Maturity

Working with kids can often remind me of how young and old I am.  There are some things that make me feel young:

-I still giggle when someone says "duty" or has to say the phrase "do do" (There are things that we don't do that hurt people, but there are also things we do do that hurt people).

-I still know what the kids are talking about... most of the time.

-I don't like getting up early and would rather stay up way too late reading a good book.

-I use "like" far too often to be considered an adult.

But still, I sometimes have to look at others (way too frequently, it's adults) and wonder how they manage their lives being so childish.  I know I'm old because:

-I like to keep meetings civil.

-I am goal oriented and would rather work hard now so that I can play later.

-I know better than to speak with emotion in public.  Think quickly; speak slowly.  (At least on a professional basis - I'm no slow talker regularly.)

-I like knitting and bloody marys.

Meetings with adults make me proud of what I accomplish in the classroom - a respectful exchange of ideas with a final summarizing thought, wrapped in a bow. If kids aren't better at it, it's because we, as adults, don't model it very well or very often.

I like to say that it's pretty easy to tell which kids will turn out to be which adults.  It's easy to see the kid whining over who was first in line, arguing a finer point of literary discourse with reason and poise, or calming down a friend... and then to see that person as an adult doing the same thing.  I talked too much then; I talk too much now.  I argued then constantly; I became a high school teacher.

It's as inspiring to see those little adults as it is frustrating to see those big babies.