Rejuvenile by Christopher Noxon  
 
Laurie: Dallas now, grew up in Indiana

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Favorite childhood toy?

Troll dolls!

Favorite childhood game?

ghost in the graveyard

Favorite childhood candy/cereal/treat?

Ho Hos

What of your interests, preferences, obsessions (movies, TV, toys, food, clothing, etc.) might be considered childlike or childish? Why do you love this stuff?

I started my troll collection again. I wear stuff that was in style when I was a child. I burp, snort, laugh when I talk, I tickle my kids, cats, husband. I fake pick my nose to make them laugh. I make hand farts in different octaves. I love this stuff because it was fun being a kid and I love making my kids laugh. When my brother comes over about once every few months, we revert to the way we were when we were children. He sits on me, spanks me, pulls my hair (my children LOVE watching this dynamic- I’m not too crazy about it, but it stops pretty quickly.) I am not sure this is something Dr. Phil would say is healthy, but my brother and I become like the little puppies we were when we were growing up. We burst in to Marx Brothers and Three Stooges behaviors, too.

Did you have these interests as a kid? Were they developed as an adult, were they denied to you as a kid?

No denial. I think it is just fun to live at times (not all the time) in the times where you were free of cares and obligations, and you had a fun, loving relationship with siblings and friends. It is enjoyable to bring up the past, and so important for your children to see and learn about you being happy as a child. My kids always want to know what it was like when I was growing up and wish they could have been there to be my sibling.

Ever feel any stigma from colleagues/parents/friends about childlike tastes or mindsets?

Oh, just about every adult who is my age or older disagrees with my parenting philosophy. Although, when I have made the effort to join groups of like-minded parents, they seem supportive, but they are always doubting themselves. Most say you just can’t be friends with your children. But you CAN!! It is essential, and they behave so well if you are. They love doing things you ask because they know you respect them.

Are you a grown-up? If so, when did you become one? If not, when will you become one?

I am an adult. I brought children into this world. I am responsible for their success and happiness. I have to make sure that they have their needs met. But, now that I think about it, I really don’t see or feel myself different from the seventeen year old girl that is very much a part of me. I am much less neurotic, but the desire to laugh and enjoy stuff and to really look forward to new things has never left me. I hope I never become an adult in the “anal” societal-imposed meaning of the word. I am and enjoy being responsible to my family and to myself, but being old, critical and worried has no interest to me.