You can’t wait to go to school. But once there you quickly learn school is vicious. Filled with people who you try so hard to impress. Much later in life you think how dumb it was to even try.

Armpit sweat stains used to be the biggest embarrassment in middle school. Now does anyone even care?

Having a bedtime seems awful when you’re young, now having a set time to go to bed would probably be useful. Being so busy you lose track of time and regret that decision to stay up all night.

Picky eaters. All foods have to pass inspection. That is, until you’re older and all kinds of food make your mouth water. Before staying skinny was easy because all foods were gross and unappealing and now you can barely walk past a donuts without needing it and eventually eating it. It was all so easy when we had our parents making our meals, now fast food seems to be the easiest solution.

The dream was always to drive. Turning 16 was one turning point in life to freedom. But wait until you first accident and driving becomes real, life threatening, and sucks away all your money.

You think it’s going to be great when you’re older and can make all your own decisions, but now we wish we had someone to make all the tough choices in our life. A parent taking off the burden of making decisions would take so much pressure off us. Debating if we are making the right choices or not.

Working is also something one looks forward to. “I can’t wait to work so I have some extra spending money!” It’s so exciting starting your first job, until the hours increase and you’re no longer working to live, you’re living to work. This is just a preview for the rest of your life.

Every year moving up in grade levels is an achievement, being the older kids in school is a god-like feeling. The younger kids, whether your cool or not, will look up to you like you have years and years of experience on them. Being a sixth grader, looking at the eight graders and thinking they look oh so mature. The same happens when you’re a freshman in high school looking up at the huge seniors who seem to have their whole life together. It’s not until after you graduate that you realize no one really has his or her life together.

As you grow older the experimentation begins. Having your own car, your own pet, your own apartment or house, your own husband or wife, your own child. All of these things always seem like a monumental step in life. These all seem like major accomplishments and you feel as if you’re checking off everything on your life list.