THE CHILD IN ME
"Grow up!"
That was what my ex-boyfriend used to spew out, combined with a distinguished irritation on his voice, whenever I stomp my feet, scrunch my face, or frown like a bratty kid whenever I'm in my childish mood. I admit that was one of the reasons why we broke up.
I admit, being an only child, I used to be the spoiled, bratty kid and a naughty one for that matter. I remember hitting a playmate, three years older than me, with an open can of sardines for no apparent reason, giving her 3-inch long stitches just a millimeter away from her left eye.
I also love playing testosterone-laden games with my male cousins such as tumbang-preso, moro-moro and BMX bike racing. The whole subdivision is our race track (at my age that time, who cares of a possible broken hymen?). In fact, I'm good at racing bikes and I knew a lot of bike exhibitions. In fact, unbeknownst to my mom, I secretly joined a bike-racing competition, only to be later on disqualified due to my age and gender (yeah, at an early age I was already a victim of gender discrimination). I can say I had a very active childhood.
I admit that at my present age, I'm still fond of watching cartoons and animated films. Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Disney (and Pixar) films. I never get tired of watching these animated flicks over and over again that I memorize the lines and had photographic memory of each scenes: The Lion King, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 1-3, Up, Cars, Aladdin, Lilo and Stitch, Beauty and the Beast, A Bug’s Life, Tangled, Wall-E, Ratatouille, and the classics Dumbo, Bambi and Pinocchio. As a feminist, I personally love Mulan, Pocahontas, Brave, and yeah, I was also bitten by the Frozen bug.
So imagine the joy I felt the first time I went to Disneyland. I am not ashamed to admit that I was teary-eyed, FYI tears of joy, when I saw the famous parade of the Disney characters. The music, the laughter, the excitement, the atmosphere…it was indeed the “Happiest Place on Earth”. I loved it so much I visited Hongkong Disneyland twice.
Is being childish a sign of immaturity? Or there might be a reason behind it? Allow me to spill the beans…
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.