Human beings are kind of interesting from birth until they reach the age of a year and a half. Then they are boring until they reach the age of fifty. By that time they are either completely defeated and screwed up, which makes them interesting again, or they’ve learned how to beat the game, and that makes them interesting too.
– from the George Carlin Day Calendar for April 6, 2005
That’s good, but I’ve recently been thinking the opposite, sort of, at least as it relates to the low end of the age spectrum. My niece is currently 10 months old and rapidly approaching the point where she will start to gather vocabulary. That is when the really cools stuff starts, I think. Until then I’m content for her to stay at arms length (I’m not a kid person, obviously). Actually, I think it would be best if I just wait until she’s figured out the whole bathroom process (eww) for herself before I get much involved (i.e. stay at Uncle Chris’s and Aunt Sharon’s house overnight). But then it’ll be great!
Oh and back to the Carlin profundity, there’s probably a gaping exception for adults who don’t breed. We don’t get defeated at all 🙂