Growing Up
Saw the Adam Sandler movie Grown-Ups last night for Sam's birthday, and it was a lot of fun. Smiled a lot of the time, particularly when remembering doing some of the goofy, innocent things as a child.
We most certainly swung on a grapevine in the back woods, clearing the dry creek and landing on the other side. I recall being afraid to make the swing, but doing it so I wouldn't be targeted as a wimp...or more of a wimp.
I also thought about all of the big games we played as kids, little league, backyard baseball, and on and on. I couldn't help but consider those friends from long ago, and I could also sympathize with Sandler's character who is almost begging his kids to go outside and play instead of playing video games.
And most of all, I couldn't help but think about how fast it all goes. Sam turned 10 yesterday. I clearly recall laying in my bed on my tenth birthday, in disbelief that I had already been around for a decade! I kept saying the word. Decade. Decade. Decade.
Now, in what seems like ten minutes later, I long for the innocence of a summer day that never seemed like it was going to end. Of my father just opening the window and bellowing for us to return home, his voice echoing down Shirley Road, and us racing up the big hill before he started to flick the back porch lights. Once he started flicking the lights, we were late.
And I wonder about the fact that my kids don't seem to be having such a grand time of it. It seems so much different now. The information is at their fingertips, and there's just way too much information. It seems impossible that they will discover things that will surprise them because its all around. They have all they want and need, but is it too much? Shouldn't bouncing a ball off the garage door pass as a day's entertainment?
Growing up is too fast. Growing up in this day and age seems faster.
And I think about the people who seem to get lost in the stage, sort of suspended in life as a kid, even though they are now supposed to be making adult-like decisions. And those are the people I feel most sorry for.
I left the movie missing the innocence of the formative years, but knowing that it was good to finally have arrived at grown-up status.
And it only took me 45 years.
We most certainly swung on a grapevine in the back woods, clearing the dry creek and landing on the other side. I recall being afraid to make the swing, but doing it so I wouldn't be targeted as a wimp...or more of a wimp.
I also thought about all of the big games we played as kids, little league, backyard baseball, and on and on. I couldn't help but consider those friends from long ago, and I could also sympathize with Sandler's character who is almost begging his kids to go outside and play instead of playing video games.
And most of all, I couldn't help but think about how fast it all goes. Sam turned 10 yesterday. I clearly recall laying in my bed on my tenth birthday, in disbelief that I had already been around for a decade! I kept saying the word. Decade. Decade. Decade.
Now, in what seems like ten minutes later, I long for the innocence of a summer day that never seemed like it was going to end. Of my father just opening the window and bellowing for us to return home, his voice echoing down Shirley Road, and us racing up the big hill before he started to flick the back porch lights. Once he started flicking the lights, we were late.
And I wonder about the fact that my kids don't seem to be having such a grand time of it. It seems so much different now. The information is at their fingertips, and there's just way too much information. It seems impossible that they will discover things that will surprise them because its all around. They have all they want and need, but is it too much? Shouldn't bouncing a ball off the garage door pass as a day's entertainment?
Growing up is too fast. Growing up in this day and age seems faster.
And I think about the people who seem to get lost in the stage, sort of suspended in life as a kid, even though they are now supposed to be making adult-like decisions. And those are the people I feel most sorry for.
I left the movie missing the innocence of the formative years, but knowing that it was good to finally have arrived at grown-up status.
And it only took me 45 years.
Comments