My Childhood Lunch Box

By Leyli Beims

 

                Childhood is a time full of magic, wonder, enchantment, and everything good in life… until it ends. Growing up is the rudest awakening you will ever experience. All of the sudden, it’s not acceptable to carry around a Barbie backpack or watch The Little Mermaid. It happens to everyone, that day when you look around and it dawns on you that you can’t be a little kid anymore. I remember the exact moment I realized that time had been quietly creeping up on me, waiting for the chance to pounce and force me to grow up.

                It was a day like any other day in Mrs. Kraft’s class. It was a few weeks into my second grade year, and I was seven years old. We were standing in line waiting to be dismissed to lunch. I was at the very front of the line with my new lunchbox, which I loved. Then the kid behind me, let’s call him Shane, asked me the fateful question that would rock my young life.

                “Why do you have a Winnie the Pooh lunchbox?”

                In that moment, everything changed. Something in my head clicked and one thought shot to the front of my mind: “I can’t be a kid anymore.” I remember this sadness flood through me. Then, I got irritated. Here I was, having this life-changing realization, surrounded by a bunch of annoying second graders who were still completely ignorant to that fact that the clock was constantly ticking. Even worse, they were partially responsible. If my peers hadn’t been in such a hurry to grow up, I would still be able to walk to lunch, Winnie the Pooh lunchbox in tote, completely content. Stupid second graders.

I will never forgive Shane for opening his big mouth and letting those nine words out. I don’t remember what my response was, probably something witty and intelligent, like “Shut-up,” but it really didn’t matter. My childhood had effectively been ended. Seriously Shane, not cool.

In the months that followed, I changed. I didn’t stop being a kid all at once. I still played with my Barbies, watched a plethora of Disney movies on a daily basis, played dress-up and house, and loved Winnie the Pooh with all my heart. However, there was one big difference: I was consciously aware that I had to be careful.

Growing up is pretty much awful. However, there is always hope. A little part of me will always be Little Leyli, the Leyli that existed before Shane ruined everything. For the rest of my life I will feel like a princess when I wear a pretty dress. Even when I’m 64, I will nearly pass out with excitement when I see that The Little Mermaid is going to be on TV. And, yes, I will always be a die-hard fan of Winnie the Pooh, the tubby little cub all stuffed with fluff. Take that Shane.