Adulthood

A notable quirk of my children’s mother (me) is her adamant refusal to accept that any of her children were teenagers. “We never had any teenagers in our home,” she (me) would announce periodically to whoever might be listening. “We had children and we have maturing adults, but no teenagers.”

Of course, we had chronological birthdays ending with ‘teen’—56 of them to be exact, but teen birthdays do not mandate ‘typical’ teen behavior.  Adult is not an age, but a worldview–a worldview marked by

1)      personal accountability for responsible living

2)      insightful assessment of personal shortcomings, skills, and abilities

3)      an eager willingness to buy up experiences that solidify an appreciation for truth, beauty, and expertise, and

4)      an equally eager willingness to forego experiences that bullwhip truth, beauty, and expertise into a bloody pulp of ruination.

But here’s the kicker: all this personal accountability, and insight, and eagerness is not for the good of the teen—quite a mind twisting mental game for teens (chronological and otherwise) who do not realize that someones beyond themselves 1) exist and 2) are worthwhile humans.

No, all the personal accountability, insight, and eagerness is expended for the betterment of two marginal, out-of-focus, off-the-grid groups to “typical teens”: the next generation (specifically the next generation for which they themselves will be responsible, i.e. their own children), and the citizenry of mankind.

Being prepared for your own children and the good of the entire world requires an extensive apprenticeship honing and practicing long view life choices.  Wasting teen years on ‘typical teen behavior’ is counterproductive to this end. Simple solution: no teens in the home.  Including those whose chronological teen years are long gone. Once adulthood is seen as a world view, the volume of teenhood that permeates ‘adult’ living is breathtaking.

But when I became a man (at thirteen), I put away childish things over and over again, until adulthood became as comfortable a fleece hoodie with no hidden social statement sewn in the lining.