Friday, September 26, 2008

Tired Of Being An Adult

I'm tired of being an adult, when does the clock turn back, I'm really ready for it right about now. When do I get to be a kid again, when will I get to go back home and just have my parents look after things. I could just worry about squeezing all the play time in before I have to go to bed. No bills, banks, falling stocks, relationships, dating, rent, taxes, elections or sucky jobs. When do I just go back to my old school, have my teachers come back, see all my friends again and we could talk about what it was like to grow up and all the hard things everyone had to do. We could all say "whew, glad that part of life is over" and just go on with being a kid again. We would all be young again, no greying hair, wrinkles forming, back pain and we could run forever without getting tired. When will my grandmother be back in her kitchen, the smell of fresh baked goods and a big smile to greet me with her "hello pet", and then later play games with us and listen intently to what a six year old had to say. Where is my grandfather to pick at us. When will my other grandmother be back at her piano to play tunes for us to sing along with. All my cousins would reunite and we could pick up where we left off with our games of tag, kick the can and red rover. Where is my dog. Who are all these old people in our neighbors houses, I want them back the way they were. I could tell some of my favourite aunts and uncles "boy I really missed you when you died during my teen years, I am so glad you are back now!" Is this crazy world going to halt soon? I would like to go back now, to when birthdays were a good thing to have, to when Christmas was magical and not stressful, to when Halloween was a fun thing to do between neighbors and not a religious conflict or candy grab. A time when ghost stories told by an older child were the gospel truth. I wish it was like the old days, when frustration built up too much you could just sit down, take a deep breath, cry out loud and someone would come and make it all better. Some days I feel I have had enough, so I am happy that it will all go back to the way it was before... any minute now.... I'll just wait here.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The way you want to be young again, being a kid, can only happen in the fond memories you have. An other way of getting 'young' again without the fond memories is Alzheimer.

So which of these two would you choose?

BTW, I would like to be 20 again and know what I know now.

Greg said...

I think you can try to retain some of the magical thinking of your youth without requiring the extremity of Alzheimers.

Of course, I miss the simplicity of childhood sometimes, too!

Java said...

Mind if I sit down beside you here and wait with you? I am ready for someone to take care of me again. I am very, very tired of taking care of everyone else.

r. said...

We will all be kids again... Our time will come.

Joe Jubinville said...

One of the great scenes in the movie Adaptation (there are a few of them) is at the end when Meryl Streep, waist deep in a swamp, cradling her dead boyfriend in her arms, at the end of her rope, cries... "I want my life back again... before it got fucked up. I want to be a baby again. I want to be new... I want to be new..."

It's a universal lament, I think. Of course, as we all know, you can't go home again. And if we could, we'd probably soon realize it wasn't all milk and honey anyway. But I think it's very possible to reclaim the best of the past, the things that work, and bring them forward. As Paul sang all those years ago... "Get back... get back... get back to where you once belonged."

Doug said...

There are lots of things I wish I could go back to, too, but there are so many others I'm glad are over. There's gotta be a way to make *now* the best time of our lives. If you ever find out how, please let us know.

Anonymous said...

Time also seemed to go by sooooo slow. Now time goes too fast!

Jess said...

Childhood only looks good. While I miss my parents terribly and wish I could turn back time with respect to lost loved ones, that's another story. Actually being a kid means you don't have the freedom you have now. Being an adult gives you so many opportunities, exciting things to experience and the freedom to steer your own course.

But if it makes you feel any better, many of us once again end up in diapers before it's over. Does that help? ;)

Greg said...

You should look for one of those Zoltan the Magnificent fortune telling machines...

Matt said...

Steven, I'm right there with you. Wouldn't it be great to go back to childhood, but knowing what you know now and with the same maturity you have now - but someone else taking care of all the bad stuff? This is exactly the mood I'm in lately, too.

K said...

I totally agree!

Being an adult is really no fun at all...