Friday Five: Favorite Things About Children 13-17

Last week, my Friday Five was about my favorite things about children under 13. Today's Friday Five is my list of my favorite qualities of children 13-17.

1. independence without responsibility- Teenagers experience incredible growths in independence during these years but don't have near the amount of responsibilities that adults take on. That is why we are adults and they are teenagers. Not because they are under 18, but because they don't have the responsibilities. I am incredibly envious of teenagers for that. What I would give to be able to worry about what I am going to wear to a date night instead of hoping I will be able to pay next month's car payment.
2. potential for greatness- Teenagers have the world at their fingertips, pardon the cliche. They can be anything they want given enough determination, passion, and some luck in finances, networking, and application wording. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an actress and moonlight as a veterinarian. When I was 16, I gave up my acting dreams since I hadn't stepped foot on a stage in a couple years and turned to being a veterinarian and writer. At 17, I wanted to be a veterinarian and a soldier. I changed my mind so many times... and the awesome thing was that I had that luxury!
3. energy- I remember a time when I could stay up for 48 hours, get about 2 or 3 hours of sleep, and then go to class with a fully functioning brain... without coffee. Teenagers have so much freaking energy. I miss having energy like that. It seems like I can't stay up for more than 16 hours at a time now without feeling like my brain has went mushy. I certainly don't have the energy to be on the go all the time anymore. I'm not even 30 yet and there are days where I think getting old sucks!
4. passionate about nothing and everything- Teenagers have two modes of operation: meh and OMFG.I.LOVE.IT! Teenagers, when they care about something... they really care. If it is something that they could get behind, they don't just walk passively with the idea, they throw a freaking parade complete with Super Bowl worthy entertainers. At least, that is what it looks like on the outside. It is hard to get a kid to find a passion sometimes, but all it takes is a tiny spark and they will take off with it. It is beautiful to watch, even if their passion is annoying or boring to me.
5. industrious- Alright, I'm not saying that teenagers take on chores with a smile and cheer. I mean that they do as much "work" as they can with as little effort as possible. They find shortcuts and loopholes in everything they do so they can cram more "me" time into their lives. Sometimes, it blows up in their faces. But sometimes, they hit on some strokes of genius. If they can't find a way to shorten the time consumption of their workload, they might find someone else to do it. Or try to come up with a reason to avoid doing the work. Or something else equally creative. I know it can be annoying but just think of the thinking processes that go into their schemes. It is quite amazing.

Saturday Salute: Marines Demonstrate Inequality During Training

Okay, I apparently needed a LOT of sleep as I just woke up about 30 minutes ago. Yes, at 4pm. No, I was not awake until 8am. I went to bed sometime around 11pm to midnight. My back is killing me.

Anyways, sorry for the delay. Here is today's Saturday Salute.

I found this really neat article yesterday. Detachment Commander Lt. Col. Edward R. Sullivan addressed his group after they spent the day participating in fixed events for their Field Meet in California.

Ammo canisters were filled with different pay loads. Ropes provided traction for some teams and not others. Running lanes were shortened for some and lengthened for others.

Why?

Sullivan wanted to demonstrate to his soldiers that even though every soldier had the ability to win their competitions, certain groups were set up to make things either easier or more difficult in the attempt. This man is brilliant.

The quotes at the end of the article made me very proud.

I don't care about your gender, I don't care about your belief system, I don't care about your race, and I don't care who you prefer to sleep with. I care about how you accomplish the mission.

I think we can do better than we are doing right now. Take a look at this formation and ask yourself if we appear representative of the U.S.? Or, of the Marine Corps in general? Take some time over the weekend and think about what the MLK holiday really means. Think about how we can do better to keep the playing field equal.

Just incredible. Lt. Col Edward R. Sullivan embodies the spirit of the military that I have come to love. Nothing about a soldier matters except that they serve. That is all that should matter. Not how they pray. Not who they love. Not misdeeds in their past. They serve and so long as they serve honorably, that is all that should matter. Take a page from this man's book today. Do you represent the ideas of MLK like you should in your home, your workplace, your life?

Friday Five: Favorite Things About Children Under 13

Today's Friday Five is a list of my favorite qualities of children under 13. Next week, I'll do a list of my favorite things about teenagers.

1. Curiosity- Kids want to know the "why" of everything. It can be irritating to hear "why" all the time but it is one of the few opportunities that adults outside of a classroom can witness the learning and growth of children first hand. I like to turn "why" into a learning opportunity and spend a lot of time showing my sisters pictures of stuff. We had a conversation about weight and body image yesterday. One of my sisters probably doesn't weigh 50 pounds soaking wet but she is 100% healthy for her height (she is going to be short like me). The other is quite chubby but by all estimates, is going to be ridiculously tall so the weight is still normal and healthy. The heavier sister was trying to understand why she is the weight she is and her sister is the weight she is. I understand the issue considering the heavier one is a year younger than the lighter one. So we had a talk about healthy weight in relation to diet and exercise. And then I explained how awful getting hung up on the "ideal" body image can be because Hollywood images are not realistic or healthy in any way. I showed them images of anorexic men and women and went on to explain to them how those people still see themselves as "fat" while their bodies are wasting away. We then read some of the articles about one of their favorite stars, Demi Lovato, from Disney Channel that has recently come out about her struggles with anorexia. I live for teachable moments.
2. Creativity- Children have this innate ability to look at a mundane object and turn it into the most amazing thing. Sticks become guns for little soldiers and swords for pirates. Socks become puppets, chairs and blankets become caves. Pillow cases are capes, paper towel tubes are spy glasses. The possibilities are endless with children. I am envious of their creativity and the energy that comes from that creativity!
3. Ability to laugh at life- I miss the days when little things didn't piss me off. Pencil lead broke? Children say "No big deal. Just go sharpen it." Even if it just broke 30 seconds before that. And 20 seconds before that. Now, I'm ready to throw the stupid thing across the room. They have this ability to shrug things off because they don't take life so seriously yet. Things that would cause major stress and drama for adults is just a little thing to a kid.
4. Ability to forgive and forget easily- I love the nature of friendship with children. They are immediately best friends with nearly everyone they meet, regardless of age, gender, economic status, race, etc. Kids just don't see the difference in their friends. Now, when they get a little older, that is a whole different matter. But as a child, they don't have the prejudices that are learned as they grow older. And I love that. I also love the fact that they can be spitting mad at their friend and three seconds later, they are sharing secrets and juice boxes again. It is refreshing to watch.
5. Simplistic understanding- "Why shouldn't I touch the stove? Oh, because it hurts? Okay, I wont do that again." Just because there is a biological or chemical explanation for something doesn't mean kids want to know. They don't touch a hot stove because it hurts. Not because the heat kills the tissue cells resulting in different degrees of burn injuries depending on what happens to the skin. Because it hurts. It is that simple with most kids. Kids have this amazing innate concept of common sense that I think we smother out of them with good intentions and over-supervision. Yeah, kids do stupid things like everyone else. The difference is that when a kid screws up and then has to deal with the consequences, he learns not to do it again. If we scoop him up and clean up his mess for him, he will keep doing it because he has learned nothing in the process.