Growing Up/Old

I went to Target a couple weeks ago, before I got this nasty cold that's kept me under house arrest for the last few days, where a very little thing happened. It was so small in fact, that I barely noted it at first. But it has since been gnawing at me a little more each day until, finally, I have decided to share it here in hopes that I will feel, if not better, at least relieved that I have it off my chest.

You know those big, knee-high red balls that are in front of the stores as decorations?




Ok, there's only one in this picture, down in the right hand corner, but that's what I'm talking about.

I was walking out of the store with my purchases and looking for my car from just outside the door when I see this little kid, probably around eight or nine years old, run and leap-frog over one of the red balls.

So? Happens every day, right? So... that's what this blog is about? Really?

Yes. Really. Because right then it hit me. "Oh my goodness. I've become an adult." Yes, I'm 27 and have legally been an adult for some time, but this was the moment where it really struck me.

See, I realized that those red balls represented play possibilities for children, shields for tag, climbing opportunities, obstacle course hazards, etc. But all I saw upon walking into the store was red things to walk around and possibly a creative way for Target to keep drunk or enraged drivers from plowing into their store fronts with their vehicles.

I've lost my childish way of looking at things. I stopped looking at the world as a playground and it took a child using it as exactly that to show me my new perspective. That's what's been on my mind lately. Is it bad for an older person to see playground equipment in everyday life? Is it immature and irritating? Have I improved because I see the balls as things to walk around instead of play with, or the opposite? Am I a better person or have I lost something important?

It's been kind of sad because I liked being a kid. Is it too late to go back to that mindset? Would it be a bad thing to try?