A Child's Perspective

On Wednesday evening I drove home three ten-year-old girls home from our Activity Day baking event. I like being a little fly on the wall in their conversations as their comments frequently puzzle and amuse me, and often help me remember my own childhood and how much I've changed since then. Wednesday was no exception.

One snippet of conversation in particular stood out to me.
The characters: 
MC, a warm and vibrant little girl with two very successful parents who built their professional lives in the standard white-collar way - top grades at top schools, climbing to partners in their respective firms, etc. Their family lives in a beautiful home in one of the nicest neighborhoods in the area. 
ML, a shy but fun little girl with great parents who have succeeded in building a stable life for their family by working hard, building a thriving bakery, etc. They have an apartment in an area of town that is safe but definitely has a more industrial and gritty feel to it.

We were driving ML home when MC asks, "ML, where do you live?"
ML's automatic response is to recite her address.
MC clarifies, "No, I mean do you have a house or an apartment or what?"
ML, "Oh, we have an apartment at [recitation of address]."
MC sighs and says, "You're so lucky. I always wanted to live in an apartment."
ML just shrugs at this and nods. I ask MC why she wants to live in an apartment and she seems a bit at a loss at first before saying, "I don't know. They just seem cool and different."
We're getting close to ML's and pass by a shopping center with a KMart, a craft store, and a Home Depot off in the distance. MC is looking out the window and says, "Wow, you guys have all kinds of stuff over here."
ML: "Yeah, we even just got a Country Buffet!!"
MC: "Really?!! Wow. You are soooo lucky!! All we have is a little pizzeria." [All she has is a really cute little old-town style pizzeria with some of the best pizza in town]
ML: "Yeah, I know - it's really great."

I don't mean to make MC sound ungrateful. She's far from an ingrate. It was just so interesting to hear how different her and ML's perspective was than my image of what would be the most desirable life when raising children. It shouldn't surprise me, because I too was probably intrigued by the idea of an apartment and I definitely remember being very excited for our annual trip to North's Chuck Wagon buffet. We went every year when we picked out the Christmas tree. It was a magical night - we would hem and haw over different tree shapes until the oldest kids made a final decision and then we'd go relax with twenty different choices of warmed meats, mashed potatoes, veggies, endless amounts of delicious white rolls, and of course soft serve ice cream! I was much more impressed with North's than with any other restaurant I went to as a child. Indeed, I routinely ordered tortilla and cheese - not a quesadilla, but a tortilla and cheese - if we went anywhere else, even the fancy restaurants we'd go to for Mother and Daughter dinners.

Times have since changed. While I'm not at the point of buying a big fancy house and I do still love soft serve ice cream, I would definitely prefer to eat at a little pizzeria than County Buffet and I love looking at the pretty old houses in fancy parts of town. It's fun to be reminded of the fact that things weren't always that way though.