Oh parents. I started this journey earlier than most in my generation. So I get to see the complaints or comments of parents of younger children and I’ll let you in on a secret: I envy you. See, I’m at the stage of parenting where they genuinely believe I was born this age. They cannot fathom that I too was their age once. That I too thought I was smarter than my parents. That I too… was stupid. Oh, but I was. Therefore, I recognize the signs people. I recognize the patterns, the behavior, the dumb-assery of my children.
BUT… for those parental figures of younger children, hark my warning, ENJOY IT! The transition to adulthood will take you deeper into the parenting trenches than you ever thought possible. You will live in the mire of in-between-land. They are neither independent adult nor are they dependent children. You will be torn between allowing them to fail and holding their hand. Ripped apart by the desire to console and necessity to ignore. Oh, you don’t believe me? That’s sweet.
See parent, our concept of time is that “just yesterday” these were your babies, BUT THEY ARE NOT. Oh no. They are now… Adult-ish.
And, it’s horrible.
Just think of a kid who sends you and another parent the same exact message. This is not because they want both parental figures involved, no, no… more like a competition see? This “judge” of sorts, is stroking their adult-ish egos by seeing which parent responds sooner, which shows more oozing concern, which has that je ne sais quoi quality. This “competition”, by the way, has NO prize. I mean, really… do these adult-ish types think they are the prize? Do they know, that normal parents don’t really care?
The other fun dynamic of this stage are the calls or texts received asking this, “did you know” or “do you know”. For instance, “Do you know where I left my keys?” or, “Do you know when I am scheduled to work?” or “Do you know where my shoes are?” The constant appropriate response to these types of questions is simply, “why should I know?”
Finally, the adult-ish years brings you a lot of information. A lot. Fun facts, if you will about your “babies”. Do you know why? Because do you remember when your baby was little and playing outside and got a boo-boo? They ran up to you and showed you, right? Guess what? Your adult-ish baby wants to show you their boo-boo too. But it’s disgusting. They also want your medical advice after they’ve looked up their symptoms on google and convinced themselves that they are dying.
I will trade 1 adult-ish child for a new born any day of the week!!!