I remember one of the hardest things about being a kid was learning all the rules that came with growing up. For a child, things were always black or white, good or bad, right or wrong. The best way I learned was by listening and taking care of my parents, yes, but I also learned by testing the same rules that they imposed. This meant learning that there were also consequences. I spent a lot of time thinking about the rules… in the “naughty chair” in the corner.
From a child’s point of view, adults have it easy. They can stay up as late as they want. They don’t have to go to school and sit in a stuffy classroom. They do everything they want to do, and more importantly, they also hold the key to almost everything in a child’s life. Adults tell them what to eat and when; what they should wear; where can they go; when to enter; when to bathe; when to go to bed; when they should get up; when to pick up toys or clean his room; adults even tell them what to watch on TV.
In my eyes, growing up couldn’t be fast enough. I could hardly wait for no more rules…
Rules
I’m sure parents have a lot of rules,
things to do and not to do.
I’ll be glad when I grow up
and grow has passed.
I won’t need a dentist
or a hairdresser for my hair,
and I’ll go buy a chocolate cake
that I won’t have to share.
Maybe I’ll stay up all night
eat junk and watch TV.
If I want, I’ll sleep all day.
No more rules for me!
“How will you get up to go to work?
You can get fired,” Mom said.
“You will not earn money
sleeping late in bed.”
Why would I need money?
Who needs money anyway?
The rules are bad. When I grow up
I will do fun things all day.
“How are you going to pay your rent?
How are you going to buy a car?
How would you buy your adult clothes?
(You will be bigger than you are).
You will have to buy the food you eat.
You will have to have a phone.
How will you pay your heating bill,
because surely you will buy a house?”
I hadn’t thought of all that.
I can’t do those things.
It doesn’t sound fun at all.
And I don’t know enough
Mama said that as I get older,
the rules also get bigger,
but when we started at my age,
growing up is fun to do.
She said: “People grow like houses,
step by step and brick by brick.
That’s the way we all grow
And having rules is part of it.”
Isn’t it funny, once we’re adults, we long for those golden days of childhood innocence and long for the gentle rules of childhood…