If I Were a Kid...I'd Already Have a Hummer!

I cannot in good conscience say that I would like to be a kid again. But I think about it.

Adult Barbie Salutes
My Logic



I think about it at Christmas. And no, not because I want to go back to the days where I got more presents. My parents are perpetually generous in that way, and I have been fortunate to never be without on Christmas morning. It is about the awe of discovering a new “toy.”

Despite my frequent complaints about the difficulties of being an adult, I adore so many of the freedoms that age has provided. I have gone through the pains of learning patience, and curbed my need for instant gratification (mothers call the final stage of resignation “maturity”). But one of the perks of adulthood, is the earned ability to revert back to our need for instant gratification whenever possible.

For example, I can do laundry at 2 AM in a panic because I just “have” to have that skirt clean before seeing handsome-guy-at-the-store tomorrow. No waiting for Mom’s traditional laundry day. I need it, I wash it, I pay the water bill and never complain about the “waste” of a small load size.

OR, in a more practical sense, I have the benefit of mobility as an adult. I have a new car—no she has not yet been lauded in the blog—but every little detail of that painfully-purchased symbol of adulthood makes me smile. I drive when I need to escape. I get in my lovely little Hyundai and cruise. Music pumping, street lights morph into tree lines, and I lose myself in the rhythm of the tapping my hands to the wheel in time to the music. It is the single most enjoyable thing you can do by yourself...remember, Santa is watching. Keep your thoughts pure guys…

Adulthood is worth it: I’ll take the career woes! Dead End Dating? Fine, I can conquer that too! Bills? No problem! I’ll make a spreadsheet.

And then, I go to Toys R Us.

I can’t even be angry at the semi-spoiled children  for their endless options: frankly, I still sort of want the Holiday Debbie Harry Barbie for 2011. I mean look at her!

"I make Barbie look like a steam punk."



Hybrid Hummer...WOW.


  

I would have never been able to choose.



But honestly, I love Christmas shopping—probably too much. Walking through the Toy Store inspires the same level of awe in me that it did as a child. Things are different: the technology/gaming department was half the size in my day as it is today. The Disney toys weren’t quite and gender neutral (i.e. Cars) as they are today. The most “universal” gift you would find in my day was a bike, or swing set, or maybe a walkie talkie. Man, Sisterita and I LOVED our walkie talkies.

There is something great about watching children discover the world around them through new toys, all while we usher in new family traditions and memories. And the children aren’t even aware it is happening at the time. When it comes down to it, I appreciate that our world has made it possible for children to learn and explore through so many different avenues: every sense is employed in today’s “playtime." The next generation will know how to: drive a Hummer, take for granted the GPS, kick my butt in Guitar Hero, all while subconsciously registering the impact that the band Blondie had on fashion and modern musical expression. Being a kid today...sounds way harder than being an adult. But I still want to play in the aisles! :)