Sheltered in the dictionary is defined as "protected from difficulties or unpleasant realities." In the past 17 years of my life however it has been defined by things like never being able to watch Caillou or Spongebob as a child, not being able to use the toaster until I was in third grade, staying in a booster seat until I was ten, thinking Santa was real until fifth grade, and still not being able to watch many PG-13 movies without approval to this day. I can remember back to the time at daycare when I had to sit in another room when all the other kids wanted to watch the Spongebob movie because I wasn't allowed, and my mom running to my friend's car after my soccer game as it wasa pulling out with booster seat in hand before I went off to a sleepover, embarrassing me extremely at the time. Whenever I mention these things to my friends I get responses like, "Oh man that's awful" or "I feel so bad for you." But it turns out that I, for the most part, am glad that I was raised this way. Yes at times I can't wait for the days where I will be able to watch Grey's Anatomy in college (because I absolutely love medical dramas, sorry mom) but I also think my childhood was better by not learning about what the world is really like as soon as most of the other kids did, along with learning that it is better to be safe than sorry. It did leave me confused in my naivety at times; heck, even now I still am limited in my knowledge of the new terms people will use or the new societal trends, but in a way I am almost proud of my lack of knowledge because it is my last way of still being a kid. Being "sheltered" as people call it gave me a great carefree childhood, with a couple extra years with presents from Santa, which didn't hurt let me tell you. I still had a vast variety of fun experiences and I got to enjoy childhood for as long as I could, and because it is short I am still digging my heels in on the path to growing up. I still don't have my license at 17 because I like talking to my parents on car rides when they are taking me places and I like still having to depend on them in a way. I still order off of the kid's meal whenever possible because I like all of those basic foods like mac and cheese better and it usually entails free ice cream as an added bonus. You can still be mature and still like these things, I am living, breathing proof. I still try to keep my life as basic as it can be and do my own thing because thats just who I am. I will always gladly be the girl on the outskirts of the crowd at homecoming happily "mom dancing" with my friends even attempting to shield my own eyes of the other things going on around me. No one will get me to do something I absolutely don't want to, and I try to keep my life as simple as possible. So far, living this way has made my life pretty swell. So even though I might've not thought much of it as a kid, I'm now so thankful to my parents for giving me the longest childhood possible. Yes, I am aware that the world is not always rainbows and butterflies; trust me, I have had multiple experiences to remind me of this fact. But, overall I think that living the way I have has allowed me to see more rainbows and butterflies in life than some other people and has taught me to look for them when they aren't as easily seen.