A Child's Job is to make Their Parents Crazy

I firmly believe that it is ingrained into humans that, as a child, you MUST make you parents crazy. Ask any parent or guardian. Ask people in the daycare industry. Ask elementary school workers. I believe that they will all tell you what could be considered horror stories.

Even for people who do not have children or work with children could easily agree with me. Ask yourself and others to recall things from childhood. If it wasn't you, maybe it was a sibling or neighbor kid acting out or being strange. Or maybe just plain ridiculous and unstable.

It also covers the entire span of childhood.

The infant that is colicky, or learns to walk at eight months old. The one that is always getting horrid chest colds, or climbs out of the crib to trash a room.

Toddlers are a special kind of mental terrorist. They can say, with conviction, "NO!" They know exactly what they want and will do their best to get that fish tank knocked over on its side. That bag of cookies couldn't possibly be for their older siblings classmates party---oh, no, it must be mine because I want it. There is no room for sharing and there are no limits to their world.

Preschool age to about 6yrs they start showing that they do have a brain and that they can use it, but there are new challenges to conceive of and achieve in their growing independence. Why must I brush my hair and teeth? Where does the water got to when you flush a toilet? Can the DVD player only play disks? HHMM, let's find out if the dishwasher can wash clothes, too.

The crazy-makers don't stop there. The older they get, the more inventive they become, and the start to use logic against you. A teen uses your own past against you when trying to get what they want, even when they don't know the facts. Well, how old were you the first time Aunt Tilly let you drive? Did your parents lock you up when you haven't even done anything wrong? What's wrong with blue? Your hair was blue at my age, too! And I have the picture of your Mohawk, Mom!

Then they move out, just to spite you. Or they stay too long, just to spite you.

Then they actually start acting human. They have a full-time job, pay their rent, buy their first car without your help. They start having 'real' conversations with you, and they respect your point of view, even when they don't agree.

They grow up and they grow away---just to make you crazy and a bit nostalgic for the craziness of their youth. But only a bit.