Being Grownup doesn’t make you smarter…just taller

When I was little, I thought Grownups knew everything. Whether it be a math problem, spelling a word, or trying to identify a rash, I felt like a Grownup would know the answer. Grownups were always so together–so calm and knowledgeable. That’s what made Grownups better than kids–they knew everything about everything. Maybe it’s because both of my parents were smart so I grew up in a home where knowledge was prevalent. Grownups weren’t just older kids–they were perfect people. They went to school, got smart, and became Grownups.

Six-year olds are naïve I was no different. I thought there was nothing a Grownup didn’t know or couldn’t do. My dad was always repairing the house, growing plants, and watching sports–it felt like he knew everything. My mom use to cook, fix all my booboos, and could answer any question I ever gave her. They were Grownups and in complete control of their lives.

My folks had me in their mid-20s–I’m getting close to an age when I can remember my parents being as old as I am now. I have memories dating back to when I was three-years old. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m older than my parents were in some of my memories. I don’t have kids yet but I’m married. I have a career, a home, pay bills, and many, many responsibilities. I have reached the “Grownup” stage in my life…and yet I feel nowhere near as complete as my parents were.

That’s just life. Kids are raised and learn from their parents. To a baby–a creature with the intelligence of a house cat–parents seem worldly and all-knowing because in a baby’s world, they are. Kids know very little of life outside their house (since my parents were the same age, I though you had to marry someone the same age as you). I thought my folks knew everything because they knew a lot more than I did.

Now that I’m a Grownup, I see how seriously misguided I was. I accepted everything my parents told me…even though it turns out sometimes they were very wrong. I can’t properly pronounce many words because English was my father’s second language. I grew up being afraid of big rigs because my mother feared them on freeways. Only now do I realize how misguided Grownups really are.

If my parents had an opinion that differed from the world, it meant the world was wrong and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the world would change its mind. Michael Jackson was a terrible musician. Ronald Reagan was a horrible president. Italy was misunderstood in World War II. Martin Luther King was overrated. “Hogan’s Heroes” was funny; Bill Cosby was not. Don Mattingly was the Greatest Baseball Player Ever. These were all gospels in my house–things I believed to be undisputedly true until I grew up enough to think for myself (it turns out, my dad was a moron).

I know I’m not all there. Quite often, I do immature things for fun. I’m not prefect. I have a temper. I lie. I cheat. I eat cookies for breakfast. I do all these things because I’m flawed…and yet I’m grownup. Kids grow up thinking their parents are perfect but they’re not. That’s a point I’m going emphasize with my kids–I don’t know everything. I’m right more often than wrong and if I don’t know, there’s Wikipedia. But I think it’s important for kids to know that even Grownups make mistakes. I’m not sure if it would change things (not that I’m complaining about my own childhood experiences in the first place). This is just an observation I made…on my way to becoming a Grownup.