Neverland

So as many of you know, or may not, I have a tattoo. It's an itty bitty one on my hip of 2 stars. They're not just your typical, "I got a cutesy tattoo" kind of stars. They are meaningful and unique stars. They are the Second Star to the Right. I will save you the google time and tell you that the Second Star to the Right and "straight on til morning" is how you find Neverland in Peter Pan. As your inner child may recall, Neverland is a place where you never have to grow up and can live forever young and have adventure after adventure. No, I do not have Peter Pan Syndrome and I am in no way shape or form talking about the kind of Neverland in Michael Jackson's world, but I do understand the significance of dreaming up such a place as James M. Barrie did and sharing it in a book for children. The whole point of this is, I hate being a grown up and I really wish that kids would stop trying so hard to become one. We all know that when we hit the teen age all we wanted was a car and to be taken seriously and be old enough to be on our own so our parents couldn't tell us what to do... that was all well and good until you got a car and were responsible for not wrecking it or had to get a job to help pay for some part of it. It was also fun until you got to college and you were responsible for getting your own butt to class and making sure your grades were good 'cause college didn't care to share this info with your parents anymore. It was fun to think you wanted to live on your own until you had to start paying bills and had to get a "real" job to support yourself...I don't know about you, but playing in my backyard with cars and dinosaurs (Barbies were not my thing) sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than worrying about any of that crap. So I wish I could go to Neverland...buttttt since I can't I have decided that I will do everything in my power to help instill the coolness of just being a kid. I know too many kids now that are 10, 11, 12 years old that are too alike a 16 year old. WHY?!? You have a year to be 16 and it is not when you are 12!! I say a 12 year old should enjoy being 12 and that this stupid damn society should stop making them feel like they should act older. I see kids this age doing things and saying things and knowing things that I knew NOTHING about back then. OMG if I listened to the music when I was 12 that I do now what a damn slut I would probably be...granted this is probably not true simply b/c I am a strong minded motha, but not all kids are that disciplined. Peer pressure is strong and even I wasn't able to resist everything. Kids are just blowing me away now though. Ahhhhhh!! I personally feel that we have made this world a somewhat horrible place to live. Think about it. We are just groomed to be GROWN UP. We go to school to grow up and WORK, we have to work to live, but unless you're extremely lucky or have incredible connections you'll never work where you want for the money you want just to spend years climbing a neverending ladder to finally MAYBE have money when you're old and wrinkly and your body is falling apart and you can't be fun anymore...whew, yeah why in the hell would I want to work my ass off when I am young to play when I am old?!? Hello, I want to have money and be fun when I am young and cute and have the energy to do so...might as well work when I am old and tired and will just be sitting there anyway. Can I get an AMEN?!?! I know you wanna. Moral of the story is that we have made this world so damn unbearable for ourselves, we keep making impossible requirements to get into college and find a job. We keep adding hours to our workdays and weekends to make life more accommodating for someone, my guess is simply for THE MAN. People say "that's life," but who said it had to be?!? Can life not be changed? I refuse to accept that I have to just deal because this is how the world works...it ain't workin' and it needs to be fixed!! I think I should be able to say that I can do something for fun, I should enjoy my job/career whatever. I hate obligations and I feel that my dreams should be attainable, but hell if there is not something roadblocking me everywhere I turn. I will not give up, but I would like to find this happiness sometime before I am ancient please and thank you. Until then I will just keep at it and will do everything in my ability to try and help reverse the premature aging process of young children. Being a kid is cool and I am not afraid to demonstrate! If you have children do me a favor and PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!! Encourage kids to act their REAL age and take them on lots of "take your kids to work" days so they can see how much better being a kid really is. I hope that after reading this everyone is thinking of some way to find their own piece of Neverland :)