When you are little, you think growing up is the greatest thing. You want to take control of your life instead of having your parents doing it all.
You want a cell phone you can text your friends on, not just the four numbers programmed into your firefly phone. You want to wear the make up. You want to dress up like your older sister and her friends. You want to be able to drive, and do what you want on your own time. You want everything in Abercrombie & Fitch, because Abercrombie is for "babies."
You want so desperately to be older, and to go beyond your years. People believe that by trying to be older they can become older and can be seen as such. However, what the adults don't tell you is that getting older means more responsibility. As you grow up, suddenly...
You have a cell phone payment. You have to figure out how to contour your make up (thanks, Kim K). You have to spend money on the RIGHT trend of the season. You have a car now! But hey, fine print... you have car payments. You still wear Abercrombie & Fitch? Do yourself a favor: don't tell anyone... girls can be mean.
Suddenly, life looks so hard and expensive. Where you sit at the lunch table decides your popularity and your apparent success in life so far.
Do you have to have a job every day after school? People feel bad for you, instead of realizing the normality of the activity. As you grow up, you understand the responsibility you gain and how important planning for the future is.
Advice to the kids trying to grow up too fast:
Don't do it. Eat lots of ice cream while you're young because one day your metabolism will falter. Make sure you spend a lot of time with your family because those times quickly diminish as life pursues. Play dress up, try on the hundreds of kinds of lip stick your mom has, and go to parties in high school if you are invited. Do everything you can to be the best person you can be.
Don't worry about what lunch table you sit at, because in college it doesn't matter. Don't worry about the food you eat, because in college and later in life you won't be able to eat it. Don't think about how dorky you look going to the mall with your entire family because in college when you have no money, you'll beg for your parents to purchase clothes for you. Be yourself, and grow up to be the person you want to be. Make sure you don't rush it though, because you can learn from your mistakes as you make them. Remember, as you grow older you also grow wiser.
