things grown-ups do.

As a grown woman who still wishes she were 9 (even though those were my chubby years), I sometimes reflect on the things grown-ups like myself do that are arguably, well, childish. This past weekend I was babysitting my little boys in the mountains and would cringe every time the 2-year-old scampered up and down the steep set of stairs. Granted, he did fall of his stool while eating lunch which made me nearly pee my pants worrying that he'd knocked a tooth out and I'd never be allowed back to hang out with this family. Thankfully, he didn't. So every time we climbed and descended the stairs, I was behind him, arms extended, ready and waiting for him to tumble. He slipped a couple of times, but considering his center of gravity is about 4 feet lower than mine, he was jusssst fine.

Now comes my turn. I heard the baby wake up from his nap, so I set off toward the stairs to fetch him. Mind you, the stairs in the mountain house are carpeted as a safety feature, but when donning SmartWools, you're just setting yourself up for a disaster. I wasn't really paying attention and the next thing I knew, my heel caught the edge of the stair and my feet slipped out from under me. The fall down (and bump-bump-bump of my tush thumping ungracefully down the effing stairs) felt like a slow motion movie. And I kid you not, I haven't been in that much pain since I tripped on a crack during a run and skinned my hands and knees... four months ago. What is wrong with me? Apparently balance isn't my forte. So I sat on the stairs feeling like I was about to throw up and wondering if I still had a tailbone, let alone a butt. Omigosh seriously, it was one of the most awful experiences of my life. I was just glad the parents weren't there to see it and think "Oh sweet Jesus, who is this girl and why are we leaving our kids with her?"

But really, the older we get the more we revert to child-like ways. College kids wet the bed, cry and throw tantrums at social gatherings, and in some cases push their enemy down on the sidewalk and run as fast as they can in the opposite direction. I was guilty of the last infraction as a third-grader and naturally denied the shit out of it when the crazy scary P.E. teacher came over to ask why Kim was crying and saying that you pushed her down. Dude, why would I admit that? I was an A+ student. I wasn't about to get sent to the principal's office for a little shove. But now that I think of it . . . Kim, if you ever come across this, I'm sorry for pushing you down in third grade and for calling you Kimbie and for maybe pinching you once. Maybe. I was just jealous that you were prettier and you had really cool glasses.

These days if someone thinks another person is prettier, instead of pushing them down (which some people still do), they generally just say really nasty things about them and get everyone else to hate them. Cool guys; way to assert your adulthood, huh? So really, if you think about it, the only thing that sets us apart from elementary-aged kiddos is our ability to use reason and logic. It's just too bad most people forget about that. I guess that's what keeps it interesting.