7 things I learned from being a child

I always read tips from bloggers to fellow bloggers because it inspires me. Today it did more than inspire me. It made me want to write about the exact thing it proposed. Fat Mum Slim, 50 sweet things to write about article 16, seven things you learned from being a kid. Well, I actually read the list just a minute ago, so i have not really started thinking about what this list might possibly contain yet, so let us just assume that you are in for a bumpy ride.

(The only thing that really mattered growing Bratz! Extracted from wikipedia via google).

1. “Age is just a number, baby.” As we know, the beloved Stephanie Meyer character Jacob Black said these words to Bella in Twilight. And growing up, we know that it is true. The younger you are, the more you can see the difference in the development. In one part of the schoolyard, you have the kids playing Pokémon and running around telling jokes they do not understand themselves. Then in the other part you have the calm reader types (future hipsters) talking about how Aslan is a symbol for Jesus and that Frankenstein was not meant to be about a super cool monster at all, but rather a symbol of the sadness and loneliness that all humans feel. Now that I am older, I can think back at how unfair it was that children were treated like idiots, when a lot were actually very intelligent, and the others should be allowed to have this period of time we call “childhood” to grow up anyways. However, it is also very clear how this is not just something we find with children, but in all communities. Not all 50 year olds are smart, and not all 13 year olds are dumb. In fact, most of them probably are not. Besides, looking at guys like Mark Wahlberg, who are painfully older than me, I think the “age is just a number, baby” approach is my best shot.
2.  Stranger-Danger. Probably the realest thing I brought with me from my childhood. Now, I do not remember exactly what I was told or anything. However, I do remember all of my friends laughing at my paranoia. The thing is, I live in a small town. Roughly around 36 000 residents. But I moved here from Rochester, the third largest city in New York. Having lived in a city where one locks the doors when the traffic stands still and where public school was just not an option (maybe my parents are just stuck up, I don`t know), my mother gave me a lot of good advice in my young childhood. “Do not enter strangers houses.” “Do not believe anyone who wants to give you candy or show you kittens in the woods”.” Do not get to close to strange cars. Say no to drugs”. All of which are good advice. Nevertheless, I think that it was too much at once and it overloaded my impressionable brain. Let us just say that I am pretty sure that this was the start of a lifetime with an overactive imagination, good and bad. In addition, I still have the stranger danger fear. I always think people are trying to rob me! Even if they are just sitting next to me because there are no other seats I am like “Omg, what are they doing. I am not getting robbed”. Then my body goes into fight mode, and makes my all jittery for like an hour. And I have never ever been robbed or had any traumatic experiences with strangers. Childhood, you motherfucker.
3. Prostitutes are women with many boyfriends. One time when I was around six or seven, I had heard someone say the less nice word that means prostitute. And my mind was like “what the fudge is that”. And of course I asked my mother, to whoms respond was “women with many boyfriends”. Without thinking about the fact that not all prostitutes are men, and that not all “normal” women date men, it is somewhat funny. Because I believed it. Although, for me, it made me believe more that it was normal to have many spouses, then that it was not. Which does not make sense, I know. Because when I heard it, it was not in a positive context. However, my brain quickly forgot that. Instead, it thought, “hmm, I guess that is another way of living”. Therefore, I am going to blame that for my unhealthy view on love and relationships. Thank you.
4. Weed can be fatal. Up until last year, I honestly thought that weed could kill me. Because I always heard that one time could be enough to kill you when it comes to drugs, which is not wrong. It is just that weed is not really in the category of hard drugs that not all bodies or minds can take. However, I had also always heard that “marijuana” was a drug. Which is technically is. Either way, I am glad that I thought this. Because even if it cannot kill you, it can still break you down and ruin your life. So as future president, I am not going anywhere near it.                                                               (Of course parents have to scare their kids with images like these floating around the web of inter. Legally extracted from this strange video via google).
5. Saving money is easy. The only thing I learned, that I could not use for further references in life. When I was young, I used to get money all the time. From my parents, from my grandparents. Aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles. It was insane. Everyone just think children are adorable, and that they must give them money. But I never really used it. Why would I? My parents bought me stuff, send me stuff and it is not as if I went out to eat with friends or anything. So I loved putting money in the piggy bank (I still do, who doesn`t), and I just took it to my saving account. To this day, I still do not have that kind of grasp around money or the value of it. It feels sort of unreal, because it is just numbers. But, I do not save as much. I use money ALL the time. My coke zero and granola bars budget alone is through the roof. When you get older, people do not throw money, stuff and food at you. But, I know what my expenses are. And it is possible to not buy things and just save like when I was younger. It is just harder now. And there is no way I am doing it.
6. You can be whatever you want. It sounds stupid, and like something we just say to children to boost their self-esteem. And we do. That is true. Still, we are not wrong. J.M Barrie (the author of Peter Pan) writes “you can have whatever you want, as long as you are willing to give up everything else). It is true. If you want to be a doctor, no one can stop you. If you want to be a dancer, you can do it. It is just a matter of believing in yourself and not listen to the negative voices. Just a couple of hours ago, to women who call themselves feminists snorted at the fact that I believe that I have a chance of being President. And it is not because I do not have the right grades, because I do. It was not because I am do not dress or talk the right way. It is not because I cannot speak for myself and others using the right terms, because I can and I do. It is because I am a girl. “Good luck in a man dominated field”. Thank you, kind lady, but I do not need your luck, if I succeed, it will not be because of your luck or the size of my boobs, but because of my determination and hard work.
7. The value of books. The most important thing I take with me from my childhood, and that makes mw grateful for the family I grew up with, is literature. Books are just the coolest thing in the world. You can learn super cool facts and gradually grow generally smarter and improve your oratory abilities. Besides that, being inside the mind of someone else and seeing the world from a different point of view really makes you think and feel. It just makes the world seem different and life more precious. I do not know how. But it does.

 

This were some of the things I learned as a kid. I hope it was not too long, tedious or weird. But please let me know if it was. And also, comment some of the things you learned as a kid!

 

Special thanks to this little fucker!