The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

"I don’t let her watch ‘Drake and Josh,’" my girlfriend said of her 9-year-old daughter. "They make out on that show."

The rest of us parents gathered on my back deck for a Memorial Day barbecue began roaring with laughter.

"Kids these days just grow up too fast," she said in response.

Amen.

Although I teased my friend about not letting her daughter watch the Disney channel show my 5 and 7 year old boys enjoy, I do get it. And I’ve been noticing more and more just how fast my kids are growing and just how old they want to pretend to be.

My oldest wants his own laptop computer and cell phone. And not just any cell phone, but a Blackberry Storm touch screen, just like his Uncle Carmelo’s.

My middle child is probably the most aggressive when it comes to wanting to be older than his years. He’s 5 going on 16.

The other day while I was doing some work in the kitchen and his older brother was doing homework, my 5-year-old called a kindergarten friend on the phone.

"Mom, I’m going outside to talk to Cade," he said, walking out the back door.

"OK," I said, assuming he just wanted a little privacy and was headed to the deck.

About 10 minutes later I went to get him to tell him dinner was ready, but there was no boy on the back deck. Or on the swings, or in the side yard.

My son was not in the backyard.

I called his name, then became frantic. I picked up another house phone and hit the button. "Roman?" I said.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Where are you? Why are you not in the backyard?"

My son had taken it upon himself to get his bike out of the garage, put the telephone on speaker phone, put the phone in his pocket, and ride around by himself out in front of the house while talking to his friend. None of this is allowed.

"Get off the phone and in the house, now!" I said.

After dinner, Roman was back on the phone with his friend. I overheard them discussing which girls they liked and who they wanted to kiss.

Gimme a break!

I told my son and his friend that they were too little to talk about that stuff. Then I had them hang up so my son could take a bath and brush his teeth before bed.

See, 5 going on 16.

And it’s not just my boys who want to be all grown up. Even my 2-year-old wants to be a bigger girl than she is. She wants to be done with the high chair and sit at the table like her brothers, even if it means kneeling in a chair.

She wants to climb the wooden ladder to the top of the backyard swing set and go down the slide herself, despite hitting the grass at full speed and landing with a thud on her bumper every time.

"Outside, outside!" she yells when her brothers go out to play during her nap time. "No nap!"

The other day she tried to refuse holding my hand while walking through a parking lot.

And soon, another school year will come to an end. My boys will head to first and second grade. My baby will be one year closer to preschool.

They want to be all grown up. They see big people as the folks with all the control, who get to do whatever they want. I remember that feeling.

What they don’t realize is that most adults would give anything to go back to being a carefree kid again. No mortgage. No dinners to cook. No grass to cut. No job to get up for.

No wrinkle cream to apply each morning before makeup.

I laughed at my friend, but I get her. I don’t want my kids to grow up too fast. Despite the eye cream, I’m not sure I’m done being a kid yet.