IK Power!

I worked with this one woman for 10 years. In all the time I've known her she was easy to get along with, articulate and professional. A good corporate supervisor on all counts. Then one day I brought in a teddy bear I built at Build-A-Bear. She picked up my bear and looked at him, turned him around, looked at his clothes, petted his fur. This went on for minutes. MINUTES.

Then suddenly she put him down in front of me and blurted out "why'dja bring 'im t'work? He's bored."

My supervisor shrank! Suddenly she was five years old again and feeling sorry for a stuffed animal because "he's bored."

It was fun.

I see Inner Kids (IK's) coming out all over the place these days. It's in hints and glimpses here and there, usually when you least expect it. A look will slip out, perhaps, or a posture will be taken. Maybe a phrase will be uttered that sounds like total Kidspeak.

I love looking for those glimpses. I took my sister to Build-A-Bear a few weeks back. My sister is 40 (shhh! Don't tell her), a mother of two and holds a job with serious responsibilities. I haven't seen her act like a kid in ages. Suddenly BOOM! Out of the blue, she comes running (running!) up to me and says in fluent Kidspeak "um, can my bear be a gurl bear cuz I wanner t'have a pink dress."

It was fun, but honestly I would expect it from my sister. I never expected it from my colleague at work.

I think the IK stuff is catching on though. There is something appealing about, as Counselor Deanna Troi of Star Trek: The Next Generation puts it, "[having] a second childhood; without the pain of growing up again." We might all be grown ups on the outside, but somewhere inside is a little kid itching to get out.

Do you suppose that's why Anderson Cooper can occasionally be caught swinging his legs back and forth while doing his show? There's something infinitely "cute" about watching a high powered, star reporter kicking at the rungs of his chair while telling us about government officials accepting bribes.

Expressing your inner kid must be necessary to achieve your God- or Goddesshead.

I command thee: go forth and play!