Shut Your Eyes and Listen to Peter

Mary MacLaurine

Not only can it be delightful honoring your inner child, it can be very therapeutic. I’m not suggesting collecting all your liquor and throwing it away, let’s not be hasty. But there is something to be said for just letting go of the stress and bummerdom of adulting to be a kid again.

So it’s time to join hands, shut your eyes, and listen to Peter:

“So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings, forever, in Never Never Land!” ― Peter Pan

Your kids will love meeting your inner-child. What better way to bond than to skip together down these five paths leading to the whimsical world of Never Land?

  1. Color

But instead of using that tattered Tupperware container of broken crayons and those dilapidated coloring books, buy that big box of Crayola’s, you know the one with all the exotic colors like Cerulean, Asparagus, and Salmon (inspiration for dinner, who knew?) and some brand new coloring books. Sweep all the action figures and Legos out of the way and lay right down there on the floor. Inside the lines, outside the lines, who cares because before you know it, you’ll all be giggling like fools and fighting over juice boxes.

  1. Do the Hokey Pokey (and, no, not that game the hubster likes)

Put in that DVD of silly kid songs and dances (the one that makes you cringe because you’ve heard it 10,000 times), but listen as a child and participate! Better yet, put on some good ol’ fashioned rock and roll and dance like everyone’s watching – they are; it’s great for your kids to see there’s a child inside “The Mominator.”  It’s great exercise and as Tom so eloquently stated in his tighty-whities, it “soothes the soul.”

  1. Dance in the Rain

Forget about your hair, forget about your makeup, and instead of soaking up the summer sun, get out there with your ducklings and get waterlogged! Toss those shoes off, leave the umbrellas and cumbersome rain gear in the closet and jitterbug with the jitterbugs!  Break all the dumb grown-up rules.  Get wet, make mud pies, splash in puddles, twirl with outstretched arms, and get your Fred and Ginger on! Let Mother Nature take care of bath time today; it’ll give you more time later to curl up together for a movie.

 


Listen to Mary McLaurine read “Shut Your Eyes & Listen to Peter” In Her Own Words on STITCHER or iTunes


  1. Build a Fort

There’s nothing more exciting than building a furniture fort, the more elaborate, the better. With your extensive box stacking knowledge (think closet storage), even your inner “mini-me” will marvel at how quickly some innovative additions such as upside down laundry baskets and normally off-limit end tables can turn Fort Ordinary into Fort Freaking Awesome! A few well-placed comforters, some big throw pillows, a device to stream a movie, and a few yummy snacks, and voila, the perfect home theatre experience which may even provide the perfect nap environment as well.

  1. Dress-up

Why wait until Halloween? Everyone loves to dress-up, and all you need for this activity is imagination!  Open up the closet and allow free-range rummaging through normally off-limits, “don’t ever touch that” items. Jewelry, shoes, boots, hats, scarves, dad’s big shirts, and suspenders all provide necessary acoutrama for epic transformations. Make sure to break out the makeup and have at it. Make sure your outfit is especially outrageous; your inner child wants to shine, too.

Plan a “show” with a grand entrance for the hubs/wife/partner, and even invite the in-laws and/or grandma and grandpa over (GAWD, this is why we keep the liquor!). Remember, this isn’t about the kids per se; it’s about entering and sharing their magical and enchanting world as a child. It’s a time when rules are tossed aside, perfection isn’t the goal, and for a short time, Tinkerbell’s in charge.

Now it’s off to dreamland…

“You know that place between sleep and awake? That place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you…that’s where I’ll be waiting.” – Tinkerbell from Peter Pan


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Honoring your inner child can be delightful and therapeutic. I’m not suggesting collecting and throwing away all your liquor, though, let’s not be hasty.


 This post was written by Mary McLaurine exclusively for BonBon Break Media, LLC.


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Mary McLaurine is a writer and blogger living in Maryland. She has two sons, supposedly grown and flown, who periodically crash land back into the nest. She has a grandcanine, Otis the Mighty Beagle, whom she may or may not actually love more than her boys. She blogs at The Heart of Sassy Lassie, mainly about trying to find humor in all of life's ups and downs. She has been published on First Day Press, Washington Post, Huffington Post, and several other sites. She has strong ancestral ties to Scotland and knows that, although she has never been there, she has lived there all her life. She fully embraces Peter Pan's philosophy of "never gonna grow up, not me!"