A Thought For Christmas

A couple of days ago, Sunny and I went to finish our Christmas shopping. When we were done, we split up to buy gifts for ourselves. (I know it’s odd buying gifts for ourselves instead of each other, but I wanted a game and Sunny wanted clothes…if we’d bought them for each other we’d have ended up exchanging them anyway).

Anyway, a few minutes later, we met up again and Sunny asked me what I’d got. The conversation went something like this:

“What game did you get?”

“Pokemon.”

“Pokemon? What? Are you twelve?”

“No. I’m 29, but I’m not going to pretend fun things aren’t fun anymore just because I’m older.”

It’s true. As a society, I think we take ourselves way too seriously. We grow up, become ‘adults’, then spend the rest of our lives developing ulcers because we’re so stressed out.

Here’s the deal, it’s Christmas morning. Don’t just watch your kids play with their presents… get down on the floor and play with them as well. I don’t care if you’re a bank manager or the goddamn CEO of a multinational corporation. Forget the way you’re ‘supposed’ to behave and pretend you’re seven years old again.

I guarantee you’ll make an amazing discovery. Playing with Legos or driving an RC car is exactly as awesome when you’re forty as it was when you were four.

Yeah, it’s not ‘dignified’, yeah, you’re being childish…but so what?

Let me let you in on a little secret. I turn 30 in less than a month… but hand me a coloring book and some crayons and I will color the shit out of some dinosaurs. I spend significant amounts of time thinking about Batman or mentally planning the Ultimate Treehouse. Sometimes, when I’m driving, I pretend I’m piloting an X-Wing. When I walk through an automatic door I wave my hand and pretend I’m opening it with the force.

The only difference between me and 99.9% of everyone else is I’ll actually admit it.

Sure, we’re adults, there are times when we have to be grown up. We have responsibilities…but just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we can’t occasionally turn the couch cushions and a few blankets into a sweet fort.

It’s Christmas Day. Chances are there are a ton of new toys in your house this morning.

Take the time to be a kid again. It’s fun.