1958? Wow, I didn’t think this book was that old, I thought as I looked at the title page of the classic children’s book Beezus and Ramona. Ramona’s four year old behavior – eating one bite out of each apple in a bag, writing her name on every page of a library book – seems just as relevant 65 years later as it did then.

“You know, Nana would have been the same age as Ramona when this book was written,” I told my younger son, referring to my own mom. I had just finished reading the book to him. “And you know what? Sometimes people who are adults now acted like that when they were kids. You know how I always tell you to respect the graves? [We live next to a cemetery.] My grandmother – Nana’s mom – when she was a little girl, would steal the bows off of graves and put them in her hair!” He giggled in shock. “And once, she took an umbrella and tried to jump off the roof of her house to fly, like Mary Poppins! And it wasn’t just my grandmother. Once when Nana was a kid, she and her brother and sister ran downstairs screaming ‘The TV’s on fire! The TV’s on fire!’” My son watched me intently, wanting to know what shenanigans happened next. I continued, “Her mom sprinted upstairs all panicked and they yelled ‘April Fools!’ Except it wasn’t even April!” He broke out in a big grin.

I don’t tell my kids these things to, God forbid, give them new ideas of questionable activities. I tell them these stories to say “Adults were once like you.” Both my kids struggle with rule following, impulse control and other executive function. I know how hard they work to stay focused at school and be respectful to others, even if it doesn’t always seem that way to outsiders. To know that adults made mistakes as kids and got in trouble too is useful to them. It’s reassuring to know that kids have always been kids.

I also tell these stories to remind myself that my kids aren’t all that different from other kids now or in the past. I was a big rule-follower as a kid – to the point where I would yell at other kids (and adults) for not following the rules – so I tend to have a bit of a skewed view of kid behavior. When my kids are singing loudly about butts or other inappropriate subjects, that context allows me to roll my eyes, shake my head and walk away. It reminds me that they will, in fact, grow out of this behavior.

These stories also remind me that I’m certainly not the first parent to get annoyed at my kids and that’s a perfectly normal part of parenting, not something to be ashamed of. I guarantee my grandmother was mad after the TV incident. It’s how we respond that’s the important part.

Kids are kids and that’s a wonderful (and sometimes annoying) thing – no matter what era they live in.