Cause that's not how the real world works & other lies we tell our children.

Every kid wants to be an adult. Every adults wants to be a kid again. The expectations of turning a certain age are super high, they start with a baby's 1st birthday, they continue at 5 when they truly become a big kid now. Later in life, we celebrate 13 and hitting the teens, quinceañeras, getting to drive at 16, getting to vote at 18, and becoming an adult at 21. Phew, that's a lot of excitement packed into 21 years. When we are young, the world is our oyster, and we are invincible.

And then the excitement stops, it comes to a dead end for us as adults. I mean, we could look forward to 40 & the world confirming that yes, indeed, we are old. We could look forward to our midlife crisis and becoming an old grumpy person. Or we could learn from the best teachers, the children, and truly listen. The secret to life & happiness has nothing to do with age, but your mindset. Your mental strength, energy & inner diaglogue keep you young.

There comes a moment for all parents when they hear themselves and think, "OMG, I have turned into my parents." Adulting is way over rated. It's basically repeating yourself until you are blue in the face, yelling cause no one takes you seriously until you start yelling (right?!), and repeating, "That's not how the real world works. That's not gonna fly in high school. That's not gonna work with your boss, etc." Oh the irony, have you seen the news lately? Have you seen what flies in this country, run by grown adults? "Do as I say, not as I do," right?

Adults, for the most part, are very much against "Every kid deserves a trophy" mindset. After all, we feel it's our responsibility to toughen kids up & get them ready for the "real world". Funny how we take pride in adulting and perpetuating a mindset that the world is a cruel and unsafe place. We made it that way. When we say, "boys don't cry" and tell our kids "not to be so emotional" we are reshaping who they truly are as people just so they fit in to the cruelties of reality. We are conditioning our kids to lose that sense of themselves, so no wonder the excitement stops at 21.

Maybe It's not about the trophy after all, perhaps it's about the appreciation. "A person that feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected." That's how the real world works.