home was going to rid us of someones directing our life?? yeah right.. no it is not our parents now, it is the bank with the mortgage on our house saying we must work so many days out of the year, it is our boss telling us not to or to do something we didn't want to. It is our children that are expecting a parent to pick them up from school. I know it is not only me, but I wonder if there is someone out there that seen the freedom they had as a child? Did anyone.. or are we all trapped by our parents keeping us from harm? I would give anything to go back to when all I had to do all summer was play in the pond, ride my bike, and listen to mom complain because we forgot to take our shoes off before we came through the house.... as a kid, we didn't even have to clean it up.. mom did. At the age of 29, when I hear a child complain about their problems about mom not letting them drive yet at 15 and a half... I think... I would give a lot.. a lot... to go back to that being my biggest problem for the next six months. It is amazing what we don't appreciate huh.