Childhood

It's finally hit me that I am no longer a child. People will no longer accept my ignorance. I will always have to work and provide for myself. It's no longer acceptable to walk around naked. I can't ask my parents to cut my food. Hop-scotch, po-go sticking, and jump roping will always hurt without additional support. Grandparents will not give me a present every time they come to visit. My mom will not tuck me in at night and read me bed time stories. I will never appreciate children's books, movies and shows again. Sitting in the grass will not be a regular occurrence. And holding hands will never have just the simplistic meaning of crossing the street.

It's weird to believe that I am now an adult. I miss the worry-free days of childhood.
I want to be able to remember the simple life:

I remember...
- when I would sit on my mom's lap and wonder why that prickly feeling was there sometimes and not others.
-knocking on my friends doors and asking their parents if they could come out and play with me.
-how everyone had that one "bossy" friend that they didn't really like, but since they didn't know any better they played with them anyway.
-being able to fit through the front door of my Barbi house.
-sneaking into my loud metal closet to retrieve my dress up high heels so I could sleep with them on.
-making a hopscotch that went from my house to my friends, 4 houses down.
-having the imagination to play "House" forever.
-the way Barbi's and American Girl dolls could capture my amusement for hours.
-the days with bed times.
-when sleeping without a night light was a BIG deal.
-the grass scratching at my legs when teachers or leaders held lessons or meetings outside.
-the independence I felt when I first road around the lake by myself and to have it instantly shattered when my mom found out and put me in "time-out"
-N64
-knowing exactly how old another kid was just by looking at them.
-waking up before my parents and realizing I had the privilege of jumping on them to wake them up.
-being a whole family who had dinner together.
-wanting a trampoline so badly and never getting one (now after watching America's Funniest Home videos I understand why my mother caved to wishes).
-sneaking down in the middle of the night with my flashlight to see what I would be getting for Christmas.
-never believing in Santa Claus
-the day my mother told me the tooth fairy wasn't real after I had spent an hour crying over the fact that I wasn't going to have the first tooth that grew in. I sure was one sentimental child.
-missing the first day of Kindergarten because my dad gave me "Bob's Brunch", this gross cheesy casserole thing, and I threw it up on the bus on the way to school... in the first seat.
-my first crush, Eric Straka, and how I would touch every inch of a paper when he was 'paper passer'.
-when my basement was filled with toys.
-kneeling on the bow with Lauren and singing kids song every time we were on the boat.
-searching for pieces of pretty glass down by the water.
-the day where Lauren and I jumped into the water 936 times. Oh the energy we had back then.
-sliding down the stairs on my stomach.
-wearing my blanket as a cloak.
-my mom reading the first 3 Harry Potter books to my brother and I after the divorce.
-thinking that the only hard part about driving was figuring out the knobs, aka the ac controls and radio.
-the grass sticking to my legs after running through the sprinkler.
-swimming in the lake behind my house.
-spending hours and hours on my swing set.
-playing with kitchen utensils in the bath tub at the lake.
-cart wheeling throughout the entire house.
-one-handed cart wheeling throughout the entire house.
-choreographing routines to songs by boy bands.
-fighting with my friends and getting over it the very next day.
-my brother and I playing 'ship' on my bed.
-when kids first started to swear. (I was the tattle tale for quite some time)
-asking my mom if a combination of letters was a word.
-my summer babysitters taking me to geauga lake and the rare but awesome nights that my mom would take us when she got home from work.
-my dad giving me lawn mower rides.
-playing in the pool at my grandparents house in Arizona.
-RECESS
-sitting in my bathroom and thinking "my parents will never get divorced"
-trying my hardest to climb over in to the big pool at my house in California.
-riding through "It's a Small World After All" in a green boat.

I hope I will always be able to remember my childhood. It was a good one.