Taylor swift spoke the truth in her song titled, "Never Grow Up" and Peter Pan sure had the right idea! Although, you rarely have any idea at the time, being a kid is one of the most precious phases of life.

Children have the three “I”s that explain why being a kid so much better than being an adult. 

Imagination – children can play for hours using nothing but their imagination. Clouds become animals and dolls come to life as they create stories and make believe places that they dream about living in. Imagination fades away as you get older and is replaced with facts and harsh realities that you may not want to face. It’s a lot harder to escape to your imaginary land when you’re confronted with the real world. As you get older, it’s beneficial to use your imagination in different ways. Imagine what it would be like to visit a place you’ve always wanted to go to, picture your dream home and what it looks like or imagine yourself as you want to be and then become it. Imagination isn’t just restricted to the confines of a young brain. Adults can dream too!   

Innocence – when you’re a kid, you don’t know a lot of things… people always say “what you don’t know can’t hurt you”. As you grow up, you have experiences, good and bad. These experiences help shape who you become, but also what you don’t become. A lot of times, we are too afraid of doing something or self-conscious of who we are because of the things we have been through in the past. Most children don’t have this limitation because they have innocence. They don’t know hurt or pain so they don’t feel the need to shield themselves from the world around them. They aren’t too timid to be whoever they want to be. That’s what our parent’s taught us to do after all!   

Imperfections – kids can be messy and make mistakes and it’s okay! It’s all part of the learning experience called growing up. You have parents to teach you wrong from right and clean up after you. When you’re an adult, you don’t have that luxury. Messing up in the real world comes with consequences worse than time out or grounding. No one is perfect and no one ever will be, but imperfections are a lot more acceptable when you’re a child than an adult. Grown ups are help to a higher standard.   

Childhood is a time that is often taken for granted. Kids these days are being pushed to work harder in school and be involved in more activities. In addition to that, the realm of social media, technology and pop culture has consumed them and taken away most of their innocence and imagination. Kids need to stay kids for as long as they can… As a senior in college I know I wish I could go back!