Look, I can’t tell you the precise moment it happened.

Maybe it happened some night while I was sleeping, after I had cleaned out the Tooth Fairy with a seemingly endless supply of baby teeth.

Or perhaps it was the time when Santa Claus finally stopped bringing me presents on Christmas morning.

Whatever.

All I can tell you is that it’s done and over with.  At some point, I looked around and realized that somehow, some way, my childhood had just vanished.

I’m still at a loss to explain how it was stolen from me.  It seems like just yesterday when I was enveloped in the wondrous bubble of a blissful childhood, the Kool-Aid-fueled days of Malibu Barbie, N*SYNC, Tickle-Me Elmo, Powerpuff Girls and — above all — my beloved magenta Raleigh bicycle with streamers.

Here’s a few of the people I looked up to in those innocent-yet-awkward “pre-teen” years.  Britney Spears (“Oops, I Did It Again”), Christine Aguilera (“Genie In a Bottle”), Lindsay Lohan (“Mean Girls”), Amanda Bynes (“The Amanda Show”).  Um, you get where I’m going with this, right?  Between the nip slips, the wardrobe malfunctions, the see-through blouses, and the sloppy nights in Vegas, many of my heroines now seem to be hooked on heroin.

Remember Britney Spears’ adorable Barbie doll? Oh, and how can you forget Lindsay Lohan’s precious role in the parent trap.

Time has moved on for us all, but has it always been a positive progression?  How many times have we heard that adulthood is not so kind to child stars?  Fast forward to the new millennium, and the Olsen twins—as a random example —are no longer the cute, precocious little coquettes of “Full House;” they are hard-core party animals at NYU.  Mary Kate’s prescription drugs were found in the system of the late Heath Ledger.  Yikes!  Another star from “Full House” — Jodi Sweetin – admitted to a methamphetamine addiction.

Maybe they should rename the series “Half-way House.”

As for Miley Cyrus, when I watched “Hanna Montana” reveal her secret double life as a pop star, I was somewhat disappointed. Well, imagine my shock when the real life Miley revealed more than just a secret identity in those Nick Jonas shower pictures (if you know what I mean). I feel as though these celebrities are shrinking my childhood, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

Should I go on?

If I were to focus on the seemingly tragic career paths of my teen heroes from the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, it’s really kind of depressing.

I can only imagine.  Zack and Cody graduated long ago and moved out of the Tipton Hotel; they could be out-of-work hipsters participating in theOccupy Wall Streetprotests down inNew York’sZuccottiPark, for all I know.   As for step-brothers Drake and Josh, who knows?  They may still be living in their mother’s attic, eating Hot Pockets and vegging out while playing Call of Duty 3.

For just one last time, I want to see Hilary Duff’s Lizzy McGuire character cry to Miranda about her true love, Ethan Craft.  Instead I’m treated to paparazzi snapshots of a very pregnant Hilary flashing her weird cosmetic dental surgery that cruel gossip columnists have likened to horse teeth.  More than anything else, I want to delete Christina Aguleira’s cringe-worthy, muddled botch of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 2011 Super Bowl from my permanent memory.

I am now at a point in my life where I can apply to any college I want, drive my mom’s Beemer alone, and legally rent an R-rated movie (yeah, as if that stopped me before), yet the imaginary friends of my childhood have all gone to a bad place and seem to be trying to drag me down with them.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. But if you tell anybody I will absolutely deny it.

Sometimes at night, I like to go to sleep cuddling with the stuffed bunnies I’ve had since I was four.

Growing up doesn’t always have to be about letting go.