Finding Your Inner Little Kid

Have you ever felt weird or sad about growing up? Sparkler rebel_of_nowhere reminds us that we can all still be kids, even if we look like adults. —SparkNotes editors

No matter how convincing the sophisticated façade high schoolers put on, we are all still just kids at heart. We admit to getting up to watch Scooby Doo and walking around in footie pajamas. Just because we have a car, a job, and a 1 a.m. curfew doesn’t mean we can't embrace the little kid in us, right? Here are the ways I tap into my inner child:

Watching cartoons: When we grew up, we watched The Jetsons and Tom and Jerry, not Phineas and Ferb. Remember Scooby and the gang solving mysteries? Or Dexter (the ultimate cartoon nerd) and his freaky cool laboratory? Early on Saturday mornings, before the newer shows come on, I get to watch my favorite classics. I hope I’m not the only one who will forgo extra sleep on the weekends so I can see Fred Flintstone "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" himself to work, or watch Scooby’s nose walk off his face.

Watching raindrops race down the window: On long, rainy car rides during my childhood, the perfect amusement was watching raindrops race down the window. As little kids, me and my siblings would narrate the race and cheer for the underdog. Sometimes a rogue drop would surprise us at the finish line, or two would merge into one and surge forward. When we were little, we got so excited over something as mundane as raindrops. Now, I may not commentate like it’s the Kentucky Derby, but I get almost as excited as I once did.

Say "I didn’t do it!" if you hear something break: CRASH! "I DIDN’T DO IT!" If you’ve grown up with siblings, this is an automatic response to hearing anything bad happening in your vicinity. (If there’s only one of you, then yelling this is completely ineffective because if you didn’t do it then you’ve got some ghosts camping out in your attic.) Once you’re older, it’s more likely to have been the dog that did it than you, but this reflex to abdicate guilt never fades.

Waking up at 7 a.m. on Christmas Day: LEGOs, dolls, and Easy-Bake Ovens are long gone, but the excitement over Christmas is not. Sure, we may have a paycheck to buy our own stuff, but ripping the paper off things on Christmas morning is way better than going to Walmart, no matter how good the people-watching there can be. You can’t deny the surprise of what’s in that painstakingly-wrapped (in my family, with duct tape and tin foil—don’t ask) gift.

Free transport: No, I’m not talking about cars, though Mom’s chauffeur service was pretty handy back in the day. When you were 3 feet tall it was much easier for someone to whisk you up and save your short legs the trip. Now when someone carries you, it's embarrassing, but you have to admit it's convenient! If I even mention I’m tired of walking my brother will gladly transport me…to somewhere like, um, the lake. But still, a girl can dream.

Secretly keeping all of our Pokémon cards: For a few years, this was the craze among kids. Everyone collected the cards, played with the figurines, and watched the TV series. After a while, we left Ash and Pikachu behind, but we can’t forget the great times we had swapping cards with our buddies. Those cards are still there, dusty and in a box, but we can’t really bring ourselves to get rid of them.

Licking the spoon: This was the best part of cooking when you were little… and it still is. I tried to make brownies yesterday and had to steal the spoon back no fewer than three times from my sister. She’s 22. Raw eggs, salmonella, and all, licking the batter off the spoon is the best part! Those whisks provide quite the challenge as you try to get every drop of batter off, but it’s impossible to resist. (No, it’s not beneath our dignity to get it all over our face to ensure nothing is wasted.)

What kid stuff do you still do?

Related Post: Tips on Ditching Your Younger Sibling

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