Grown-Ups Just Want To Have Fun

Posted August 1, 2007, 3:00 pm by Growing Bolder Staff


The generation that vowed to never trust anyone over 30 ate those words long ago, and these days, they're finding that being a grown-up is actually a lot more fun than they ever could have imagined.

That's because there are a lot of like-minded adults out there who are dismissing the conventional notion of "grown-up behavior" and indulging their desires to be youthful.

One of the first people to document this fun behavior is renowned journalist Christopher Noxon, author of the recent book "Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes and the Reinvention of the American Grown-Up."

"There's so many of us that have grown up believing that when we pass a certain age, as young as 18, sometimes 30, 40 or even 60, that we somehow have to adopt this very serious, nose to the grindstone, almost mechanical overserious vantage point and way of doing things," he told the Growing Bolder radio show.

Christopher says people with that mentality leave behind a lot of the good parts of being a child, such as our sense of play, spontaneity, fun and wonder.

"Kids are just better at certain things than adults are. We tend to forget that as we grow up. We think that as we grow up, we just improve and improve, when in fact, we leave a lot behind," he says.

But today's adults are more free to have fun than our Depression-era parents were. With disposable incomes, healthier lives and anything-is-possible attitudes, grown-ups are heading outside to PLAY in record numbers.

Look no further than the tens of thousands of adults across the country who have joined kickball, flag-football, dodge ball and baseball leagues. Nearly every state has annual Olympic-like events that bring together adult and senior athletes to compete in everything from cycling to triathlons to table tennis.

Christopher says it's about finding a happy medium between being a responsible and conscientious adult but also making time to have fun.

"For many adults, the idea of balance was, 'I can golf and I can study my 401K.' Golf is an approved adult sport, but it's not very playful," he says.

You want fun? Check out the hundreds of active communities that have sprung up around the country. At The Villages in Florida, residents have hundreds of fun things to choose from, like pickleball and cheerleading.

It's not just on the playground that grown-ups are having fun. While writing about culture for the New York Times, Christopher says he stumbled across an amazing statistic.

"The Cartoon Network now has bigger ratings among people 18-49 than CNN, FOX News or any other cable news channel. The people who are going to the Pixar movies and the super-hero movies and the summer blockbusters that are geared and marketed for kids are actually in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s," he says.

So, when you hit the movies for this summer's hottest sequels, like the third installments of "Spiderman" or "Shrek," don't be surprised if the people around you in the theater look more like you than your kids or grandkids.

To find out how to get your game on, check out the 2007 Senior Olympics or the World Adult Kickball Association.

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