A Recent Conversation
L. is my 4-year-old cousin. B. is her 16-year-old sister.
(The Scene: Katya and L. are looking at a shelf of records at their grandmother's house.)
Katya: Do you know what those are?
L.: What?
Katya: Records. Do you know what a record is?
L.: No.
Katya: Well, it's kind of like a big CD. You know, when I was your age, they didn't have CDs or iPods.
L. (shocked): Why not?
Katya: They hadn't been invented yet.
L.: Were you born a long time ago?
Katya: Um, kind of.
L.: Are you older than B.?
Katya: I'm a lot older than B.
L.: Are you a mom?
Katya: No.
L.: Why not?
Katya: Because I don't have any kids.
L.: Why not?
Katya: Because I'm not married.
L.: Why not?
Katya: Because I didn't find anyone that I wanted to marry yet.
L.: Are you all grown up?
Katya: Yep.
L.: Did you go on a mission?
Katya: Girls don't have to go on missions.
L.: If Heavenly Father says you have to go on a mission, then you have to go on a mission.
Katya: Um, OK.
This was actually the second conversation I had over the break in which a young cousin was shocked, shocked to find out that I’m an adult. I realized that it’s not my aunts and uncles or my married cousins who are keeping me down. If I’m still considered one of the kids, even at 27, it’s all the fault of 4- to 10-year-old set, who divide the world into “little kids,” “big kids,” and “moms” (to the exclusion of any other categories). (Of course, the fact that I’m short and that I prefer to play with the kids rather than hang out with their parents probably doesn’t help my case any.)
4 Comments:
It's like Le Petit Prince only not at all. Sometimes, a person just can't win.
Unless you consider not ever having to be a grown-up winning, which I do.
Well, it could be worse. You could be surrounded by kids who have a healthy understanding of the horribleness of being single after the age of 25, and who spend a great deal of time reminding you of the fact...
tb - Good point. In future I'll try to better appreciate their ignorance of the true state of things.
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