Why grow up?

As I write this blog, I am finishing off a happy meal! Yes, you read right, a happy meal! Complete with a princess toy (Which I am not quite sure of it's purpose? It's pink and fuzzy! Who knows, I'll figure it out)! Ahhh yes, the moments when I prove, without a doubt, that I am still very much a kid at heart. Moments that are not rare by any means!

Happy meals are a small treat I enjoy when I am writing my children book manuscripts (and other times I feel necessary). I feel that I am rewarding my inner child for her creativity! Ok, that is totally some random excuse I pulled from thin air! I'm not going to lie. I just love happy meals. :0)

ANYWAYS! I am a child at heart. I really don't see the need to grow up completely. I mean seriously? Give me a list of 10 good reasons to be without an inner child? If you can come up with a good list, with 10 solid reasons that I cannot argue, I will consider growing up.

Keeping in contact with your inner child is good for many reasons in my opinion. Reasons that creativity is among! Your inner child can keep you young at heart, ready for challenges, full of energy... so many things. I ask you this... when is the last time that you hugged a teddy bear? Painted without a paintbrush? How about going to the park to swing so high you might fly far far away into the sky? Or how about building a tent out of blankets and reading for hours? My last tent was about a week ago! My niece (age 5) and nephew (age 6) and I (age 19 going on 7) decided to play "princess and power rangers;" building our special hideout tent on top of my queen size bed. One large size blanket, 2 hair ties, a broom and all the pillows in the house later, we had a top secret club area prime for snuggling and reading. Our only limit was our imagination, which in the hours that passed, seemed to span endlessly. Giggles floating out from the makeshift tent edges.

In those hours, I was privileged to be let into their world of make believe and fairies. A world I could not have entered if it were not for my inner child (who, by the way, I think rocks)! When we ran out of books, they turned to me for new stories, which I pulled together in a matter of minutes; their grins fueling my exciting tales. Together, the three of us escaped to a world far away from our small blue house on the outskirts of town. Our stories took us to fishing ponds across the world, meeting creatures like Big Foot (who we like to call Harry, he likes gummy worms and hot chocolate....hee hee, and I am sure nice long walks on the beach if anyone is interested...though he is a hard guy to catch)! We created tales of princesses in castles waiting to be rescued; and of the ninjas who saved them (random but true)!

The point of my babble is this. Being able to pull out the inner child within is a great reliever for stress. Now of course, there are times that it is required to be grown up. This I do not argue in any way. Growing up is an unavoidable process (despite Peter Pan's wishes...though I still continue to look for Neverland, and Tinker Bell... I will let you know if I am successful). But growing up does not mean having to abandon all of our innocence or imagination. Life is serious, but it can be fun too. Taking life too seriously is where many of our stress problems come from... we over think things and complicate what, if we take a step back and breatheeeee, may be simple.

So the next time you find yourself stressed, under pressure or getting lost in the world's buzz. Get a happy meal, or go home early one night and play with your kids, build a tent! Read a book! Do SOMETHING out of the ordinary, something fun, and something creative. Now some of you may think that it is too late, that your inner child is far gone, but your wrong. If you know anything about children, it's that they are stubborn. Chances are, your inner child is close by, waiting for a little attention! So have some fun.... and as for me.... well.... who knows what is next! You'll just have to wait for the next blog, but in the mean time, go fly a kite!