Definitive Essay
By Robin Darking
I had just received the okay from my parents to take the kitten offered to me by the friend of the family. The little girl who was the owner of the mother cat had previously said I was not allowed to play with the two last kittens that remained, so I was rather smug with myself. She was angry that I had taken the second last kitten, so she wouldn’t let me play with him in her room. I was very hurt by the things she said about my kitten that went something along the lines of "Your kitten is dumb and my cat is smarter, so nya nya!". Hence, in reply to this un-called for outburst of hate was "You’re stupid, it’s my kitten, and I’m a guest so you have to let me do what I want and you have to be nice to me!". We were then separated.

At the tender age of eight, it was perfectly legal and logical to say something like that. It was the truth, I was right, and she was being rude. I had done nothing wrong in my opinion, so of course she was the stupid one. She deserved to be told of by me. On the maturity level of an eight year old, while we were being bratty, that was the way the natural pecking order went. If someone insulted something of yours, you shot back with a nastier insult. It worked quite well on the playground, and we put this rule of thumb into use for everyday squabbles as well.

As well, when you’re younger fights seem rather large at the time, but a week later it’s quite insignificant when measuring up to the punishment you got from jumping into a mud puddle with your good clothes on, so being rude on occasion to other children was fine and easily forgotten. On the other hand, being rude to adults got you in the doghouse for good and there was no turning back.

Now it’s quite startling for me, embarrassing, and provides a slight smug satisfaction to look back on this event and realize just how stupid and petty I could be. To look back on how my I have matured is rather shocking in itself because as I grew up I didn’t really notice the change unless I compared it to an event from my past with a mental essay like this. I have changed quite a bit, although I will still feel angry and the want to bite back with something rude would occur, the situation probably wouldn’t. The outside influences just wouldn’t happen now. I’m not looking for another cat, none of my friends have cats that are having kittens, and we don’t go to see any friends of the family anymore due to lack of time.

In looking back at myself as an immature little brat, I can learn a little something of what it is to grow up. I’ve learned when to hold my tongue now, and I’ve learned what is tactful to say, and what is not, and while I still say things that are not quite what I mean now, and I still say things that are rather rude, my manners and disposition have turned out much better than from what they used to be.

As a child, knowing what was wrong was not as important as to be able to break the rules without getting caught and punished too badly. Carefree was a word used to describe oneself because life carried on every day... if you got grounded, the sun still rose in the east, and still set in the west.

Venture home.