It's a great feeling being out with your boyfriend, holding his hand, or even just being next to him, thinking, "Yeah, this is my man." Then five minutes later, you're behind closed doors like, "Did I say man?" because you're one of the few to know his inner-child isn't so far from the surface. In fact, it may be a little too close with the amount you put up with. Here are a few ways you can tell your boyfriend's inner-child might never leave him.

1. He still watches his favorite cartoons.

Sure, they never get old, sometimes it's a classic. But, wait, seriously? How many times has he seen that episode? Maybe it's a comfort thing, to block out the real world for a few episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog to fondly remember their childhood. Let's face it though, these are probably better for your brain than reality shows these days.

2. He quotes said cartoons.

You probably hear, "Is mayonnaise an instrument?" in his best Patrick voice at just the sight of the condiment.

3. It's the end of the world when they're sick.

Get ready to take care of the poor, sick baby for days. Nothing has ever hurt them as much as this sore throat does. At least that's what their pouting face says and what you have to remember when you heat up all those soups for him and tuck him in his blankie.

4. The children's toy aisle will never be neglected.

There's no walking into your local Walmart without passing through the toys. And foam swords? Forget it, you're not getting out of this one without a fight. A fight with wannabe warrior moves, sound effects, and all.

5. He knows almost all his dinosaurs, or Pokemon, or Transformers, etc.

You can't take this pride away from them, you just can't. And maybe, just maybe, you feel a little pride, too, that he knows which dinosaurs are carnivorous and which ones aren't.

6. He might make the sad puppy face.

Okay we all do this to get our way sometimes. You tell him you have to leave or something oh-so heart breaking and boom; sad, round eyes, lip pushed out to make you feel bad. Shamefully, it could work.

7. He will gladly accept toys as gifts.

Hey, maybe that really big Hot Wheels car track is something he always wanted as a seven year old, but never got it. Now, he'd be perfectly happy to take the time to build it and use it for the next week. Then it'll probably be something nice to look at after that, but he still loves it.

8. He still hides to scare you.

You know not to leave the room for a while without slowly opening the door like the spy that you are and checking behind everything and in the closet. He could be anywhere, waiting for the perfect sneak attack.

Yes, at heart, he's a true child. However, maybe you can't say you're not either, like me. I won't complain about a few hours of cartoons, we probably understand the jokes better now anyway. I can surely be a baby curled up in bed when I'm sick and I don't think jumping out and scaring people ever stops being funny. Every once in a while, that urge to yell at him to grow up and stop being a five year old will emerge, but at the end of the day you'll be over it because he's your five year old. Who even wants to grow up, anyway? So you just learn to love the child in him and occasionally perform a sneak-attack from behind with a pool noodle in the middle of a store.