Childhood vs. adulthood essay sample

Little girls dream of marrying their daddies and boys dream of being president of the United States or some other larger than life character; but as they grow older they realize how different life is from what they imagined when they were six. As children develop through their adolescence many of the dreams hold true due to their ideas of right, wrong or what they want in life; but for some, their dreams may be modified, altered or crashed due to events in their lives, or the friends they begin to identify with. In looking at the similarities and differences between children and adults, the most intriguing ones are their outlook on life, the attention to self appearance or vanity, and marriage. A child’s view on life is simple; and they always seem to see the best in every situation.

Theirs is a world where the good guys always win, where crime doesn’t exist and bad things don’t really happen. They see something and imagine what it is, or could be, and in a good light. Children never look for the worst in people, and always give people a fair chance. In contrast as adults we see things in a different light. It seems like the older we get the more cautious and skeptical we become. We know we can’t be whatever we want to, and everything won’t be handed to us. Ideally we would like to hold onto this simple outlook on life but as life begins to beat individuals up the view on the world begins to alter. Children don’t care about their looks typically, or what kind of car they think they will drive; or, maybe they will want one just like mommies or daddies.

Typically they don’t care which boy or girl likes them. In school they don’t always worry about their grades or the homework they have that night. Children may ponder the type of job they may have someday; but there is no real concern about work and usually avoid helping mommy around the house by doing a little work at home. The only time children worry about money is usually when they want to buy something, and not what tax bracket they will be in when they are older. Adults are the exact opposite; they worry entirely too much on who is interested in them and who is not. The cars they buy they see as an extension of who they are, or how they see themselves. Although, they don’t go to school they’re still being judged and critiqued at their place of employment.

Adults have to take care of themselves. They worry more about their job to make sure they can afford the lifestyle they want. As mentioned in the introduction, girls want to marry their daddy. They want to marry the idea of someone as kind, soft, and patient as their daddy. They will search and wait for their whole life to find the perfect husband. They won’t “ settle”. Boys and girls also have an idea of how they want their marriage based on off of the game of house they finished playing moments before. As the girls get older and begin to date, the dream may be altered due to hurt, disappointment, or rejection.

They begin to think being with anyone may be better than being alone; and the dream begins to fade. It could also be they realize they aren’t little girls anymore with all the time to find the perfect husband and they panic and settle. Men just get married so they can pass down their name. Every child has an idea or a dream of how his or her life is going to turn out; and their lives are innocent and idealistic. As we saw above our view of life is simple and more black and white, but as we grow older we become more jaded. Their view on life from childhood will turn them into one where they are critical, skeptical or untrusting as a child.

It was also shown as children who don’t seem to care if their clothes match or if their breath stinks will turn into self absorbed adolescents consumed with how they look or social standing. Finally, we read how the princess fairy tale weddings children dream of and their desire to marry their parent even if they don’t like them fades as we get older. The hurts of life and relationships alter the perception of what they will have in life; and those damaged dreams may even have them settle in marriages that never would have happened as children.