Never Too Young?

"It's never too young to grow up."

I was on the phone with someone tonight....someone who is much older and should definitely know better....and these words echoed in my ears. When the person heard my hestitancy to even respond to the comment, they tried to laugh it off: "Well look at me, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up...." which didn't exactly make sense considering the context, but I'll give 'em a couple points for effort.

The conversation was involving a young preteen who has had to step up her responsibility to help take care of some younger children. We were discussing how hard it has been for her on some levels because she's not used to that kind of responsibility at all. I was instantly reminded of how I stepped up in a similar, but definitely different, situation, but it wasn't that unnatural for me. I obviously had to grow up a lot, but I'd already done quite a bit of it anyway....and I was a bit older than the girl in the conversation is. The person on the phone (I'm sorry this is all in third person and vague, but I don't want to give names on this one) mentioned the maturing she had done, and I said it wasn't an entirely bad thing either, because she'd needed to step it up a bit....which is when the person said "It's never too young to grow up," and I can't help but hang on those words some.

Sometimes it 'is' too young to grow up....no matter how much of a child you are at heart, you can never replace those childhood years. So many children are forced to grow up long before their time, whether it's because of something like this where a child starts caring for other children....or more extreme like losing parents (whether to death, drugs, or what not), rape, getting involved in things they shouldn't at a young age, etc. No one should be deprived of their young years and it's unfortunate that many do. Granted, there's the opposite extreme of those who wait too long to grow up (and I'm not talking about those who stay fun and alive....but those who seriously never get on with life on their own), but this is completely different.

I honestly hope I never hear someone utter those words again. A person 'can' be too young to grow up....what's the rush, anyway?