It’s okay to laugh and smile like a kid again….you need it!
We picked up our Christine tree yesterday and hubby and I immediately started reminiscing about being a child and all those nostalgic holiday memories from years ago while driving back from the tree lot. We both remember watching the Christmas classics with Rudolph, Charlie Brown, Year without a Santa Claus and of course the original The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
My hubby and I are the same age and share similar memories of growing up in the late 70’s, early 80’s, with hubby growing up in the midwest and myself in the SF Bay Area. We both grew up without cable and remember only having a handful of the cartoons to watch: Scooby Doo, Batman, He-Man, etc.. I still remember Fred from Scooby Doo saying “Moss grows on the North side of a tree.” If you Google this question, it’s a myth but the fact I remember this random fact from a cartoon is crazy. Both of our Friday evening teevee memories included The A Team, Dukes of Hazzards, Full House and of course Saturday mornings with Saved by the Bell. I still laugh out loud when I come down Saturday mornings and find hubby watching old episodes of Saved by the Bell on one of those higher channels with a big grin on his face.
My oh my, that feeling of joy and laughter when things were less complicated, when there were 4 teevee channel options not 65 plus and streaming services and don’t forget the early days of having to get up and change the channel and adjusting the volume without the remote control. Ahhh the good old days and how things have changed since then.
Let’s just say, my life is all about adulting these days with friends telling you, I am definitely a tough cookie. A tomboy growing up and even as an adult, I have a hard outer shell and get a kick out of dishing out the rules, yet I am quite sensitive and right now as I am writing this, I have tears in my eyes thinking of my youth. I remember rainy days when I would skate in my blue velvet roller skates in the street in front of our house singing and doing figure eights. I had a yellow BMX bike that I rode with the neighbor kids to the creek and caught crawdads with bacon on a string and I still have a scar on my pinky knuckle from that feisty one pinching me when I lifted him out of the bucket. The times I would jump the rocks in the rushing water over the creek to get to the tree swing, and that one time I fell off the swing into the still dirty green creek water and ended up getting hosed down by my Mom in the front yard when I got home. EGHHHH GROSS!
Those summer days we raced our bikes to the neighborhood park. We played lava monster with the metal and wood park play equipment above the hot sand. A few years back, we visited this park in my old neighborhood and noticed the wood and metal combination play equipment was no longer there and sand was replaced with a soft foam ground. Huh, foam? I don’t know, I think foam creates soft kids which leads to soft adults, just saying. Then there’s that time I asked and asked for a Cabbage Patch Kid doll for Christmas and ended up with a well made knock off from Japan except the head kept falling off when I hugged her. I still remember that moment when the head rolled onto the couch away from her body when I was watching teevee. Not sure how I figured out how to put that little head back on but I made it happen, saving those tears for another day.
Another great memory from my youth is when I snuck out of the baby sitter’s house and walked home. Yup, opened her front door, put my shoes on and walked out. It wasn’t far, a few blocks away, ten minute maybe for a small child. What I want to point out here is I knew what I was doing. A little problem solver at six years old, unlocking the slider before we had left for the sitter. When I got back to our house, I climbed onto the decorative tall stumps closest to the fence. I managed to climb over the gated fence via the stump and down the backside of the gate. I have a feeling there were splinters involved but that I do not recall fully. After climbing down the fence, I went to the slider and it was unlocked just like I had planned. I went inside and placed myself in front of the teevee and watched what I wanted to watch, not the baby sitter’s program. What child wants to watch All My Children? When my Mama finally returned a few hours later, angry and upset about my disappearance, I remember standing my ground and explaining to her I just wanted to stay home, no more baby sitter’s house. I don’t recall if I ever went back to that sitter again, but I do remember my Mama checking the slider every time we left the house moving forward.
As adults, we’re constantly juggling our busy schedules and huge workloads. Adulting is not easy and often we find ourselves stressed out, lack of sleep, reliance on alcohol and CBD to chill out and we take ourselves way too seriously. There’s a scene in Santa Clause 2 where Santa Scott gives out presents to the teachers during their holiday party. The pure joy on JJ’s face when he unwrapped his gift to find Toss Across under the wrappings. I’m immediately drawn to this scene whenever the movie pops up on teevee. Why? You see how the adults in the room are miserable prior to receiving their presents, but when they get a chance to play and act like kids again with gifts from their youth, just that pure happiness glowing from their faces, it’s so special that anyone can relate.
Now of course I don’t have any desire to be seven years old again but I’m okay talking and reminiscing about those times of being a kid. It allows me to stop for a moment and smile about the simple fun times we shared. No one can deny how kids have the best imagination, making up stories and games in their heads and creating them with their friends, the random made up songs we sing to make crappy chores bearable. Thinking about those times brings smiles to our faces, allows us to escape from the hustle and bustle for just a moment to give ourselves the freedom to remember how to be creative again and we shouldn’t just leave that creativity in the closet to collect dust.
Don’t get me wrong, I know adulting is required to pay the bills, pay for the things we love to do, but some things money can’t buy like a big laugh or a genuine smile. Come on now, don’t take yourself too seriously. Yes I know you’re an adult and adulting is serious business but don’t forget that fun kid inside of you that wants to play, laugh, build Legos, make up a stories or songs and throw the pile of Fall orange leaves up in the air. Life is too short to not have fun with yourself. You and yourself are stuck together till the end, so have the best time with YOU!
Okay, enough for now, let’s have some fun and share our memorable memories of when we were a child. I’d love to hear your favorite memory growing up. There’s always at least one in there that you remember that makes you smile from ear to ear. Feel free to share your memories in the comments. No judgements here, let’s support one another and laugh like it was yesterday!
