If I was a crayon, I'd be a macaroni & cheese crayon.

Crayola had the best color names ever. (Sorry, RoseArt, but Crayola is way better.) I miss the times when I could look down at my crayon box and search for asparagus green or fuzzy wuzzy pink. I spent my childhood floating  through a sea of periwinkle and denim, desert sand and chesnut, eggplant and burnt sienna.

These days, when I whip out my dinosaur coloring book, I get strange looks from everyone. What's wrong with coloring a T-Rex antique brass? Or a Velociraptor screamin' green? It really is a shame that people consider it embarrassing. I'm definitely not embarrassed. If I was, I wouldn't be writing this.

I really don't like that people think that you can actually "grow out" of something. Sure, you can grow out of clothes or bad behavior, but I never really believed that you could grow out of something that you once adored. For example, I think Hide and Go Seek is the greatest game ever. I used to spend hours playing it with my friends. I played it so much, I figured out where every possible hiding place was. Needless to say, we quit playing it inside my house and we took it outside....

I haven't played Hide and Go Seek in years. It really makes me sad, too. 

I also want to save up so that I can rent a HUGE bounce house for my 16th birthday. I really think that would be an awesome way to preserve my "youthful spirit".


I don't think God gave us years to "grow out". Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. He gave us years to "grow up", yes. But "growing up" and "growing out" are two different things. We can look at the little kids around us and see how happy they are and say "Oh, they're just kids." Honestly, aren't we all? When you think about it, we really are all "just kids." So where did this idea of "growing out" come from? I seriously wish I had the answer to that.


I see kids running down the street laughing like wind chimes or the peal of a bell and I'm honestly jealous. If I were to get out the sidewalk chalk and play hopscotch on the pavement... well, there wouldn't be a shortage of strange looks. I don't want people to look at me differently because I enjoy the "immature" things in life.


I like to have fun. I like to laugh. I like to play games and color. I like to jump rope and hula hoop. I am proud of being a child, and I have no doubt that even when I'm 30, I'll enjoy these things just as much as I did when I was 5. 

Honestly, I think Parenthood is a second chance at Childhood. You have your kids asking you to play catch or house or even play Barbie, and I think that is truly a gift. God gave humans an everlasting childhood; it's just a matter of if we choose to embrace it or not.

When I go to Chad, I'm taking my Childhood with me.