Top ten reasons why big kids rock

by Lee Ann Setzer

Top 10 reasons why big kids rock.

I love babies. I really do. I like their fat little hands, and, as a speech therapist, I adore “talking” with them. I like the ear-to-ear toothless grins and the first steps and the silly nursery rhymes and the just-clean smell of a baby fresh from the bath. Toddlers and preschoolers are great, too.

But I’ve really gotten used to having big kids around. My daughter and her friends spent all day playing ancient Egyptians, including bowing down and worshipping the cat. My oldest son spent the entire summer making stop-motion Lego movies. My twelve-year-old determined for himself that the violin was not his scene, and hauled a baritone that probably weighs half as much as he does out of the store. I like hanging around, just to see what they'll come up with next.

Big kids rock. Here’s my top ten:

10. They get your jokes.

9. “You want to earn a dollar? Go get the electric hedge clippers and trim the bushes.”

8. The bathroom doors can stay open at night, because no one’s going to fall in the toilet and drown.

7. “Ok, everyone tie your shoes, use the bathroom, put on your seatbelts, and let’s go!”

6. Glass dishes can go on low shelves.

5. They can tell a difference between a weed and a tomato plant.

4. They’re not one breath away from death at the swimming pool.

3. You can give them a hard time, and get back as good as you gave.

2. They can beat you at wrestling (unless you cheat!).


AND...

1. They help you edit your books (for the price of a king-size Snickers bar). They argue about grammar.


I’ll get back to you in a couple years, on teenagers.