Now I know I don’t speak for everyone when I say that coming into the beginning stages of adulthood sometimes causes us to miss being a child, but I know I speak for many. When we were little, I’m sure all of us would throw the occasional tantrum in which we would scream something along the lines of “I can’t wait until I grow up and get away from you!” Now the “you” you were referring to was, of course, your parents because as a young child, you didn’t quite realize how easy being a child is. You had absolutely no idea about the real responsibilities of adulthood, you just saw it as the land of “being able to do whatever you want.” However, now that you are an adult, I think it’s safe to say that you miss being a child, but I guess it’s a little late to start appreciating your childhood years.

As I stood in my kitchen this morning cooking my breakfast, I kept wondering why I was doing it because I knew I was going to have to clean it all up afterward and I really didn’t want to. If it were up to me I would’ve just left the dirty pans on the counter, and all the ingredients out, but as a young capable adult and not a 5-year-old child, I knew I would have to clean up after myself. This made me think of my childhood days of making little messes here and there without a care in the world knowing that mommy or daddy would always be there to clean it up. Not exactly sure at what point that all ended for me, when I suddenly had to start picking up after myself and becoming responsible for my actions, but in the blink of an eye, it happened. I grew up. Remember when you were little and you’d make a mess of your toys on the floor and then run away on to make your next mess? I’m sure we all are guilty of this. It’s just part of being a child.

Not having to clean up your messes goes hand in hand with the lack of responsibility you feel when you’re a child. You’re just free, unaware of what life has in store for you, and the hardships you’ll endure. Becoming an adult and having responsibilities thrust upon us, it’s only normal that we’d long for the simpler days of our childhood. I know that I, as a young adult of 18 years old, I find myself now flipping through photo albums of my childhood, reminiscing about what an easy time that was. I see the child version of myself and I instantly associate it with a sense of freedom, and, not including the tantrums, a constant state of happiness. Not having to clean up my messes was only a small fraction of what an easy time childhood was. There was no worrying about your future, your child mind already knew you wanted to grow up and be a ballerina or an astronaut, and that was good enough. When it came to money, all you knew was pointing to toys you liked in the store and seconds later they had been paid for with the green paper like material. Oh, yes, you knew that was money, but you didn’t know, nor did you care, where it came from. You didn’t have to deal with the reality that money doesn’t grow on trees and that you have to make some for yourself by getting a job. Nope, "job" was just a 3-letter word in the dictionary to you, not a part of your life. See? It’s only natural that you would miss being a child!

It’s true that when we are children, we take our childhood for granted. We wish away our childhood days, always looking forward to the brighter and more free times of adulthood, but what we don’t realize is that our childhood is the freest time of our lives. Our minds are only thinking about the good in the world, and our eyes are only seeing the wonderful things life has to offer. It’s not to say that entering into adulthood isn’t joyous because it is. Adulthood is the stage of life we come into that has the purpose showing us how to be independent. Adulthood is the beauty of realizing that we can do it on our own. It’s not just defined by that one line you screamed during your tantrum as a child. The line, “When I’m an adult I can do whatever I want,” is far from the truth. Becoming an adult means choosing right from wrong, not having people tell you what is. It means taking responsibility for your actions and taking your life into your own hands. Most importantly, it means that your eyes are seeing the world as more than just black and white, you are seeing everything. I like to believe that a large part of adulthood can be a longing for your childhood, because of the simplicity that comes with being a child. Being a young adult has its ups and its downs, but there’s always a part of me that longs for my childhood and the simple freedoms that came with it.