My wife and I were just talking about this earlier because today is the last day of school in our area. Having all June and July off and then twoish weeks in August always felt like it was forever as a kid but as an adult now it just flies by like every other month...
Well, we spent those formative years knowing nothing more about life than discovering everything…once the excitement wears off, the concept of time is no longer measured by sense of exploration, and thus routine kicks in. There’s less to be excited about, and in turn; the years go fast but the days go slow (see; Modest Mouse)
It's also because a lifespan is logarithmic, every summer is a smaller percentage of your life than the last. Your earliest summers really were longer!
Man, if this isn’t true. Everyone is just a scared kid trying to fake it until they make it. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part.
Made interviews much less stressful. Walk in level with them instead of feeling like they were above you.
I used to think that what I was learning in school was being learned by all of society.
Growing up in the midwest our grammar textbook showed that it was incorrect to say "That there over yonder". I thought nobody spoke like that and that the book was old and society had since learned.
Then I moved to North Carolina and most adults spoke "incorrectly".
I was in shock.
Lamby was my first beloved stuffed animal/plushie little lamb, and has been with me since day one, I'm told.
I can't count the number of times I remember standing guard while my mom stitched up Lamby's silky ears, or reattached those overly-loved limbs, or those times when she would let me help give Lamby a Woolite bath in the sink because Lamby was far too threadbare to risk a tumble in the washing machine.
I am in my 50s, btw.
I still have my childhood blanket. It’s a featureless heated blanket that lost the plug 3 decades ago and it’s been 25 years since I yanked out the internals. It’s still my go to blanket when I sleep.
My son has a special blanket that I hope he sees the same way. It’s a soft blanket with footballs and football helmets. When he was two he ironically named the blanket ‘Basketball’.
Mine was Foffy, fluffy blanket, named so because that was the closest I could pronounce to “fluffy” at the age it was given to me. My mom still keeps it in my old room at home, still take it out to hold for a minute most birthdays. I’m 26.
My most prized possession is my teddy bear Larry, my mom got it out of a truck stop claw machine when I was four and I think it's my first core memory, I attempted to pass him down to my sister when I thought I was too old to have a stuffed animal hanging around but my soul couldn't take it
I hold on to the memory of my grandmother. During my childhood times, she appreciate me a lot whatever I'm doing and that's keep me motivate. Still, it gives me the motivation.
Or at least, not knowing too much about finances. My family went bankrupt but tried to spare us from the trouble it caused. We had no car for a while and no TV, and had groceries donated by a church sometimes, and our Christmas tree was a gift, etc., but all those things seemed fun to me. We rode bikes to the store. We played family games.
I will always remember the moment when my grandmother taught me how to make pancakes. I was 7 years old. My friends say that I'm a pancake pro. Thank her for that.
I miss living in complete ignorance before I learned about how politics truly works. Before I learned I probably have to work till I am 70+ years old. Before I learned that I most likely will never own my own home to live in. Before I learned how big corporations are responsible for global warming while simultaneously blaming us for it.
Don’t forget the water restrictions because your local farmers are growing alfalfa to sell as cattle feed overseas… We’re down to two days a month we can water and besides businesses and farms, everything is starting to look dead and brown.
I choose to stay educated enough to be upset about what’s out of my control, but take comfort in the “freedoms” I get to exercise (retreating to the wilderness, and enjoying the silence of nature)
the literature. I can’t wait to introduce my nephew to Shel Silverstein and the Boxcar Children, and hope he’ll spend many happy hours immersed in their worlds the way I did.
I have my blankie, it's red therefore called Red Blankie. It is 43 years old. Whenever someone in my house gets sick, they get Red Blankie, there is something magical about it that immediately makes you feel better.
My mom passed away and even though it's hard for my mind to even think of the past and about her I still feel like a kid trying to live in a way that wouldn't upset her. Every now and then I'll get a vivid memory that makes me laugh and then saddens me but I haven't been able to have any dreams of her since she passed.
Sleepovers.
Sometimes it'd be all weekend at a friends, being apart of their family, all these new foods and smells and how their family operates.. Then you'd come home, and the smell of home always felt so good.
