Childhood was a period when I was forced to eat mystery meat and peas.

Most people reflect on childhood with utter fondness, as if youth were nothing but Christmas mornings and birthday parties.

For me, childhood was a period of frustration. It was a period where I'd try to be serious and grownups would coo "Isn't she cute?" I couldn't decide when or what I'd get to eat (although given the fact that I am now subsisting on chips, it's probably for the best that I wasn't allowed such free rein in my youth). I had to go to bed every night at nine, even though I wasn't the least bit tired. Childhood involved ordering unappealing children's specials at restaurants while my parents ate food that looked far more interesting. Childhood was asking my parents what certain words uttered on television meant, only to be met with a hasty and embarrassed "Nothing!!!" Adults were so full of mystery that it only agitated me when I was kept from being able to uncover their workings.