Dreaming of Childhood

Remember when you were 5 and adults would smile and say things like "enjoy it while it lasts!" "Those were the days." "You've got it made!" "One day you'll wish you were younger." But you didn't believe them.

"Oh you get a nap! You are so lucky!" they'd say with enthusiasm and you'd look at them as if they were half-baked! Why waste a good day by sleeping in the middle of it?!

"I remember when I could eat all that sweet stuff." they'd mention morosely as they stared enviously at your ONE scoop of ice cream (liberally smothered in sprinkles). You would wonder...they get to have TWO scoops...they can have as many as they want really since they are grown ups! What is so difficult about being a grown up?

To top it off...your dad would decide not to get an ice cream and then eat half of yours!!! The irony. By the time you were 8 you'd feel sorry for him and pretend you didn't want much so that he could have more...


Such scholarly wisdom and strange words were not only spoken above your head...they stayed up there.

You couldn't wait to get older so you could have more freedom! Boy, when I'm 15 I get to start driving! You weren't 5, you were 5 and a half...or 5 and 2 months...every day drew you closer to your goal: to be a grown up and make the rules! Drive, buy whatever you want, paint your room, never eat what you didn't want to...

But then you grow up.
You finish college and look at your student loans.
You hunt for the perfect job and finally take any job in desparation.
You are in your mid-twenties and no longer celebrating each month...you're not 25 and a half...you are 25. The day before you are 26 you will still be 25.
Thirty looms in the distance like a mountain...sure 40 is the hill...you've already scaled a mountian by then...50 is probably a bump in the road...
You begin getting summons to serve on jury duty and you dread it! The first time was exciting and daunting...the second, you felt like a pro. The third? Can't we substitute people we know who have never been?

Saving for retirement begins now! Insurance has to be carefully selected and chosen (thank you Dave Ramsey!), cars have to be fixed, apartments must be rented...maybe one day (hopefully) a house will be purchased!!!

Suddenly you stop where you are and can't see straight. Your vision clears and you see a 5 year old skipping down the street. Carefree. No financial worries. No duties or obligations other than keeping their room clean and setting the table... You think to yourself...I will warn the next generation!!! They need to know how to enjoy their freedom while they've got it!

So you walk over to the little kid and say, "You are so lucky to be 5! You get to take naps! You can eat what you want and play for hours!" And the kid looks back at you with a confused look and says, "I'm not 5, I'm 5 and 8 months!"

And you mourn for another childhood being dreamt away...