Childhood is no longer a period of exploration for the sheer joy of it with plenty of unscheduled time that helped you unfold into the person you will become.
Today parents have pressure to morph into the modern version of stage parents. They usher their precious cargo from one academic enrichment or sport to another. Summers filled with endless days spent connecting with friends and playing outdoors until it gets dark are also things of the past. I’m well aware that I’ve just painted a picture of “The good old days” just like every generation before me. However, I really like change and don’t moan about technology or glorify the purity of reading from a paper book vs. the ipad or kindle. But I’m glad my children are grown and I didn’t have to worry about making sure their college applications read like they cured cancer in tenth grade or brought clean water to a poor remote village. In The Daily Beast, Megan McArdle writes about the pressure to be extraordinary in her article, The Absurd Lies of College Admissions.
