What does it mean to be a kid at heart? – Asks the daily writing prompt today. I didn’t look at last year’s answer to this question on purpose. I wonder how alike they are.
Cool, animals.
Photo by Mike Hartley
Just a few off the top of my head:
To play from dawn to dusk.
To dance like nobody’s watching.
To run like the wind.
To sing out loud with abandon.
To laugh so hard you fall to your knees holding your stomach.
To pretend you are anything you want to be.
To take risks.
To say what’s on your mind.
To not know prejudice.
To look at the world with amazement each day.
To experience new tastes for the first time.
To learn new sports.
To make good friends.
To crash on a bike or skateboard for the first time.
To learn from mistakes.
There are many things to being a kid at heart. Unfortunately many are cut off with kids experiencing traumas at a young age. These change the whole experience of youth.
What does it mean to be a kid at heart? – Excellent question from the daily writing prompt.
I hope I never lose that part of me that has the kid at heart. I know I lost some of it because my grandchildren reminded me of that when I play with them, but they are helping me reclaim that mindset now as they grow and I get to share that youth again.
These are the things that remind me of being a kid at heart.
I remember Bob or Rusty dribbling a basketball up to my door in the wee hours of the morning ready to hit the courts or ballfield and the excitement of the day ahead, spending the day with dozens of friends till dark. That passion when daylight hit and the desire to get outside was unstoppable. Then again we didn’t have all the electronic games and toys.
I remember standing on the top of Killer Hill in the snow and thinking can I stop this thing before I go into the creek for just a split second before pushing off as fast as I could to get maximum speed. No FEAR.
Oh and for you cocky youngsters who think you’re so bad on these modern boards. Try riding a piece of plywood about half the size of modern boards in width and length with 4 wheels so thin you just drifted if you had to turn because you had no grip. And we didn’t have skate parks or nice paved plazas we had roads with rocks and cars in them. Oh, there were no pads or helmets back then either.
Skate and Scooter. Photo by Mike Hartley
Running and jumping into a freshly raked pile of leaves or mound of snow. Or building forts in the middle of the woods around us.
I loved how I had a much more vivid imagination. That is where my grandchildren are showing me what I’ve lost and need to get back. They think outside the box. Because they don’t know there is a box. I love to watch them create and interpret.
Riding a bike was a huge part of my childhood. It was our tool to explore. This reminds me I need to get my daughter’s first bike out of the attic for my granddaughter to use when she’s here.
My better half says I’m a perpetual 18 year old so I guess I haven’t lost all my youth.
I never expected to have as much fun playing on the floor with toys for 2 and up again till the grandchildren came along. Nothing reminds me of my youth more than when one of them grabs my hand and leads me to the drawing-room we have for them or the basement where a lot of the toys are. Then being asked to play tea party with my granddaughter or let my grandson play Godzilla knocking down Lincoln log towers I build for him and then rebuilding them for him to repeat the destruction.
In some ways, I’m kind of enjoying my childhood which was cut short.
If we all thought more like a kid at heart we wouldn’t be hurting or killing each other.
