Just a kid

Anyone else remember the TV show Doogie Hauser MD? It's about a kid who becomes a doctor . . . when he's still a kid. I don't remember seeing many of the shows, but the actor is back in a number of things, now an adult. I don't remember many situation where emotional immaturity was much of a source of conflict for him in the show, but I do remember the concept of him having a hard time relating to other kids. Here's another, probably better-known example. In Family Ties, Alex P Keaton (Michael J Fox) set his sister Jennifer up with a boy genius, who laughably gives her an x-ray of his brain as a romantic gesture. In our house, we had a different kind of a situation most recently. M was acting her age, and relating just as any girl her age would. There are times where she seems emotionally advanced for her age, in my opinion, but we had a more "normal" experience. It broke my heart. There was a family event that was frightening and sad. It involved a hospital visit, and some of the things you'd expect to go along with that. My girl sat quietly on her dad's lap and showed little interest or curiosity about x-rays, machines, etc. That sounds perfectly normal, I'd imagine. Not so very long ago, this same girl visited a friend in the hospital with more elaborate medical accessories involved. She unabashedly asked questions about the machines, was curious about everything, and once her questions were satisfied, she climbed into the hospital bed with the patient. As they were young, this was accomplished easily. That hospital visit was more serious and prolonged. However, it was not as emotionally difficult. The strongest emotion expressed was her determination to visit her friend. Determination is the precise word, I assure you. I heard that it didn't matter that her friend would have to stay in bed and not play, but that she was sick and in the hospital and that she REALLY WANTED to go see her friend. Obviously, with age comes increased awareness of the reality of health and mortality. However, her approach then was not typical, from all we heard. I was very proud of her for that - I still am. The more recent experience did not leave me disappointed with her, in any way. However, a friend recently laughed and said, "I keep forgetting how young she is." Indeed. It's such an unusual mix. I often hear that I need to give her time to "catch up emotionally" because of her advanced scholastic situation. I find this mostly confusing. What is emotional maturity, anyway? I know some children who are and some adults beyond my years who are not. The entire concept is difficult for me to wrap my head around. I'm not suggesting that kids be treated like teenagers when their intellect is comparable, of course. However, I'm constantly reminded that we have so many ways that we try to make everything the same and comparable. I still do, and I've been dealing with some pretty unusual situations pretty constantly for a while now . . . . I started this blog for several reasons, including to help myself make sense of my thoughts. This particular attempt has failed, but perhaps it's emotional hangover from the hospital incident recently. Maybe I need to learn more from others in order to put my own thoughts together and have a better understanding. Or maybe I need to catch up emotionally ;)