Woes of a 9-year-old

2011 has begun. Christmas break is over. Everyone goes back to work tomorrow. School kids go back to school - to the great disappointment of my little cousin. "E-man it's so not fair," he has complained all day. The cause of his great grief is that us college students still have two more weeks of vacations while he needs to be up at 6.30 tomorrow morning. All day I heard a whiny 9-year-old go on and on about how lucky we are to not be in grade school anymore. "I wish I was in college, too," he said.

Graduating high school is overrated. So is going to college. And starting work. And all the other things you are expected to do in life. As soon as you graduate, you are expected to find a job that pays you a certain wage. In between all that, you are expected to find the perfect person for yourself, get married, and raise a family. At every stage of your life, you are expected to fulfill expectations.

Truth is, you shouldn't expect anything from life. Life just happens. You have no control over it. It's not fair. And will never be. That is why life is amazing. That is why we are free.

Free to do what we want to do. Not what makes the most money. How long is it going to last anyway? Free to fall in love. Because loving is good for the soul. Free to bungee jump, get a speeding ticket, make mistakes, travel, dress stupid, gossip, dance in the rain, be hated, and break a leg.

All of this sounds fabulous but how am I even going to explain this to my dear cousin? For now, I'm just asking him to get over it.