Is being childlike or letting the child in us stay such a bad thing? No, we don’t think so. Let’s love ourselves – the adult and the child in us alike.

“There is no point in growing up, if you can’t be childish anymore”, goes an old saying.

Who doesn’t adore little girls that act childish and frivolous when they are young? Frolicking in their pretty dresses, pig tails and cute locks, they are loved for their childishness. Subsequently these little girls grow up into adults with streaks of childishness in them. Or is it just being childlike? Men too adore that in the women that they choose to marry that act ‘baby-like’ and all kiddish, but only when they are around them. The same little girl is now expected not to act childish anymore. If she does, society mistakes it as being childish and not childlike.

Society ‘expects’ you to grow mature, act responsible and take the reins of life into your own hands especially after marriage. Any act of ‘irresponsible’ behavior gets you typecast as being childish. But what if I rephrase the act as being childlike not childish? Maybe it is just the wild child in all of us that springs up to life at times.

The late 20’s are a weird yet interesting phase in a woman’s life. There is a surge of emotion yet a feeling of self-actualization. Neither wanting to touch 30 nor wishing to be 20 again, this phase is ecstatic and overwhelming at times. I remember the Britney Spears song, “I am not a girl, not yet a woman” screeching in my ears, neither wanting to be labeled as a woman, nor wanted to be treated as a little girl. It remains one my favorite songs and lyrics, till date.

An elderly aunt once remarked right after my marriage, “It’s time to grow up honey, and now you don’t have to be the childish one anymore.” Approximately two years after this, I ran into her again and while she looked at me expectantly I answered, “Aunty, I am not childish anymore, but I am still childlike”.

What is the harm in letting the inner child come out of the harness once-a-while? Nature has given women so much power to endure, comprehend, thrive, multi-task, fascinate the world with her wit and charm. How else would we retain so much unless we let our inner child spring up to action?

So yes, I call myself child-like not childish. Like everyone else, I make mistakes, misplace stuff, fall down, get lost in a familiar road, have butter-fingers, lose my cool, scatter my stuff around on weekdays, spring up and do a little jig when my favourite song comes up on TV, ogle at strangers in the bus, lick the plate while eating noodles, fight over ice-cream with my husband, get up late on weekends and get scared of the dark even now. In fact, almost everything else that I used to do as a child, I keep on doing once in a while to let the inner child beam.

To all the ladies out there, married or not, a teeny weensy piece of advice: get mature, but stay a little mad. Be responsible, but stay a little reckless, be aware and also a little absurd. Save yet splurge, get all dolled up yet be the plain jane, dance in the rain and in the night club too. Get wise and remain wild. Be blessed with a child and still remain child-like.

“You can always be childlike without being childish. A child always wants to have fun. Ask yourself now ‘Am I having fun?.” – Christopher Melloni.

Image of a happy young girl via Shutterstock