Ice cream and scavenger hunts

A study I came across a few months ago found that who we are is essentially determined by the time we're about seven.

While I scoffed a little upon first reading, I may be coming around to the idea.

As a kid, I was goofy, imaginative, inquisitive, (too) talkative (for my own good and the good of others), and friendly, with a pretty strict moral code and intolerance of injustice. I'm pretty sure anyone who met me would agree this is still an accurate description.

I also used slightly warped "logic" to attempt to get my way.

For example, somewhere there is a home video of me at age six, trying to convince the family to drive the three hours to the nearest IKEA.

With an extremely wounded look, I make my case to the camera: "But I'm all dressed!"

"No Sarah, the trip is too long."

"We go today and we're there by tomorrow?"

An admirable attempt.

I'm sorry to admit it, but Sparta may or may not be familiar with this exact tactic.

Oh, and I still get overly excited about trips to IKEA.

All this plus the fact that I just spent a terribly enjoyable evening with my best friend of 20 years, eating gelato and scouring the neighbourhood for free curbside treasure.

That's right, we ate ice-cream and went on a scavenger hunt. Granted, these days we're allowed to do so unsupervised, but still.

What do you think, have you really changed that much since your childhood, or do I just have a serious case of arrested development?

At least my hair is (slightly) different.