Growing up too soon

I was an innocent child, in fact I stayed innocent well into my early teens. I remember being part of youth club at 13 and having guys my age ask me to come down Bulmers lane for a shift. Ah yes Clonmel was a glamorous town in my teenage years and the most popular spot to kiss a guy was in a very public lane way  ( okay so there wasn't much foot traffic but cars drove down it so it wasn't exactly private) and I really couldn't understand why they were so keen to do that, I had no interest until puberty hit.

I can't speak for my entire generation as that would be presumptuous so I will speak only for myself when saying I feel like I was happy enough to be young until I hit about 14 and then I couldn't wait to grow up. But then thinking back I was 14 when I had my first drink and I would have been lagging behind my friends in this respect, many had been drinking from age 12. Perhaps its just looking back makes everything a bit hazy and I was the only one not sporting make up too young. (might be worth mentioning the photo above was for an art project my older sister was doing, my only other modelling since my jam ad) 

Today I overheard a conversation between a group of young girls who must have been only 10 or 11, girls wearing mascara and very teenage clothes and in town clutching their bags from Penneys and Claire's accessories and feeling very sophisticated. They were talking about a range of make up from the only was is essex ( I am guessing one of the 'stars' of the show has brought out a range) and how she put on the foundation only to discover it was all shimmery ( this is where I probably should have interjected and told her that it wasn't foundation but I was too busy eavesdropping in horror) and then they went on to say how the tan from the same range was a little orange but they only wore tan on special occasions. I can't help but wonder what constitutes as a special occasion for a child of that age. It actually broke my heart a little bit which probably speaks more for me slipping into my dotage in my early thirties than it does for their precociousness.

It seems to be me that there is a push for young girls especially to grow up at a much younger age than I myself experienced but then again I grew up without a mobile phone ( no one really had one until I was 18) never mind smartphones so there was no Facebook, snap chats or instagram and I sure as hell didn't feel the need to look sexy at 11. Mind you the young girls I see around mostly look like little girls playing dress up rather than the epitome of sophistication that I imagine they were trying for. That's why things like the Top Model range bother me. It's a range of stationary and gift items aimed at 8-12 year olds with sketching and drawing and various accessories but the models you sketch on are all incredibly slim and overly made up plus you can get a range of make up for kids within the collection. I know my own nieces at 6 and 8 would only be delighted to wearing lip gloss and eye shadow if they were allowed.  

I  feel as though now would be a good time to approach these young girls, these pre-teens so desperate to be grown up and tell them it's not half as exciting as they would imagine. Don't grow up. it's a trap. I know I rushed in to it too soon and those innocent days can never be reclaimed. Those of us are living the adult dream only know too well that it's not all sparkly dresses, shimmery eyes and cocktails and there's a lot of boredom and stress that's part of the package deal. But I suspect its too late to warn the ones already sporting mascara but maybe I will try working on with my nieces if they are at all willing to take the advice of their very old Auntie Laura ( I have heard wow, 32 that's really old more than once).