There are some childhood activities that just make you smile when you think about them.

Thinking back to my childhood, I have so many amazing memories, stories and events that, when I think about them, keep me grounded and happy. Some of my best childhood memories and activities are:

Reading –  I was an absolute bookworm and was always caught with my nose in a Babysitter’s Club, Nancy Drew or my word find books (I LOVED THEM!).

Travelling –  I’ve legit had the travel bug from a very young age and now that I think about it, I’ve been blogging since primary school! I often used my notebooks and any piece of paper I could find to write about my trips to visit my aunt in Port St. Lucie, about my first trip to Disneyland and reading every single sign I saw as we cruised down I-95.

Rollerskating – Nothing was more exhilirating! I loved lacing up my feet in my pink and white roller skates and hitting the City Market parking lot on a Sunday for some sweet spins and good music! I always afraid to go too fast though, for fear of falling and would watch as my sister and cousins lap my scary tail around the course! Still…rollerskating was always my love!

So when I got invited to Skate City, the newest roller skating rink in town last week I was pumped! Nervous…but pumped!

Lord, how am I going to remember how to roller skate? It’s been years since I last glided backwards to Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It!” Will I fall on my butt in front of all these people? Does it even matter?”

And then the 10-year-old in me screamed, “Shut up and just skate!”

Just like that I rolled onto the slippery skating rink; almost looking like a baby taking her first steps. I wobbled and held onto that wall for dear life, but within minutes I got my rhythm, my groove and my childlike glow back.

For nearly an hour I circled the small dimly lit rink; rolling past the stresses of work, life and career. They too slow to catch me on wheels. They’d have to wait until I was done.

https://youtu.be/RdcmD-uJaPA

Each time I made a turn or swayed to the 90’s music playing on the sound system, I reconnected with her; the stressless, innocent, non-bill paying kid! She was so happy! With each glide, I was reminded of how easy and peaceful life was as a child, a stark contrast to “adulting.”

I’m a firm believer that…

“Although life forces us to grow out of childhood we should never leave the child in us behind.” 

Somewhere between childhood and adulting, we stop playing and having fun!

The rigors of life and love sometimes tells the kid in us “speak when you’re spoken to and answer when you’re called. But we don’t ever find the time to call them out to play! As adults our version of relaxing begins and ends with TV, wine or sleep, when a good rip on a skateboard or swing in the park is exactly what we need. As adults, we’re missing out! 

So whether it’s riding bicycles, shooting marbles, playing jacks, jumping rope, playing hop scotch or playing basketball that made you happiest as a child, you should totally do it again…no matter your age!! 

I could for sure tell you that those few hours on the skating rink were the most refreshing and rejuvenating I’d had all week. I forgot all my worries and reconnected with the kid in me. It was even more rewarding to see other adults, men and women, laugh, giggle and just wild out as they skated and sometimes fell down! But like the kid in them would’ve done, they got right back up and kept trying!

That was so dope! 

Adulting is hard work, so why not escape it, if only for a few hours?! Skating will be my escape at least once a week!

Check out this article on the benefits of play for adults!