Remember when you were a kid and you imagined being a grownup? All the adventures you'd have, all the wacky things you'd do. You'd never be boring like your parents, of course. You'd eat nothing but pizza and candy. You'd jump on the beds when you wanted to. You'd go play Tag in the park at night with your friends and stay up until sunrise.
That's how I'd pictured it, anyway. I'd stay up all night having fun and sleep all day. I'd buy every toy I could and have a room devoted to them. I'd landscape my yard so that it was covered in criss-crossing tiny rivers and canyons and mountains for dolls to explore. Every wall in my house would be some crazy mural. My bedroom would be decorated like a jungle. Somewhere along the way, though, between college and jobs and generally getting older, I stopped thinking about that stuff so much. I still do silly things and even if I might spend more time reading than having adventures, I'm still the exact same person I was at eight years old. I'm older, a lot more distracted with the responsibilities of adulthood, but underneith it all I'm not all that different than I used to be. I just never seem to have the time to do all the silly, crazy stuff that I wanted to do as a kid.
That's why I think we should all make time. There should be one day a year when we give ourselves permission to do all of the things that we'd do if our inner children were suddenly given our adult lives. Spend a few hundred bucks on huge bags of M&Ms to fill a wading pool? Sure! Finally buy the U.S.S. Flagg GI Joe Aircraft Carrier off of eBay? Yes! Play space invaders with your spouse and best friends in the backyard? Please do.
In honor of inner children everywhere, I'm declaring the third Saturday in August to be Act Like a Kid Day. The first annual Act Like a Kid Day will be August 23rd, 2008.
Why that day? Because it's one of the most golden, perfect moments in childhood: the very end of summer. The last freedom before you return to school. Those were the days when I'd wish most fervently to be a grownup, so I wouldn't have to go back to school, so I could goof off and have fun always.
For at least that day, I plan on giving myself what I'd wanted.
Now who wants to join me for the most awesome game of Hide and Go Seek ever?
That's how I'd pictured it, anyway. I'd stay up all night having fun and sleep all day. I'd buy every toy I could and have a room devoted to them. I'd landscape my yard so that it was covered in criss-crossing tiny rivers and canyons and mountains for dolls to explore. Every wall in my house would be some crazy mural. My bedroom would be decorated like a jungle. Somewhere along the way, though, between college and jobs and generally getting older, I stopped thinking about that stuff so much. I still do silly things and even if I might spend more time reading than having adventures, I'm still the exact same person I was at eight years old. I'm older, a lot more distracted with the responsibilities of adulthood, but underneith it all I'm not all that different than I used to be. I just never seem to have the time to do all the silly, crazy stuff that I wanted to do as a kid.
That's why I think we should all make time. There should be one day a year when we give ourselves permission to do all of the things that we'd do if our inner children were suddenly given our adult lives. Spend a few hundred bucks on huge bags of M&Ms to fill a wading pool? Sure! Finally buy the U.S.S. Flagg GI Joe Aircraft Carrier off of eBay? Yes! Play space invaders with your spouse and best friends in the backyard? Please do.
In honor of inner children everywhere, I'm declaring the third Saturday in August to be Act Like a Kid Day. The first annual Act Like a Kid Day will be August 23rd, 2008.
Why that day? Because it's one of the most golden, perfect moments in childhood: the very end of summer. The last freedom before you return to school. Those were the days when I'd wish most fervently to be a grownup, so I wouldn't have to go back to school, so I could goof off and have fun always.
For at least that day, I plan on giving myself what I'd wanted.
Now who wants to join me for the most awesome game of Hide and Go Seek ever?
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