This is a post in response to the daily prompt:  Childhood.

I compiled a list of things that came to mind as soon as I read the word, and it’s in no particular order.  I am sure some of them will relate, depending on your age, and others will have a similar link but a different name.

Still, the idea of childhood brings with it a very visceral response that ignites memories of a day when things seemed so much simpler..

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Childhood is…

Childhood is…

The last day of school, and the promise of that first day of summer vacation. 

Lemonade stands and paper routes.

Skinned knees, bruises, broken bones, and the belief of immortality.

Saturday morning cartoons and all the greatest characters:

Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, The Smurfs, G.I. Joe, The Transformers, He-Man, and Rainbow Brite. 

Report cards, detention, and the ever dreaded Saturday School…

The Goonies, The Breakfast Club, and Labyrinth. 

Being snuck into your first rated R movie (the legendary Terminator 2).

I know you are, but what am I?  and being like rubber while the other person is like glue.

Tattle tales and narcs. 

Bedtimes and finding every way to violate them.

Family trips. 

Believing in magic, fairies and the WWF. 

The threats that followed the immortal lines of, “If you tell mom, I’m gonna…”

Homework that never got done, and ‘classics’ that were tossed aside. 

Chuck Taylors, Hammer pants, Z Cavaricci, and Member’s Only.

Playing outside until the streetlights came on.

Hide and seek, cops and robbers, tag, and just running because I was young and it felt good.

Noogies, wedgies, indian burns, and nipple twisters.

Dreaming of being a professional athlete, a lawyer, a cop, a bandit, a cowboy, an astronaut, a rock star, and David Bowie. 

Going to a game with dad, and going to the movies with mom. 

7-11 Slurpees, Reese’s Pieces, Laffy Taffy, Now & Laters, Abba Zabba, and daily eating too many sweets and never once thinking about how many calories were in it.

The painful process of deciding a Halloween costume, or having it decided for you by mom…

The horror of cooties, followed by the more terrifying first crush. 

Dreaming of being 16 and having a car, the freedom and fantasy of being ‘older’ (ohh, what a lie that was).

The community pool and trips to theme parks.

Spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven.   

The unparalleled magic of Disneyland. 

Ghost stories, summer camp, sun screen and bug spray. 

The first kiss followed by the first heart break. 

Being picked up from school by your older sibling in their super awesome car, and the immortality that came with that.

Going to grandma’s house. 

Board games that never ended. 

Spending everyday with my best friend. 

But most of all, childhood is…

Laying under the stars and dreaming of a limitless future that felt so impossibly far away.