Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world--
too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember
what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat
children as inferiors. Well I won't do that. -Walt Disney
Sometimes it seems that growing up makes us into pretty unpleasant people. We lose so much of the wonder and charm that we had as children, and it seems like the worst part is that that's how we want things to be. We're satisfied with becoming unimaginative, uncreative, and even a little boring--or a lot boring. Personally, I hope that I never fully grow up, and I do my best every day to make sure that I see what's around me with eyes that aren't jaded or bored. And when I'm around children, I refuse to talk down to them. I try to talk to them as people--little people, of course, but people nonetheless. If I do that, then I'm not condescending to them, and they greatly appreciate knowing an adult who doesn't talk to them like they're somehow inferior just because they're younger. So if I don't grow up into a so-called adult, I can continue to relate to children in positive ways, Hopefully I'll get plenty of chances to do so, so that I can do my best to encourage some young people by recognizing them in the space where they are and encouraging them to do the things that they really want to do. Perhaps if this happens, I won't turn into one of the people about whom Walt is talking--the people who forget and who treat children poorly. I want to be a person who doesn't grow up into what our culture defines as a "grown-up," and who doesn't patronize and treat kids as inferiors. So here's to hoping that I live up to this dream and stay a person who loves kids and who treats them well, because they certainly deserve for me to do so.
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