They're Three Apples High...

There's a few things that my folks never explained to me.

When I was a kid, I looked at adults as wise and impressive creatures. They had encyclopedic knowledge of the world, they'd done everything. They knew what they wanted. They felt a genteel inner peace.

I felt Dentists had grown up wanting to be dentists. When they were three years old, they looked at a tooth and knew it. They owned volumes of Little Golden Books devoted to teeth, and went as a bicuspid every Halloween.

My largest supposition of all was that adults felt mature. The need to romp, frolic and play had faded from them, replaced by a more cultured desire to practice golf or croquet.

Ain't so.
Well, maybe some people feel genteel inner peace - I don't.

Some dentists grew up wanting to be oncologists, war correspondents, tree surgeons, or interior designers. Somewhere along the way, they realized why their original dream wouldn't work, or they were denied entrance to Art College after one too many DUI, or they didn't have the money, attention span, or affinity with trees that they needed.

Some dentists grew up wanting to be dentists, of course.

I didn't grow up with any expectation for a career, other than the idea that "when I grew up" I would feel a burning desire to be...something. Once I was an adult, my destiny would become clear and I would just follow the obvious path.

I'll turn 34 next month, and I'm still waiting for that burning desire.

I don't know that it will help, but I'm going to make sure I explain to my (eventual) kids that you never grow up. I still feel like a kid, and this whole work-car-gym-office parties thing is a big charade. I still like to frolic and play, am silly every chance I get, and have no interest in croquet.

(Unless it's silly croquet. Rubber mallets, clown noses, crazy horn noises)

I'll tell the kids that I don't know everything - far from it. Just because I can make amazing pancakes doesn't make me a gourmet chef, it means I've had 40 years of practice. I'll tell them what it feels like to be grown up.

It probably won't make them appreciate being a kid any more deeply, but I can try.