It started with a pink blanket,

Bottles, diapers, and musical toys.

It became Barbies, playing outside, going to playdates,

Riding a bike, rollerblading, swimming.

It was going to school, learning to read,

Meeting new kids.

It was laughing at lunch, playing at recess.

It was a time of dirty hands and feet,

Skinned knees, and Winnie the Pooh band-aids.

It’s not that easy anymore.

Now it’s a time of questions

Who do you want to be what do you want to do where do you see yourself in twenty years how are you going to pay where are you going to live decide decide decide decide

It’s a time of stress, a time of headaches, a time of pressure.

It’s a time when a band-aid and a kiss won’t fix it all.

It’s a time when you have to decide what to be.

It’s not that easy anymore.

Constant decisions, constant struggles, constant indecision, constant questioning, am I doing the right thing should I be doing more whose doing better than me how can I be the best how do I compare to others how can I prove my self worth.

It’s no longer peanut butter and jelly and playgrounds.

It’s no longer tree climbing and bike races.

It’s no longer cartoon watching and coloring.

It’s no longer finding shapes among the clouds.

It’s not that easy anymore.

So we continue striving,

We continue pushing,

We put up masks, facades, and try not to show that we are being

Crushed.

Under the pressures of society, the pressures of ourselves.

We try to emulate what we think everyone wants, what we think will get us into college, will get us the scholarship, will get us ahead of everyone else.

We forget who we are.

We leave behind our child, the part of us that played on the playground, danced in the rain, climbed the tallest trees, and laid in the grass watching the clouds go by.

It’s not that easy anymore, so we push, we pull, we scream, and we drag ourselves through things just to get to where we want to be.

It’s not that easy anymore, so we fight, we fight, we fight, we fight, we fight in the hopes that someone will see us, that they will love us for who we are, not just some numbers on a paper, not just some activities in a list, not just for some checks in some boxes, but for us, for the part that is compassionate, carefree, lively, and crazy.

For the part that is still a child, still uncertain, still in need of guidance.

For the part that just wants the world to appreciate it.

It’s not that easy anymore, but we won’t give up, we will persevere, we will be great because life just

Isn’t that easy anymore.