Baby and me get along fine

Several years ago I wrote an essay about how similar senility is to puberty. I was talking to some sixth grade girls at a program and we came up with several things that both situations have. First, the bodies are changing and the girls or women have trouble sometimes getting used to things that happen without their knowing it.

We also talked about our friends of the opposite sex. Those that used to be good playmates now either are embarrassed by the changes in us that they don't understand, or don't like. Eventually that passes and we learn to accept the opposite sex the way he/she is changing. And sometimes we really like the new version better than the old. But in senility it depends on who gets it first and who has it the worst.

Our likes and dislikes change so it is hard to know whether the girl or boy will like to have a certain gift, or will like to go attend a game that they would have really enjoyed before. But generally those who were friends before these changes are still friends, but a little more mature in their relationships.

But now it becomes unfair to the older people. The teenagers continue to grow and improve their abilities and their bodies. Things are different, but it's not all bad. Soon they become good looking young men and women.

But the older people are no longer like a youth in puberty. They have gone backward instead of improving. Now we can easily compare ourselves to our infant or toddler great-grandchildren.

One of the most bothersome similarities is a new idea with the babies. The toddlers have learned the concept, but don't always have it mastered. That's the same with the older person. He knows he should take precautions and watch his/her timing. He certainly knows the concept, but he doesn't always perform accurately or timely. Unlike the baby, this is a concern, but that doesn't solve the problem. It still will rain on their parade and at times when they want to be seen as leading the parade.

Watching a toddler trying to use his little blunt pointed scissors makes the older relative sad. The little one is getting better and better as he practices. Grandpa gets more and more frustrated as his arthritic hands won't do what he has done easily for more than 80 years.

The toddler is learning to print or write her name. Grandma has to have someone reread her grocery lists or the volunteer will bring home rather odd food staples.

The toddler comes running with a new phone. It doesn't look like a phone to his grandfather. It looks like a game, but is doesn't feel like a game when Gramps tries to make a simple phone call When he is trying to make the call he makes a selfie of himself and then has to talk to the person on the other side of the world for 15 minutes. The baby wants to play with the phone. It looks like a toy to her.

The senior citizen wants to merely make a phone call. He finally does get one connected and asks for Joe. The problem was Joe had to be called from the other room and the puberty attacking teenager calls his father," Hey Dad some old guy want to talk to you."

The "old guy" told the youth that if he wanted to succeed as well as he himself had, he should learn better phone manners. The baby sister thought it was all funny and started laughing.

That's another way babies are like older people. When they don't know what's going on they just laugh. That's as good a solution as any.