When I was little, I always slept in my parents’ bedroom when my dad went on business trips. Like any child who watched Saturday morning television and had an overactive imagination, I was scared of “bad guys†and figured sleeping in the master bedroom would ward off potential kidnappers. As much as I knew I’d miss my father when he was out of town, I was delighted when he packed his suitcase. While the big, strong guy wouldn’t be home to protect us, I knew that sleeping in my parents’ bedroom next to my mom would make me feel safe, secure, and free of harm.
I could never reveal this to my friends, though. They would have thought it was babyish. From the time we head to preschool, no one wants to be called a baby, or worse “a big baby.†We are all in such a hurry to grow up. I baby-sit for a kid who, a month after turning five, would claim he was almost six. This desire to be seen as older and more mature than one really is continues throughout adolescence (and probably stops just short of turning thirty).
My friends couldn’t wait to get their driver’s permit at fifteen and a half and their driver’s license at sixteen. They looked forward to being seventeen and gaining admission to R-rated movies. I watched eighteen-year-old friends, with no interest in politics, become excited about voting for the first time. And my brother’s friends, many of whom have recently turned twenty-one, were thrilled to throw away their fake IDs and imbibe their first legal drink. We all can’t wait to be adults.
With high school graduation behind us, my classmates and I are delighted to be leaving home and heading off to college. We dream of complete independence and unbridled adventures, with no one there to tell us what we can and cannot do. Personally, I am looking forward to being free of curfews. How sweet it will be not to have my dad’s restricting how late I can stay at a party. I won’t have to listen to my mom’s insisting that I am wearing too much eye makeup or that my skirt is too short. I can wear sandals, even if it’s snowing, and I will eat only the vegetables I can tolerate. As a college student, far away from home, I will be able to do as I please and make my own rules and regulations. I just can’t wait.
In a couple of days, my dad is going to Connecticut to visit his mother. I don’t think my mom will be surprised if I decide to join her in my parents’ bedroom.
