For those of you who know me, you know how much I love Disney. I know random pointless tidbits of information about Disney and Pixar, I talk about Disney a lot, and I will always sing along if you put on a Disney song.I have strong opinions about Disney movies and characters, and I have Disney stickers and Disney related clothing everywhere. You know that I’m a child at heart and that I want to live in Neverland, and never grow up, just like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. You know that Tinkerbell is my all time favorite Disney character and Peter Pan is one of my favorite movies. Faith, trust, and pixie dust is one of my favorite quotes. That all being said, I’ve realized recently that the phrase “never grow up” doesn’t necessarily have to mean ‘never grow up.’.

I just started my junior year of college at Pace University, which is a big year for me. It’s the year I start actually student teaching, the year I start getting into the methods classes for teaching, and the year that everything really becomes real for my future educator life. Aside from the actual educational stuff, I’m finally past the sophomore slump (which is a real thing), I pretty much know who my solid friends are, and I’m comfortable hanging out on my own with all the people I wasn’t so comfortable hanging out with alone in previous years. So, that being said, what does the statement, ‘never grow up’ really mean to me?

Until a few days ago, never growing up meant just that; never growing up. It meant that I had to stay the same as I have always been, never growing and never losing the childlike abilities I have sometimes (such as coloring, lego’s, all that fun stuff). However, I recently have come to the realization that never growing up is actually the opposite of all that. It’s being able to mature and grow up enough while also keeping that childlike part of you there, ready whenever you need it. It doesn’t mean you lose that part of you completely, forever. Instead, you always have it, it just isn’t featured as prominently anymore. Never growing up is the ability to be mature and adult when you need to be, while also having the ability to switch gears and color or have a Disney singalong or play with Lego’s or Lincoln Logs. It means being able to understand that these things are more than just toys and that they can actually be really helpful with stress management and life in general. I keep a thing of playdoh in my room for days when I’m really super stressed.

Never growing up is one of my favorite quotes and it means so much to me. It means being able to recognize when you have to be a mature adult, while also being able to embrace your childlike side when you can have some fun.