And now back to our regularly scheduled blog theme…
So it’s day 18, and I’m thinking about the age 18. The magic age of “adulthood.” The birthday when my brother had luggage so lovingly placed in front of his bedroom door, my dad quoting, over and over from The Simpsons, “When you’re 18, you’re out the door!”
At 18, I enjoyed my first taste of true independence: first year of college, sorority rush, football games and fraternity parties, late nights, and really, really hard classes, weird roommates and lifetime friends. It was a glorious time. Ahhh…to be 18.
18 is when you’re considered an adult, right?
18 is when you gain financial responsibility, receive more duties that are “adult like,” and try to navigate new situations on your own.
However, on a farm, things happen a little faster than in town. 16 may be the driving age, but my daughter has taken the truck for a (well monitored) spin in the hay field. 18 is the year for adult things like jobs and checkbooks and responsibilities. But on a farm, there’s no specific age.
Even before his licensed driving days, Joe was backing a livestock trailer into a tight spot for his mom at a county fair. Even before her first “real” job, Anna will receive a pay check well before many of her friends receive an allowance. My kids will have adult like responsibilities long before the magic age of 18.
That to me is good and bad. I enjoyed being a kid. I hate to even admit that I was well into adulthood when I finally began to pay my own car insurance. I know, I know…I was a “kept kid.” Walk in Joe’s shoes before age 18, and if he wanted something, he’d work for it, save for it, and then, after he had enough money, he’d buy it.
These are lessons that will make my kids more adult before many of their friends. Is that fair? Are we making them grow up too fast? Possibly. However, if making our kids responsible, respectful and hard working adults before the magic age of 18 dawns upon them is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.
Linking up with Holly here.