A 14-Year-Old's Perspective

I asked my oldest daughter if she would be a guest writer for this week. She was gracious enough to agree. Emma was nine when we moved to South Africa, and in some ways I think the move was hardest on her. She left her best friend behind and had no choice but to follow her parents to a country she wasn't particularly keen on visiting.

People say that having a teenager is hard work, and I suppose that's true, but I also think it's just as hard for the teenager as it is for the parent! Truth be told, I think I learn as much from my daughter as she might learn from me. Her writing is thoughtful and evocative, so without further ado, here's Emma:

"When I was a little kid, everything was so simple. So simple, in fact, that I have to wonder if I haven’t dreamed up my own childhood. Living without any complications in life can’t be real; it’s too good of a deal to be true. It almost seems like the innocence of childhood is for others to enjoy, since you were either too young to remember or wishing you could grow up faster. Why were we in such a hurry to grow up, anyway? It never turned out the way we wanted as a child. Those dreams of being free and calling your own shots, eating ice cream every meal and having friends live with you seem so far away and impossible now. But, even so, sometimes I feel like a five-year-old again. Those days of messing around and just being plain silly are so much fun, and I wonder if we haven’t lost that child we used to be. There are days when that little kid peeks through the concept we’ve built of growing up, and certain things don’t seem so childish anymore. I love the innocent faith of a child in their parents and the world, and I wish the older generations could learn more from them."

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