Finger painting, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, training wheels, and dolls. Oh, how I wish to go back to the carefree times of childhood.

I miss the times when being sassy was cute and having baby fat was even cuter. I miss not caring about what people thought of me or if I got my clothes dirty.

No one expected a lot from me. No one asked me about my plans for the future. The words stress and failure were not in my vocabulary.

I want to go back to being innocent, curious, and eccentric.

When my parents allowed me to stay up until ten, I felt like a grown woman. Those nights always turned out to be the most memorable and exciting. Now going to bed at ten is equivalent to finding a pair of jeans that fits perfectly; it’s terribly rare but still on my hopes and dreams list.

I always had the most fun when my imagination was jumping through flaming hoops, which was pretty much all of the time.

My friends and I would be runaway princesses in my backyard, where our pet dragons were our protectors. We would become giant monsters living in snow forts on the tip of the tallest mountains. We would even swim the vibrant ocean floor as mermaids.

Our creative minds did not stop there though.

We would create the kookiest of kooky outfits and hold a fashion show. It was so elite that no one was allowed to talk and pictures/videos were prohibited.

One of my favorite games to play was house. My friends and I would pretend to be adults with kids and maybe even a dog. The thought of living on my own was so thrilling; now it’s just scary.

I want to go back to when the only homework I had was coloring.

I miss being small enough for my dad to throw me in the pool. I miss the times when he would wrap me up in my blanket like a taco and swiftly tug it out from under me, causing me to speedily roll onto my bed.

I was the dancer in my family, so showing off my incredible dancing skills was always fun. I loved choreographing dances with my friends and cousins because I was able to boss them around.

Not having to worry about the future or life in general was an amazing thing. Of course, I didn’t know that as a child.

The only thing I want on my mind is who I’m going to play with, not what does my future look like or my bad grades.

So will someone tell me when a time machine has been successfully completed?