Ever since we were young tots, we’ve all wanted something more. The constant play dates, camping and "SpongeBob SquarePants" reruns were all just “too much to handle.” We couldn’t settle for carefree living. We had a hunger for responsibility that just couldn’t be tamed.

Even from a very young age, kids want to be adults. They want to act much older than they are, and spend every second wishing away their youth. Why? Maybe it’s because they are tired of being treated like babies, or maybe because they are so excited for what the future holds, that they want to completely skip the growing-up part all together.

I remember when I was little. I had a great childhood. I went camping every weekend, baited my own hooks and rode four wheelers with some of my friends. I was the poster child of young and reckless.

However, all of this was just never enough. I always wanted to be treated like the responsible adult that I wasn’t or wouldn’t be for a very long time. I wanted to go to bed at 9 p.m. instead of 7. I wanted to watch adult TV instead of cartoons, and I wanted to earn an allowance just so it felt like I had a real job. All of this is fine and dandy, but it is all quite sad when you really think about it. Instead of using all of our energy to have fun and make memories while we are young, we use it all wishing for things we cannot have. We spend every waking moment wishing away the present and looking forward to the future.

Growing up is the messy, but important part of life. It’s where you make a lot of mistakes, but learn from them and grow as a person. You truly find yourself during this stage of life, yet most kids sit around, wishing they were done with high school already or could legally have a drink of alcohol.

Sure, being grown up is fun and rewarding, but it has many downfalls that kids do not think of. You have the opportunity to go to college, get your dream job, and finally move away from your parents, but it isn’t all a fairytale. You get bills, student loans and house payments. You have to insure your vehicle, your house and your life. When you have kids, you have to juggle their well-being with yours, while making sure they’re fed and are driven everywhere they need to be. I think it is fair to say that adulthood is the most misunderstand aspect of life. From afar, it looks like a Cinderella story where you can make all your dreams come true, but kids fail to realize that this is just smoke and mirrors. Being an adult isn’t that great. You are constantly stressed, wishing you had just a couple more hours in the day, and hoping you have enough money to make ends meet this month.

Now that I am 19 years old, I regret this more than anything. Now it is all far too clear to me that I should have stopped wishing away the present while I could, because now I see firsthand how stressful being an adult can be. I am constantly overwhelmed with classes and jobs, and cannot even fathom how in the world I am going to find enough money to pay off my student loans. When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to be an adult, but now that I am an adult, I would give anything to go back to a time when everything was so simple, so fun, so carefree.

My only advice to you is please stop wishing you were 21 already or that you had your own apartment, because someday you are going to wish you would’ve slowed down a little bit and appreciated life’s most simplistic moments. I can promise you that.