#37 Old people acting like little kids

Neil Pasricha

Things to do when we get old:

1. Run up staircases.

2. Laugh so hard we snort and then laugh some more.

3. Make funny faces at little kids on the bus.

4. Run on snowy sidewalks and slide across frozen puddles.

5. Start laughing out loud when anyone farts in public.

6. Jump through sprinklers in the backyard with our arms out like an airplane and screaming.

7. Wear a birthday hat all day on our birthday.

8. Make up games that make sense for about ten minutes.

9. Build gigantic couch cushion forts in the middle of the living room.

10. Blow bubbles in our chocolate milk.

11. Go to loud concerts, get close to the stage, and sing along.

12. Wear mismatching socks with bright colors.

13. Paint our faces when we go see a big sports event.

14. Eat pizza and stay up late playing video games till our eyes hurt.

15. Stay in bed till noon on Saturday.

16. Chug Cokes and have burping contests.

17. Make sweatpants our Default Pants.

18. Play on old, dangerous playground equipment.

19. Cannonball into swimming pools.

20. Think wild thoughts and love all the little pleasures that make life

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here

46 thoughts to “#37 Old people acting like little kids”

  1. I love this post. It’s brought back some great memories, thank you.

    Oh man – My Nana Betty and her amazing humour. She always has a joke to tell and has this amazing ability to understand children and always has a funny story to tell us about the little ones in our family. It’s great. Even the roughest fella’s love Nana Betty. She is definitely young at heart.

    Her husband, (my grandfather) Poppa Gerry is an Irishman and he ALWAYS used to have fun with us all. He used to throw peanuts at me whenever they were provided at family dinner parties and then acted like he didn’t know a thing! He was so funny and everybody loved him RIP Poppa Gerry.

    1. AHA, The “Inner Children” of Neil’s choice video and the child within each one of us! You ARE every age that you have been and every age IS you!
      You WILL stay young in spirit and heart… “Never, Ever, Ever, Grow up!”

  6. I want to be this kind of Nanna!! One of the teachers at school and in tthe choir always wears bright colours. He colour coordinates everything, so he’s always wearing either pink shirt/tie/socks or green shirt/tie/socks or yellow shirt/tie/socks etc… and we’re always going “I like your socks Mr Stace!”
    Also, I like to think that it’s awesome when older-than-very-young people act like children. Like me! I’m always making funny faces and noises to my brother and friends, skipping around school, dancing through shopping centres, and racing my brother while walking home :D It’s fun to muck around. As they say, “You can’t stop growing old, but growing up is optional.”

  9. Oh man. I love to be in the game! but I’m embarrassingly literal and naive when it comes to word games. You have to cue me in or else I’ll almost always be the one with a funny look on my face as the metaphor comes crashing home. Usually, an awkward, hilarious moment, but occasionally a confused or hurt look tells me I’ve inadvertently hurt someone I care about. Happens all the time!! Still, I love to play! You’re just more likely to see me singing along at a concert, or sliding across a frozen puddle. I’m sorry :)

  11. Seniors should embrace life -while they can – but i have to disagree with you on one point…
    “1. Run up staircases.”
    Seriously?
    Old people have diminished lung capacity, to say the least; most of them would be half-dead by the time they reach the top!

      2. Totally agree! Through the wonders of the internets, I had a chance to become on-line friends with a 70-year old British man living in Ottawa who was a pretty serious half-marathon runner, and typically ran these races in under 1 hour and 40 minutes.

        To put that in perspective for you who think old people have diminished lung capacity, he was running 13.1 miles, in an average pace of 7:30 minutes per mile! What’s the saying – “Getting old is a state of mind”?

        He is a pretty amazing character. I hope to follow his example and focus on life-long fitness! I want to be running up staircases (and still running half marathons!) when I have grandkids!

          1. Yay! Thanks for posting – Betty Jean seems like a pretty awesome lady! I want to be just like her when I grow up.. I’m going to convince my wife that we should run a half marathon on our 57th wedding anniversary!

            Plus, she LOVES ice cream.. a woman after my own heart. Says Betty Jean: “If I buy two litres of ice cream, I can’t leave it alone until it’s gone.” You’re telling me, sister!

  13. I would also add:
    – proudly show off your missing-tooth grin
    – read books with large type
    – join a band – principal instruments including kazoo, jingle bells, sticks or clackers

    But yeah, slipping on ice is one of the worst fears I have for my osteoporosis-suffering mom, so I’m gonna take a pass on running on snowy sidewalks! Maybe we can replace that with “getting into snowball fights”. Mom still plays on old dangerous playground equipment though (she’s very light, and for a few years perfectly balanced the geektween on the old-school teeter-totters they still have in our town).

    1. Ya’, I slipped on ice just last week and another concussion I did not need!
      But cracking the ice in little puddles and splashing in mud puddles; snow tag, snow stepping and crunching colourful leaves…wonderful!
      I LOVE kazoos! Add Tambourine and triangle! Plus a good old teeter-totter…Your mom sounds REALLY AWESOME:)

  17. I used to have a screensaver pic, I have no idea where it came from, of a bunch of dressed up old ladies (and one young lady) standing in a big group around a Harley (which the oldest, most frail lady was sitting on.) They were all smiling to beat the band…and giving the photographer the finger.

    LOVE!

  19. Great list of things to remember to do when I get old!
    None of my grandparents act like kids, ever…or at least around me. They act like grandparents.

      1. I got teary the first time I saw that video.. the idea of still being that good-natured and fun-loving at that age (and most importantly, still wanting to be around and have fun with someone you love!) melted my heart.

        Thanks for posting! :)

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