What is maturity?

[Mary Ann]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Laura Ingalls Huntley 
<lhuntley at f...> wrote:

> And what *is* "maturity," anyway?  I ask you.  Because it seems to 
me 
> that the only people so terribly concerned with it are either a) 
> pre-teenagers or b) really, really boring and judgmental.
> 
> AND . . . *suddenly notices that a very large soapbox has 
materialized 
> under her feet.*  Erm . . . *steps off it sheepishly*.

:::::Mary Ann (35) delurks and grabs the soapbox from Laura.  Being 
a Big Woman, she can do this easily ;) :::::

It's such a shame that maturity and boringness (is that a word?) are 
so intertwined.  I see maturity as meaning to be responsible, and 
there's no reason why you can't be responsible and have fun at the 
same time.  I have 3 small children (one with special needs), help 
out at my older childrens' school, and am a Rainbow Guider (5-7 year 
old Girl Guides).  I'm literally surrounded by children, and 
therefore surrounded by responsibility, but I get as much enjoyment 
out of it as possible.  Last week at Rainbows, for instance, we 
hired a bouncy castle and the leaders spent as much time bouncing as 
the girls.  However, the whole time we were keeping an eye on the 
girls, warning them to not get too close/lie down/go spastic etc.  
Sure, some Anal Retentives would call me "immature", but I refute 
that as I was still fulfilling my role as caretaker of the girls.  I 
like to think that such behaviour on my part also shows the girls 
that growing up doesn't mean that the fun is over.

(What *wasn't* mature was not reading the bouncy castle literature 
properly beforehand and discovering that I'm 3 times over the 
maximum weight per person allowed.  Whoops.)

Happy belated birthday, Laura!  You'll be 35 one day ::::: runs and 
ducks:::::

Mary Ann ;)