Did it fall out or did I just get a complex?

Do you remember when you were a kid and everything was so simple? No bills,no responsibilities (apart from a goldfish or a rabbit maybe) and the only thing that you needed to 'work' at was extending your bed time "just five minutes more, I promise i'l go to bed after this programme, just need to finish this drink and il go up".

I'm not moaning about my current situation, I was pondering over my lack of imagination. You see,today I did a very 'growed up' thing and went shopping for house trinkets. A new rug and some nice looking bits and bobs to make the house pretty. Well,whilst at the second location which was a garden centre by the way, I couldn't help overhear a little girl who was around the age of 4 or 5 ,playing a game of 'jungle animals' amongst the potted house plants section. She was fully engrossed in this game (of which she was the only player), making lion noises, laughing and jumping out at her family members who were busy picking the best seeds to plant in their new greenhouse.

It took me back to the time I used to run a farm single handed when I was 5 to the age of 10. Now this farm in itself was pretty large, I mean I had about 8 horses, 12 cows, a few field's of sheep and some farm hands to help me along the way. You think I'm joking? Well, I'm not, however this farm did consist of miniatures and were made of moulded plastic.  Now I used to play with this farm set for hours on end, creating extreme adventures and some real unique 'timmy fell down a well' situations.

Now, like I said, I used to play with this farm set and my Ghostbusters or Thundercats for hours! However, I remember going over to my aunties one day and being asked by my 3 year old cousin to play action man with him. I can remember this really well as this 'scene' in my life was the realisation that I was 'to old' to play. I held action man in the left hand and Esmerelda in the right ( don't ask) and stared at them...............

Now I'm sure at that point my 3 year old cousin probably thought I was weird. Can you imagine being that age and looking at your older cousin in awe and then watching them staring like a tool at your favourite toy with a look of total confusion on their face.

So here is the question, did I drop my imagination at some point between primary or high school, or did I simply develop a sense of social awareness. Did I suddenly no longer have the ability to create the most amazing stories in my mind, or did I simply just start to worry about who was watching me? A right of passage or a complex? ......

You decide.