by Miranda Dickinson

Created on: May 21, 2007

When I was six years old, the thought of being a Grown Up was irresistibly alluring. I watched those around me (who had already attained this wonderful title) with awe-struck excitement, longing for the day when I could be like them.

Now I am, officially, a Grown Up, I long to be six years old again...

I never realised it at the time, but six years old is a great age to be. The world is your oyster and anything is possible. The toughest questions you have to consider are things like, "Orange or blackcurrant squash?", to which the answers are simple - "Blackcurrant, please." You can race around, pretending to be Cagney and Lacey or Wonder-woman, to your heart's content and never worry about what people think about you. If you do this when you're a Grown Up, people tend to stare. Or have you committed.

Far from the glittering utopia I thought "Grown Up-dom" would be, instead it appears to be filled with mundane, dreary tasks that are usually related to paying bills of some variety or other. Sometimes, it can feel like the only freedom you possess as a Grown Up is the freedom to decide which bills you will settle this month.

And another thing: Being Responsible. What is that about? At what point did I cease being able to be blissfully irresponsible and become morally obligated to Be Responsible? I had a glimpse of this unenviable state when I was three years old and my baby sister was born. Instantly, friends of the family became less willing to say "aah" at the childish things I did, lecturing me instead on the importance of my 'setting a good example' for my sister. (My sister, meanwhile, happily ignored my 'good example' and did exactly what she wanted to do!)

Is this it? Is there hope for the poor Grown Up now the rose-tinted spectacles have been removed from our station in life?

Well, yes, actually.

I was considering this question recently and realised that there IS something truly exciting about being a Grown Up, after all. Despite all the uninspiring day-to-day image of the Grown Up, there is one thing we have now that could never have proclaimed to own as a child: our freedom to choose.

When I was six years old, whilst I had the freedom to choose which games I played or what squash I drank, I never had a say in who I could be, where I went or what I wanted to achieve with my life. I couldn't just get on a train, a plane or a bike and discover my world. I was confined by the parameters of my childhood, totally relying on my parents to make those decisions for me.

Now, I have the freedom to choose what I want to be, where I go and what I do with my life. Most importantly, I have the freedom to choose how I want to see my world. I can choose to look at the tiny details of life with all the awe and wonder of a child. I can choose to see magic in nature and be inspired by the world around me.

Being a Grown Up does mean responsibility and sensibility. But it can also mean I can choose to be a child.

Anyone fancy a game of Cagney and Lacey, then...?

Learn more about this author, Miranda Dickinson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.