When I was young, adults of all stripes fell all over themselves telling me how difficult it was being an adult. It was all lies. Compared to what I endured as a kid, being an adult is fun and easy. And I say that as someone who spent five hard but rewarding years as a paratrooper. That was still easier than being a kid.
I am not certain why the compulsion to prevarication here. Was it an attempt to prevent us from being soft?
Given that I was not in any way a normal kid, perhaps I was an outlier. But in this area I don’t think so.