A survey has shown one in five adults still hold onto childhood toys with soft toys the most popular to keep hold of, just ahead of Lego and action figures.
my modest #LEGO castle collection pic.twitter.com/25XUvVgIeB
— Seranok (@SeraBLOX) October 16, 2015
I don’t find this fact strange and consider myself one of 3.8 million adults who cannot let go of the past.
Anyone for Disneyland?
First of all let me tell you a little bit about myself. I have lived away from home since I was 18 and have a ‘proper adult’ job at a university. I enjoy a good glass of red wine, get excited about cheese boards and understand how to do a tax return form. But I also know exactly how many days it is til Christmas, am trying to convince anyone I know to go to Disneyland with me and I built a fort at the weekend. My point is you can be both mature and childish at the same time.
Links to the past
We all like links to the past and displaying reminders of happy memories usually in the form of photographs or trinkets. But is it so unusual to keep hold of a cherished teddy bear? Without doubt my favourite bear throughout childhood was Elizabeth. She still sits atop my wardrobe with worn fur and plenty of stitches in her neck to keep her head attached (apparently I hugged too hard!). She doesn’t do anything but collect dust however I could not bear (excuse the pun) to throw her away and I don’t know why. Perhaps Toy Story has played too big a part in my childhood, teen years and with the release of the third instalment, adult years too. That and the amount of memories held in her small fuzzy form.
Whimsical
As the saying goes you are only as old as you feel and eventually I will grow old enough to be sensitive about my age and so live by this motto. So why not collect childish things to make you happy? Who doesn’t love Disney movies? What’s wrong with being whimsical? Films designed for children are becoming more and more intelligent in their script and storylines appealing to all age ranges. Comedians cast as characters bring a depth to these films rarely seen beyond our generation.
I personally don’t see an issue with adults collecting things originally designed for children, perhaps we should all embrace this Peter Pan spirit and stay young at heart for as long as possible.
He parked in the boss’s spot this morning…said HE is the #boss today (we didn’t argue!)#TakeYourTeddyBeartoWorkDay pic.twitter.com/uwrQRXZrcJ
— Giant Teddy Bears (@GiantTeddy) October 8, 2014
What whimsical memories of childhood are you holding onto? Let us know in the comments below!
