If the bouquet of a Merlot was a little too robust for Hallie at age 11, I felt it was fine to pass on the cheeseburger at age 6. I now keep kosher, but at the time I never ventured from my familiar territory of bagels and cream cheese. Me at said barbecue, fisting Ruffles potato chips: I’ll try one when I’m 11. My uncle at a family barbecue: Meredith, try a cheeseburger. In my family, this became known as “The 11 Excuse” - and I used it a lot. If “what would Hallie and Annie do at age 11?” was a litmus test for what was considered a grown-up activity, I used my young age as a shield to push back on anything that I deemed scary, uncomfortable, or banal. I would patiently wait until I was 11 to indulge in any seemingly adult pursuits thereafter. I was determined to experience this firsthand, but knew that I couldn’t rush the process. It was as if upon turning 11, one acquired a sense of complete understanding of how the world works.
![meredith blake and chessy meredith blake and chessy](https://img.srgcdn.com/e/w:1100/WlVCNjU1TzRBVXJZNnJhbWpmTmYuanBn.jpg)
And, crucially, Hallie and Annie both overcame their differences - “I have class, and you don’t!” - to get their parents back together in the name of true love! And brought down Meredith Blake in the process!įor me, age 11 became aspirational - it was a watershed between naivete and clarity. Hallie and Annie were both extremely confident in their respective poker games. Annie moved Hallie’s camp furniture to the roof of her cabin. But the most important thing? Age 11 is the apex of badassery and the beginning of the rest of your life.Īt age 11, Hallie elaborately booby-trapped Annie’s bunk. Among the most important: Napa is a place where wine is made, Dennis Quaid is the best-looking dad I’ve ever seen, not all Merediths are created equal (my name is Meredith Meredith Blake was the only other Meredith I’d ever known and she was evil ), and the Concorde gets you there in half the time.
![meredith blake and chessy meredith blake and chessy](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5a/9c/4d/5a9c4d2ce3c9cb29bd1daff77b506804.gif)
![meredith blake and chessy meredith blake and chessy](http://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/278/ac5e7e00-0e2b-0133-45c5-0a2ca390b447.gif)
There were many things I learned from The Parent Trap at a ripe age of 6. She was about to live my dream - she was old enough to go to camp. Needless to say, the second Hallie Parker tries to get her yellow duffle that was buried way in the duffle bag heap, I was mesmerized. Each time I see a group of 10-year-olds stare off into the sunset and sway in time to some camp song, I cry uncontrollably I want nothing more than to be of age to experience camp for myself. I’m a 6-year-old, cream-cheese-eating chubby girl who’s spent the winter watching camp promotional videos with my older sister.