Explain What It Means To Grow Up

What does it mean to grow up?

I remember I wanted to grow up to be tall when I was little, but now that I am older, I know that growing up doesn’t mean to just get tall, it means overcoming problems, not giving up even though life has problems, teaching yourself because your parents might not be there to teach you, and standing out and being proud of yourself to show who you are. Not giving up, teaching yourself, standing out, and being proud of yourself will make you a better person when you grow up to have children who know nothing about growing up yet.
First, growing up means to overcome problems. In the first 2 sentences of the poem, Mother to son, it said,”Well, son, I’ll tell you, life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks
in it, and splinters and boards were torn up, and places with no carpet on the floor, bare. It means life is not always easy and has problems, even big problems. But you cannot give up, you have to overcome these problems, like in the 15th sentence, it said, “Don’t you set down on the steps cause you find it’s kind of hard.” It means giving up will make life harder. And not finding a way to overcome a problem means you will be stuck on the problem to move on in life. By not giving up, you can move on in life.
Secondly, growing up means having to teach yourself sometimes when your parents cannot.
In lines 51 and 52, it said, “No longer will I be there to knock on your door. So you must learn to knock for yourself.” It means to teach yourself because the boy’s father cannot teach him. Sometimes you need to teach yourself because there are times when you move away from your family or if your parents are sick or dead. You will have to teach yourself what your father or mother did not, like in line 41, it said, “I write these words and try to heal and try to father myself and I dream up a father who says the words my father did not.” That means the speaker is trying to teach himself because his father is not here to teach the speaker. Teaching yourself will help you in life when you grow
up. Lastly, growing up means standing out and being proud of yourself.
In the first 2 sentence of paragraph 7, it said, After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.” She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt in beige tweed. “But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different.” It means to stand out and be proud you are different. Sometimes, if you don’t stand out and show people who you are, you might fall into peer pressure. Falling into peer pressure means you cannot show who you are, and you could almost be the same as your friends. Amy, from Fish Cheeks, was embarrassed when her parents invited the minister’s family. In the 3 sentences on paragraph 2, she thought to herself, “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?” Amy was embarrassed because Robert would think that her family is weird and gross. But her mom said to be proud of her difference. Standing out show who you are and helps you when you grow
up. I remember I wanted to grow up to be tall when I was little, but now that I am older, I know that growing up doesn’t mean to just get tall, it means overcoming problems, not giving up even though life has problems, teaching yourself because your parents might not be there to teach you, and standing out and being proud of yourself to show who you are. These will make you a better person and will help you to pass on to your own children who know nothing about growing up.