A kid at heart

When I was a little girl, I was very bad when it came to going to bed. So bad that our pediatrician suggested to my mother to put a lock on the outside of my bedroom door. I would yell, scream, run out of my room, sneak out of my room, anything I could do to get out of going to bed. One night my uncle was over for a visit. It was about time for bed and, like clockwork, I began to whine.
"I wish I was a grown up so I didn't have to go to bed!" I had a lot of energy, still do.
My mom shook her head- she must have been pretty tired of my protests by that point.
"Come here Logan," my uncle asked. I walked over to him.
"You do not want to be a grown up, trust me," my uncle said.
"What? Of course I do! You guys can eat whatever you want and you don't have to go to bed or anything," I explained.
"You're right about those things, but you know what else we have to do?" he asked.
"What?" I wondered.
"We have to pay bills. Lots and lots of bills. We have to work all the time so we can make money to pay our bills. It is not fun and I wish I could be a kid again."

This conversation happened nearly 20 years ago and I remember it like yesterday- clearly, it made a big impact on me. Bills and work sounded way worse than eating apples and going to bed on time. That night I went right to bed and thought about what my uncle said. I decided I didn't want to be a grown up. Being a kid was really fun so I would just try to do that for as long as I could. My mom said that my dad was a "kid at heart"-he still is. He wanted to play games, make up songs, and joke around - he still does. I have always wanted to be like my dad in that way. This quote reminds me of the wild imagination and sense of wonder we adults tend to lose in the day-to-day routine of working hard and paying bills. To me, being a kid at heart means keeping life fun, hopeful, and positive. So remember, "keep believing, keep pretending."

Love,
Logan