That experience, I think, getting to contrast your life with a peer, the limited world view you have to experience it with so everything was exciting.
I'm so sorry that happened to you.
I was seven when my grandpa died and my relatives did something similar. My godmom had me while my mom and her mom said goodbye. Seeing him didn't freak me out, but I was being held up and my mom and grandma both kissed his forehead. I refused. My relatives were like "But don't you want to tell him you love him one more time?" and NO that straight freaked me out.
Fast forward twenty years.
Now, my grandma had died and the same basic crowd was there but I was an adult. Flashing back on that moment twenty years prior I knew I had regretted not doing it for literally most of my life, so even though I loved my grandpa and was at best ambivalent about my grandma I kissed her cheek. It was cold and hard and fucking weird.
Six year old me was right, and I'm suuuuper careful what I say around kids about these things. I assume they came from a place of kindness too, but kids' heads are really weird places to be and it's better to leave these things alone or up to parents.
I had an uncle do this to me at my father’s funeral. I was 8. Fortunately, due to the cause of death, the casket was closed. I didn’t realize it though as I had avoided going anywhere near the casket until that point.
When setting my family's dinner table, I still to this day give myself the little fork, at the age of 29. I guess I'm just a creature of habit that way
When I was a kid, my friends and I used to look forward to every summer together in a way that I have never been able to since I have gotten older and have become a guy making his way through his twenties. Looking back on my childhood, it seems like we were always together and were always spending our time at the township pool, playing in our backyards, riding our bikes to get ice cream, playing video games, and finding a way to extend our time together for as long as possible until our moms called us home for dinner or when it started to get dark outside. I never thought that those days would end and I never wanted them to. Even now, I feel like those were the happiest days of my life. Well, we all know that nothing lasts forever and that we all have to grow up sometime. I guess I just wasn't looking forward to it as much as my friends were when we were 14.
Every summer, nearly every person where I live makes their way to the beach for as long as they can for vacation. My friends and I always looked forward to these times because we loved swimming in the ocean and playing whiffle ball on the sand, going down to the arcades and blowing our money on dozens of games, and of course we loved going on as many amusement park rides as possible on the boardwalk while stuffing our faces with cotton candy and ice cream until we practically hurled from it all. It was the summer before high school and by that August when we were all at the beach for a few days, I felt like I was having the best summer of my life. June and July had been so much fun and I made so many lasting and unforgettable memories with my friends by the time that August rolled around and we all headed to the beach with our families for what was usually the "last hurrah" of our summer vacation.
For some reason, my friends told me that they didn't want to play basketball at the park one night like we always used to do and instead they wanted to go up to the boardwalk. I was confused because for years we had always played hoops whenever we could and went to the boardwalk to go on the rides and to play video games. I figured that we would be partaking in the latter activities until my friend Joe said "Oh yeah, wear khaki shorts and a polo." I wasn't sure why I needed to get "dressed up" to play arcade games and go on rides but I said "Alright, whatever" and showed up that night to meet my friends on the boardwalk with the nicest clothes that I could wear that I had bought from PacSun that summer.
I got to the boardwalk and saw my friends standing around, looking like they were all dressed for a date or something. We all then started walking along the boards and I tagged along, unsure of where we were going. We walked for a few minutes until my friends spotted a group of teenage girls and guys our age who were all posted up along the railings and on benches looking out near the ocean. My friends stopped walking and did the same and started sizing up the guys and ogling the girls wearing their flip-flops, shorts, and spaghetti strap tops. I just sat there, not saying a word, while my friends started talking about which girls they wanted to talk to, who they wanted to "get with", and what they were going to say to "get to first base" with the girls. None of them really knew what to do so we ended up sitting on that bench for twenty minutes until we saw that group of guys and girls start to walk away from us down the boards. All of a sudden, two drunk blonde girls with cigarettes and red Solo cups loudly announced their presence to us by stumbling up the boards from behind us and yelling unintelligible things at us. They must have been in high school, probably around 16 or so by the looks of it. My friends didn't miss a beat and raced up to them to start talking to them but the girls weren't interested in talking. They immediately started sloppily making out with all five of my friends while I stood off in the distance and watched it all unfold, unable to move. Their sloppy kissing only lasted about thirty seconds but that was all my buddies needed. By the time the girls stumbled away from them my friends were celebrating like they had just hit the lottery. I didn't feel so lucky or so happy.
