childish adults and childlike grownups

Adulthood and childhood: two words for which many of us have bad definitions. As a child, I took pleasure in subverting people's bad definitions of childhood, and I find myself doing something similar as an adult.

As Richard Linklater points out, in talking about his delightful School of Rock, your worst memories of childhood always involve someone treating you like a little kid. His art generally proves C.S. Lewis's observation in The Chronicles of Narnia that it's the stupidest children who are most childish and the stupidest grown-ups who are the most grown-up.

I'm not so sure I'd put it that strongly, but I see the point. These distinctions are false to the core. Who said that adulthood equals responsibility and childhood is carefree? Don't you remember being a child, and the relentless responsibility of becoming a citizen of humanity and of this civilization? It was a blast, but it was at times the opposite of play. No more: we adults are free to roam in the world now, our education finally begun. We're articulate and self-sustaining and sexy and never have to take a written test for a grade again.