I was never the kind of kid who played with toys. In fact, the first ‘toy’ I selected on my first visit to the toy store was a puzzle book. So yes, I have always been a bit of a nerd. My childhood memories of playtime involved playing scrabble and being really annoyed by others who would not have the patience to finish the game or playing teacher to my little brother and making him do sums until he would throw something at me and leave.
But lately I have been feeling more and more like a child. I got my first soft toy when I left for uni and find myself sometimes unable to sleep without it. It’s a small black and white fluffy cow named ‘cowwa’. I have also come up with a bucket list of childhood things that I have never done and I try to complete as many of them as I possibly could without attracting too much scrutiny. So last week I danced like crazy in the rain and snuck into a children’s park to celebrate submitting my PhD proposal. I went on the swings, monkey bar and that swirly thingy that I have never seen before. Sadly, the slides were way too small. Come to think of it, I am glad I did not get arrested because I am pretty sure children’s parks have age limits. I suppose calling them ‘children’s playgrounds’ is somewhat self-explanatory!
All of this had me wondering if I have a condition psychologically similar to Benjamin Button. In my case, probably not. Perhaps ticking the next item off my bucket list might convince my family to pick up the phone book and look up a psychologist’s contact details. I want to start drinking off a toddler bottle simply because as far as I can remember, I always drank off adult cups without even a hint of a cartoon picture. A quick search on google however proved that there are adults who grow up and suddenly find out that they are suffering from age reversing syndromes. The case of two British bothers, one who has a teenage daughter and the other a gunner in the RAF was particularly saddening. They now have a mental age similar to 10 year olds and require around the clock care.
So to prove you (and mostly myself) that I will not get too obsessed and break into a kindergarten, I have decided to advocate for constructing adult playgrounds. New York installed its first adult playground in June last year and hopefully it will become a catchy trend. I am not talking about outdoor gyms or spaces for orgies. I am talking about places where adults could go and relive their childhood fantasies. Go crazy on the swings, have water fights, sing, laugh, play and rejuvenate!
Kee Reflections 