Sunday, January 25, 2009

Never underestimate the power of blanket forts

The contrast to the fact that I feel justified acting younger when I'm back in HomeTown is that I feel compelled to act my age when I am back in the city.

The city is the place where I only hit the snooze button one time.
Where I file my own taxes.
Where I use a clipboard regularly.
Where I eat steamed vegetables by choice.
Where I own too many pairs of plain black socks.
Where I spend my Saturday afternoons buying garbage bags and Swiffer refills.
Where I send important emails on the train to work.
Where I make sure I wear sensible earrings (in certain contexts, at least).

Every once in a while, though, I get a flash of something that makes me feel like a child again.

Today, I was taking my bedding out of the dryer, I noticed that one of my pillow cases had gone missing. I stuck my head into my comforter cover, and saw that the pillow case had become wedged at the bottom, so I crawled in a little further to retrieve it. All the sudden, with the way the light was filtering through the blanket, I felt as though I was hiding out in a blanket fort.

And I smiled.

I realize, now, even though I've done a remarkable job at this whole "adult" thing, there are some things that all the practical pants and day planners in the world can't suppress.

Like the smell of crayons.
Having breakfast for supper.
Giving myself a bubble bath beard.
Jumping onto every chalked game of hopscotch I come across.
Dancing around my apartment to the song on my iPod the second the front door closes behind me.
Eating too much ice cream.
Tickle fights.
And being tucked into bed so tightly that my arms can barely move.

Blanket forts trump steamed vegetables any day.

29 comments:

Living Dees Life said...

i love blanket forts!! and i love crayons, too!! we have breakfast for supper alot :-) and we have atleast 1 tickle fight a day!!

Babs said...

ANYthing trumps steamed vegetables

B said...

I miss blanket forts... a whooole lot.

Brunhilda said...

It's good to get away from adulthood sometimes. Definitely.

Maxie said...

The smell of play-doh too :-)

Anonymous said...

I love this post! I had a nerf gun war with a 4-year old tonight. That was pretty amazing. Except now I'm back in real life mentally preparing for Monday morning tomorrow...

Andhari said...

seriously? LOL i love eating cocoa puffs for dinner.

Anonymous said...

I had breakfast for dinner tonight!

Anonymous said...

I completely feel you on this! I am much the same way when I am at *home*...

Brett said...

That made me smile.

Essentially Me said...

I miss Saturday morning cartoons the most. The anticipation of waiting for that day to come.

wee-h said...

Aww this has put a big smile on my face. I miss getting my 10 pence for my saturday sweets and then running home with them to catch cartoons on the tv and trade the white chocolate mice with my sister.

Sheila said...

I too like the smell of crayons, having breakfast for supper and eating too much ice cream!

I also love building creations with Legos - One of the great perks to being a parent is being able to do childish things and get away with it!

EF said...

my guilty kid-inside goes insanely wild for splashing in mud puddles, or when i have to stay dry (ier) for a while, pulling on rain-soaked branches and getting me (or more likely others) a little wet! :-)

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I ask the husband to make me a burrito. Which doesn't sound strange but I mean to tuck me into bed like I'm a burrito :)

Emily said...

this post made me smile!! :]

Unknown said...

Excellent post. Makes me want to go have a bubble bath tonight and throw on the beard.

Mandy said...

I will always be a child at heart and wish more people felt the same way.

P said...

There is still a big kid inside of me fighting to get out. It usually wins the fight...

Anonymous said...

This post made me smile today. :) Which was hard, because I feel like shiz.

And crayons were always better than markers, because my brother used to bite the top off of the markers and eat them. That could probably explain some of his life choices.

Katelin said...

crayons really do make it all better. well that and blanket forts :)

Therapeutic Ramblings said...

"Giving myself a bubble bath beard."

That made me smile and remember being a kid and having that be the highlight of my day. If only it were that easy now.

Kate said...

I see your breakfast for dinner and raise you a chocolate cake for breakfast.

Eaten whilst hiding in a blanket fort, of course!

Bayjb said...

Oh my gosh I love hop scotch. I need to find some chalk to draw some with.

alexa @clevelandsaplum said...

the creation of a great blanket fort is an art.

my basement was always a great place to build them, with the pool table and all.

i kinda miss those days.

Daisy said...

Really lovely post Princess. I feel that way whenever the Colonel makes me do the "duvet trick" (I think comforter is what we call duvet anyway) where we have to put the cover over our head inside out and the other person hands you the corners. Too tempting not to stay in there for a bit and get cosy.

Anonymous said...

At first, when you crawled into the dryer, I thought you were going to say that you felt like acting if you found the portal to Narnia.

Lauren said...

I love this post. I want to go home and make a blanket fort right now!

Also, I still have breakfast for dinner. It's just too good to give up.

I miss the smell of paste. I didn't eat it like many kids, I just really liked the smell and the memories of making paper dolls.

Tonya said...

We all need the childlike mentality from time to time. Go back to the simpler things in life. There is a difference between that and totally immature. I'm sure we both know people like that! :)