I hope that all of my American readers are enjoying a fantastic Thanksgiving today – and a fantastic Thursday to all of my readers regardless of geographic location.

I anticipate spending the day trying to make good choices at the dessert table and enjoying the company of our good friends who have graciously invited us into their home for the day. And probably telling our children to stop climbing that / eat your vegetables / no you may not have all the pie – that kind of thing.

Anyway, aside from being Thanksgiving, it’s also time for Mama Kat’s Pretty Much World Famous Writer’s Workshop. This week her prompts were:

Writing Prompts:

1.) 10 best things about being a kid.
2.) A Thanksgiving memory.
3.) A Happy Thanksgiving wish!
4.)You saw it on Pinterest…does it really work?
5.) Something you’re thankful for…might as well keep this going this month!

I’m a little “Thankful List”ed out, so I thought I’d write about something less festive and prompt #1 was calling to me.

Being a kid is totally the best. Here’s why…

1. Kids don’t have to worry that much about managing their time wisely. If they want to spend five hours coloring or reading a book, nobody really cares. Their husband won’t come home at the end of the day and say, “What do you mean you’ve been playing barbies all day? Where’s my dinner?“
2. Kids don’t care where the other sock is. They just put on a mismatched pair and move on with their lives, no introspection required.
3. Nap time.
4. A kid can wear plaid pants, a floral shirt, striped socks and light up sneakers and everyone will agree that it’s awesome. Also – all the clothes fit. You almost never worry about an article of kids’ clothing being true to size or whether it will be flattering. On kids, everything is flattering.
5. Remember when you were a kid and you got to see your best friends at school every day? Then when your a tween / teen you get to see them all weekend, too. I am lucky if I can hang out with friends once a week usually (though I do strive for more often when possible) and even then I may have to spend the whole time feeding a small child cheerios and changing diapers.
6. Shorter books. When I was a kid, I could finish five books in one day, no problem. These days it takes me at least two weeks to finish a book and I have to go out of my way to find guilt free reading time, which usually means staying up reading before bed.
7. Let’s not forget the obvious – when you are a kid you have someone else who cooks for you, cleans for you, organizes your schedule for you, makes dentist and doctor appointments for you, buys all your clothes and toys and reads you a story at night. Can you even imagine having someone do all those things for you now?
8. Kids fit in all sorts of small spaces – they almost never have to squeeze into a chair or duck below branches. They have an uncanny ability to squeeze themselves into cardboard boxes or laundry baskets while playing games and their limbs seem to move in impossible directions to accommodate this hobby.
9. When you are a kid people praise and applaud you for all sorts of things like successfully not peeing your pants, eating even just one bite of your vegetables, growing taller, participating in a mandatory sporting event (whether you do well or not), or pronouncing a word funny. The stakes for praise are unbelievably low when you are a kid – anything you do is extraordinary.
10. When you are a kid, your whole life is in front of you and anything is possible. You could be an astronaut, a ballroom dancer, a world famous reporter, an author, a teacher, a doctor, a time lord, a fire fighter, a princess, a ballerina, a super hero or a ninja. Heck, you could be ALL of those things at the same time. Anything is possible and when you are a kid you feel no pressure to put any kind of logical thinking or hard work behind those dreams. Yes – an adult can do any of those things, too, if they try hard enough and put in the time, but when you are a kid it’s not actually about achieving those things, it’s just about the dream and in those dreams there are no limits. No dreary realities to contend with.

That’s my list – what would be on yours? What do you miss about being a kid? Let me know in the comments section below and don’t forget to link up at Mama Kat’s if you are playing along.