The Child In Us All

Have you ever looked at the picture of when you were a child? Do you try to see that child still in you? And for those married with child(ren), are you constantly seeing yourself in your child(ren)? When you think back on your childhood, do you have this special feeling that makes you smile and talk in an animated way? When you see a very large gathering of children, do you often feel drawn to look or to go there?

There is a child in us all. As we grow up we don't grow out of childhood into adulthood, we simply add adulthood to our childhood. We are still that child who loves birthday gifts. We are still that child whose curiosity is insatiable. We are still that child who has big ambitions. We are still that child who loves to be loved. We are still that child we were many many years ago. The child in that picture is still in us.

image: ec.europa.eu

I still have the innocent shy look I had all throughout my childhood. And the silent stubbornness. The desire to do the very thing I have been told is very dangerous. Even though I have got a large bed, I still sleep at the edge and wake up on the same side I slept facing. It was the way I slept for the most part of my childhood. I still enjoy reading those books I read as a child: The Great Expectation, David Copperfield, The Little Prince, Gulliver's Travels, The Drummer Boy, Eze goes to School, Without a Silver Spoon, Song of Praise hymns (and our version of the hymns), The Pilgrim's Progress, My Book of Bible Stories, The Adventures of Souza, Sugar Girl, The Boy Slave, Oliver Twist, The Chronicles of Narnia series, Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre-dame, The Jero Plays, Mine Boy, Things Fall Apart, No Longer At Ease, A Man of The People, One Man One Matchet, The Beggars' Strike, Second Chance, Little Men, Little Women, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island (love the pirate's song) and the stories in the Intensive English textbooks. 

There is this indescribable joy I feel when I come across the creative writings I made when I was a child. The grammatical errors and bad spelling apart, they are so much like my writings today. I remember how my dad used to buy the Saturday Punch to see if my articles had been published in the children section they had then. About 6 of my sent-in articles were published. Till today, he still buys Saturday punch and I am still trying to contribute articles to newspapers.

I can't think of any aspect of my childhood that didn't go along with me into adulthood. Even the way I laugh. I am constantly seeing the child in me, the child I was and will always be. 

And you? Do you often see the child in you? And do you have any very interesting story of the childhood habits you still have?