Never Grow Up

"Oh darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. Just stay this little. Oh darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up. It can stay this simple. No one's ever burned you; nothings ever left you scarred. And even though you want to, please try to never grow up." -Taylor Swift


After a major cookie craving after school Monday, I went to Target in search of some deliciously soft cookies that won't break my lent thing (I gave up buying cookies every day at school..so far, I've been successful!). I love going right after school ends because theres usually only cute elderly couples or moms with young kids there. And LOVE kids. On this particular day, I was walking in at the same time as a mother with a baby and a little girl that looked maybe two or three. Not more than three, for sure, though. I of course noticed that the little girl was adorable and so was the baby. As the mother and myself enter the store, another mother with a daughter of the same age is leaving. She's putting up her cart and the little girl is standing up in it, waiting to be lifted out. I see each girl notice the other, keep in mind these girls are only about three years old, and then the girl in the cart grimaces at the sight of the other little girl. The little girl entering with her mother then makes a face back at the girl in the cart and the two engage in a stare down until the one mother lifts the girl out of the cart and exits the store. All I can think is 'Typical behavior of girls. We don't like each other.' Oh, but it gets better. As I'm checking out my options in the bakery section, I see the same little girl and her mother looking at fruit. Just then, a mother with a little boy walks by and I just stare in shock as the little girl bats her eye lashes and waves at the little boy who stares as he follows his mother away. This LEGIT happened. These kids are three. Toddlers. Practically babies still. Yet, they act like high schoolers. Adults, even. The hatred for other girls in your territory. The handsome boy who's eye you catch and instantly mark as your property. And this started me thinking. Do we ever out-grow the drama of our pre-teen, teen, and adult years? Or does it follow us through life, always, until we're no longer here? Is there anyway to avoid it all?


Think about it, really really think about it. We see this pattern of repeating drama, the never ending saga of the way people deal with one another. Girls are the prime suspects. Girls will be girls. Let's face it ladies, we pretty much hate each other, aside from those that we call "friends." And even then, how many of us have found that one of the people we called "the only girl I trust!" turned out to be someone we eventually classify as a "back stabber" or as someone who talks behind our backs? Or worse: the unthinkable crime of someone who flirts with our boyfriend. Why do we hate each other? There always has been and always will be rivalry between girls. Hello, who hasn't seen Mean Girls? I wish, with all my heart, that I knew why some girls get along with each other and others despise each other. I really do. Just like the random girl in the gym that day in Mean Girls: "I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school. I wish that we could bake a cake made out of rainbows and smiles and we'd all eat and be happy." But unfortunately that girl doesn't even go here! (You'll get that joke if you've seen the movie.) We see drama between females on TV, in books, in music, and in movies like Mean Girls. It all starts out innocently enough but soon enough drama comes around and it spreads. Its inevitable. I'm beginning to feel as though its impossible to be solid friends with a girl for a long period of time. And we're all to blame. I've been accused of spreading drama, I've been accused of starting drama, and I've been accused of being involved in drama. Honest, by a show of hands, how many of us have been accused of one or all of those things at one point in time? All hands should be up, I'm sure of it. As I thought about it more, I realized that maybe its not one quality of one girl that, for lack of a better word, pisses off the other girl. I think its all of us, everyone. Even when we throw guys into the mix. Drama in general is a mix of all of us. No doubt you've watched some sort of reality show on TV. Thats exactly what reality shows are. A mix of personalities that will eventually clash and cause, yeah you guessed it, drama. It's going to come around for as long as people interact with people. There's drama in friendships, there's drama in families, there's drama in relationships with the opposite sex. My opinion, no matter what it means to you, is that we all need to be more tolerant, more understanding, more receptive to the people around us. Really, lets cut others some slack.You don't know what people are dealing with. So, before you jump down someone's throat, think: Is this what really happened? Do I know for a fact that she/he did exactly what I'm about to accuse them of? Do I have actual living proof in front of me that this is exactly what happened? Is there a margin for error? In other words, could I have misunderstood what was actually going on? I'm learning this lesson right now and its a toughie. But we all have to try to deal because here's reality: We will ALWAYS interact with people. ALWAYS. For now until the end of time. And we're going to have good friendships/relationships and we're going to have bad ones. AND there's going to be drama. But its up to us to think again and turn bad relationships into good ones and drama into a better interaction between people.


PS: Dear 3 year olds in the grocery store: Life doesn't get any easier. Stick to being three and please try to never grow up. Best regards, me.