Weeeeee! Candy and pizza, and enjoying a moment of silliness and absolute childlike behavior. Maybe even allow yoursewf to tawk wike a chiwd? A cousin of mine and I are prone to do that. But it's Children's Day so why not? More icecream and less lunch. more gushy beverages and less water or "healthy crap".
Then I start thinking about children for this post and several things come to mind. First, that it might sound ironic from a confessed Childfree person like me, to go on talking about children. Like the children I won't have or the child I still am? Neither. Granted, I don't really like children. I creep at the sight of children like others would creep at the sight of a dead body, but I love my nephews. They were here today, and it was a delight to have them around, running up and down the house, playing with the cats and talking, sharing their funny ideas. Dani, the oldest, is still the one with the biggest heart and the sharpest mind. He's rather creative, but puts himself easily down by any setback. Fer, the youngest, is a raging ball of confidence and bossy behavior. A little charmer with a hellish attitude. It's kind of interesting noticing that these two are people like any of us, with somewhat less experience, but all the parts of the ir personality already there.
Stores are now filled up with children stuff, with only a few books - because Costa Rica isn't a land for books, and whoever takes this passion more seriously belongs to an "undergroud" cult-like group much like the animé fans or the Trekkies. There are also toys, and these toys are rather interesting. Have you noticed the toys of children? They are all replicas of adult things, they are all stuff to train them to a given adult role. Dolls so they play Mom or practice on them their vanity and sensuality, play make up, small cars, guns, doctor kits, trains, planes... there's nothing "just children like", nothing - save maybe for the playgrownds - that's not pushing children to be adults. It gets me thinking, what kind of "childhood" are we aiming to keep, what sort of inner child, when children themselves are constantly pushed into adult roles? Now even more, with whore-dresses for girls, and real, appliable play make up. Do you still remember the clothes we used to wear when we were little? Shorts and jumpers, colorful shoes and Hello Kitty skirts.
When we celebrate Children's Day, what are we really celebrating? Are we really keeping children to their childhood, or are we celebrating a lie, where children are being mistreated, pushed too early into the adult roles, suspended in a state where they are loaded up with things they haven't fully understood yet, and yet denied the knowledge? And when we talk about the inner child, what are we recalling to? Do we want to look at our real lives, our real car, real house, real children, real job and pretend they are all play things? Do we want to escape somehow the responsability for the life we have led?
Today, I'm thinking about the past, and I'm thinking about the rest of the world. Childhood isn't that perfect, dreamlike state we would like to pretend it is, so let's open up our eyes, and instead of yearning for the children we were or we pretend we were, lets smile at our inner children and tell them: "Hey look! Now my toys are real!" Let's connect, learn, remember what we wanted and be happy for what we have achieved. And for the rest? Well, we aren't dying in five minutes, right? We can still work on the rest, and thus still have something to do. And if we are dying in five minutes, then use that time to write your will and will each of your unfinished wishes, to other people. Sure they'd love to have something to do. ^_^
Our inner child isn't hidden, we are it. And it's not really a child, it's us, so if you feel like you've lost them, dude, you just lost yourself.
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