I've been thinking about the cliche phrase "Get Off My Lawn" a lot recently. It's one of the timeless anthems of middle and old age. The point when people feel like they've lived long enough and paid enough dues in a society to claim some ownership of its "lawn" - the social norms, values, and standards of the society, which we begin to take responsibility for around 40.

One of the true gifts of youth is the privilege to dissent, to debate, and sometimes, to disobey the very people and institutions you depend on for your survival and development. Part of the work of child development and human maturity is not just to identify the literal and metaphorical lawns of the society around them and "touch grass", but to pull up the blades, dig random holes in the dirt, run all over the lawn, and daydream on the lawn.

And part of the work of adulting is balancing the questioning and exploring of the youth with guidance and perspective.

But with life being as hectic as it can be, and with our individual status on the lawn of society being as precarious as it can be, it's easy to fall into the habits of past generations of 40-year olds in responding to teens and 20-somethings whenever they start asking too many questions and making too many calls for change.

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