‘What’s the point of being grown up, if you can’t be childish sometimes?’
The Fourth Doctor, ‘Robot’, 1975
When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to grow up, as I’m sure that many more would agree. I couldn’t wait to be able to watch whatever I wanted, drive a car, move away from home…. But now I’ve done it, and it’s really not all that it’s cracked up to be if I’m honest.
I stayed at home for the first year of University, travelling to a college in St Helens for my first year after a set of disappointing A-Levels. I met a group of people at the college and in my second year I moved into a house with them. Using my student loan, I decided to delve back into the Doctor Who back catalogue and I started buying some of the older episodes that I hadn’t seen before. One of the episodes was Tom Baker’s first story, ‘Robot’. I settled down to watch, I was taking a break from my studying and a few other adult issues. Then, The Doctor said something that changed my life. ‘What’s the point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes?’
A light bulb went off in my head. What was the point of being grown up if I couldn’t still be childish sometimes? Being a grown up meant the freedom to do whatever I wanted, and what I wanted, what I really wanted was to spend some of my time doing childish things. So I went out to Asda and bought myself a paint pallet and colouring book, and I spent the rest of the evening painting. I loved every second of it.
I watch kids TV now. I LOVE Horrible Histories, then there’s Rasta Mouse, and don’t even get me started on Nuzzle and Scratch. I even still watch the odd Disney movie, something that I stopped doing when I was about 13. I listen to my old music again, something that I stopped doing years ago because it wasn’t considered cool. In fact, I’m much happier now embracing 10 year old Fiona from time to time; than I ever was pretending that I was more grown up than I was. I think that realising that it doesn’t matter what people think, I am who I am, has only helped that. It isn’t me with a problem, it’s them, and if someone can’t accept that I love Doctor Who, or I watch kids TV from time to time, so what? They’re not worth my time. I only wish that I had realised it sooner, it could have saved me years of bother.
It is still with me today, it may only be 3 years on but I know it’s something that I will always keep with me, and I’ll pass it on. Should I ever have kids of my own, I want them to know it too, because it’s important. Being a grown up is scary, so many things to think about, so much responsibility. I think it would drive me mad if I didn’t have my childish indulgences. Especially now that I’m in the not so wonderful world of unemployment. It is nice to have a little time each day to thrown away my grown up chains and watch a cartoon or listen to some music from my childhood, because for that half an hour I can be 10 years old again, without a care in the world, and I think that that’s priceless.
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