UNITED STATES—Growing up is not easy, but the one thing I can say now that I’m much older is I really miss being a kid. As a kid, most of us are so quick to want to grow up to become an adult, little do we realize once you become an adult there is no going back. I say that so often to my little brother, my nieces and my nephews that they better enjoy their youth because once you become legal everything changes.
Not just the fact that you are now legal to gamble (at 18) and drink alcohol (at 21), but the level of responsibilities that comes with being an adult versus having no life-changing responsibilities as a kid. I started working at the tender age of like 9 or 10 where I spent my weekends cutting lawns to make money. What is the problem with that? You give up your weekends, so from the age of 10 till the present day I’ve always worked Saturdays.
So the notion of not having to work a Saturday is like gold for me. As a kid, I never got the opportunity to sleep in or watch cartoons during the morning hours, eating countless bowls of cereal and just run rampant outside with my siblings and friends. In the present, Saturday is the one day during the week that I have off, and because of that I refuse to do any work of any capacity on that day. I told myself I plan to keep that pact I made with myself until the day that I break into the film industry. That is the only exception to the rule that I’m willing to make. Why? Well when you’re doing something that you absolutely enjoy doing than it is no longer considered work.
When most of us become teenagers, we become eager to get closer and closer to becoming an adult because the rebellion phase takes over our life. However, we fail to realize that is the beginning of the end of no longer having responsibilities. Yes, many people have argued that it’s after COLLEGE for most people where adulthood actually kicks in and I disagree. When you’re in college, you don’t have your parents holding your hand. They are not guiding step-by-step, they’re not cooking dinner or informing you to get up and go to class. This is a point in life where you dictate what happens, your parents might be paying tuition, so financial responsibility is not at your beckon call, but the notion of being responsible is front and center now.
I tend to tell people that once you get your first job it inevitably leads to a trend; you’ll now be working for the rest of your life. Will there be a few hiccups along the way? Of course, but at the same, the idea of making money and having your own money is something that most people never want to give up. It shows dedication, responsibility, and most important of all: your ability to provide for yourself.
My argument for the hour is to enjoy the time that you have being a kid while you can. Let your parents cook you dinner, let them spoil you, have conversations about life, and realize at some point you will be an adult just like your parents and the things that you’re currently doing without getting reprimanded will soon be over. I think many adults if they had the opportunity for only 24 hours to go back to being a child they would jump at the opportunity to do it. Be a kid while you can because once you reach adulthood, there is no going back.