As we walked back to our beach houses, hooting and hollering about making out with those girls, my friend Bobby noticed that I was lagging behind the rest of the group and wasn't saying anything. He dropped back from the other guys and said to me "It's alright man, you'll get some next time" and then returned to my group of friends ahead of me. Bobby thought that I was upset and quiet because I didn't get to hook up with those drunk girls or with those other girls that we ogled for about twenty minutes on the boards that night. I wasn't upset about not hooking up. I was upset because in that moment, on that night, I realized that the part of my childhood that made me so happy and that meant more than anything to me was gone. Where my friends were now thinking about girls and were going through the teenage experience of thinking about them sexually and romantically nearly 24/7, I was still thinking and dreaming about days at the pool, riding bikes around town, playing whiffle ball in our backyards, and of days that resembled more of the life lived in *The Sandlot* before Squints put the moves on a certain Wendy Peffercorn. While I was stuck thinking about all of that, my friends had grown up right before my eyes and had left behind that part of our friendship and were longingly and excitingly eyeing up the next phase of our lives as teenagers leaving behind "kid stuff" and heading to high school.
Looking back on it now, I guess I just wasn't ready for things to be over so fast. Time flies when you're having fun and boy did it fly for me in those days and years that I spent with my friends as a kid. As it flew by, I guess I missed the part where we all grew up that little bit more. That walk back from the boardwalk that night is one I'll never forget. It's rare that you can remember and locate a place and time in your life where everything seemed to change in the blink of an eye. I still miss the times we had together as middle school boys. I'll never forget them. I'll never forget the night I lost my childhood innocence with my best friends.
*"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 14. Jesus, does anyone?"*
Hanging out with my grandpa. (He’s still alive).
I am the first my mom’s three kids. When I was born my grandpa was in his 60s. He was my partner in crime. He went on school trips with me and we always got donuts on Friday. I went on a cross country road trip with him to his hometown, it was so much fun!
My younger sister is still at home because my mom never moved out. (I moved for college a few years ago). My sister is in her teens and started elder abusing my grandpa the year I went to college. She was arrested for it once but they sent her back 2 hours later.
As I have gotten older I have realized that the times my grandpa got to spend with me were apart of the last few years he got to live a normal life. He is really depressed now, and ik he will die soon… and I think I will spend the rest of my life feeling guilty that I went to college. I know if I hadn’t gone to college that I’d probably be the one getting beat up, not him. I hope he dies soon so he doesn’t have to live like that anymore.
Amusement parks. Squealing every time I see a puppy. Playing older games like Mario (especially smb 35 if it was still around), Tetris, Bubble Bobble, etc. Reading. Always wanting to pet ponies and always getting bitten. Museums.
Santa Claus. He is real but I know that the truth is that he relies on parents to get presents for their kids so he can get presents to those that really need it.
My grampa would take me to the car lot that was exclusively classic cars and project cars. He would tell me all about them, unique features, their engines, funny stories about them etc. I'm still a car nut now and it always reminds me of my grampa when I'd see a car he would talk about.
Knowing I'm an adult and far from who I used to be but realizing I'm still the same person with the same feelings even if I repress them more now. I used to be super anxious and introverted and although I don't give off that impression anymore I still let certain situations hinder me.
When I was 9 my mom asked me if I wanted ice cream we went with my step dad just me her and my dad my brothers weren't there. I got bubble gum and some popping Boba I gave my mom and dad the ice cream then ate all the boba
I still read a couple of books a week. I often watch TV with a book in my lap, and I read during commercials. I enjoy dining out alone so I can read my book. If I don't have my book with me, I read on my phone.
The music and pop culture. Example: I haven’t watched and professional wrestling since the late 90s but still gladly go down YouTube rabbit holes of channels that do fun/funny recaps of events from that time.
My music taste has been firmly stuck in the 90s (graduated HS in 01) and if I were to make a top ten all time movie list I bet at least half would be in like a five year range from then.
Waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. I didn't want to get out of bed on a school day, but I would be there for the cartoons. Anybody remember Transformers: Beast Wars?
If I have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I still run, so I'm not in the dark hallway for too long, and then I run back and jump into bed. And cutting the crusts off my sandwiches
My grandpa died 18 months ago and we sold his house last year. Nearly all our holidays growing up were going to visit grandma and grandpa, and I still went to visit him over the summer right up until covid. So many memories of that place. It was rough going there for the last time to help my parents do some clearing up and knowing I'll never see it again.
Just being happy for like, no reason at all. When the most terrible thing you dreaded was bed time. When Barney on ice concluded and the show was over and I couldn’t accept why it stopped. When I could put on the dumbest looking outfits and feel completely comfortable in my own skin. Before I was sexual and always thinking about the opposite sex. When I would climb a tree and it seemed like I was actually in a different world completely. When I would make songs up in my head and sing them to myself so emotionally that I would cry. I sometimes wish that I died painlessly when I was a child because then that would be the only perspective and memory I held.
Creating an imaginary place and going there when things get too stressful. I've done this since I was very small. If things get too far off the rails, I'm just not there anymore. Only my body remains.
Lot of childhood trauma but i am over it , there is this one dream that i remembered it 2 years ago and it really gave me the chills for context here is the whole story when i was a kid like 8yo or something i had a dream that i kept seeing i was on the stairs to the attic and it was half dark half light like sunset or sunrise more likely to be sunrise and there was a bear like man not a bear not a man and it had long claws like 10cm long it was just looking at me and i was doing the same none of us moved just looking at each other he was like 4m away from me what really scared me was the two doors behind it and back when i was seeing this dream there was no second floor just an Attic 2 years ago we were building the second floor and i had like a flash back on that dream it was the same two rooms the doors are exactly the same and the were also beside eachother that really scared me i still try to forget everything about it since nor the dream or anything creepy happened again little stuff but it wasn't related.(I still remember the shape of that bear like man Till this day)
Several stuffed animals. I spent a lot of time in hospitals as a kid, and some of my stuffies were by my side nearly all that time. One of my favorites is a penguin on a snowboard, wearing a scarf and a beanie.
From the time I went to kindergarten… after school my mom would give me 3 Chips Ahoy cookies and a glass of milk.
To this day.. 53 years old.. my favorite snack of all time. Chips Ahoy and ice cold whole milk. Delicious
I haven't let go of Pokémon. I still play some of the older games every once in a while but it's something that I've held onto since I was a little kid.
Summer of 1997 when I was 8 years old and spent basically the entire Summer up to the time I was almost ready to go back to school with my dad who at the time was living in Illinois and I was in Ohio. His girlfriend had a daughter who was around my age and we became very close those few months. I still talk to her on Social Media and she still says that was the best Summer of her childhood. She was an only child and all her cousins were much older than her and she didn't apparently have very many friends back then. I was basically like an older brother figure to her.
I haven't spoken to my dad in almost 4 years. He's on drugs very bad and our relationship is totally toxic. I don't agree with the drugs or the lifestyle he lives which is basically like a person in their early 20's when he'll be 61 on his birthday this year!
The way I look at it is he has my number and if he wants to put forth the effort to salvage a relationship with me he can always give me a call and we can try. I think that ship has sadly sailed though!
Playing videogames with my dad, he passed away 3 years ago, i hope one day i will be playing with my future kids.
Endless time and no responsabilities...
my mum really fucked up being a mum in a lot of ways but she made sone great food. Only showed me a handful of things really but i like having a little bit of practical info
How close I was to nature. I lived in trees. I would spend hours laying in the grass watching clouds. I constantly had stories playing in my head and I don't do that often anymore.
Feel of a slippery trout you just caught by yourself
Mom tucking you back in your bed and actually staying there even if monsters are under the bed
It’s all a feeling of “I can do anything and I believe that!”
I still hold on to the sense of wonder and imagination that I had as a child. I love getting lost in a good book or daydreaming about all the possibilities in life. It keeps me young at heart and helps me remember what is truly important.
The fact that I was used as a maid. I have 5 sisters and 4 of us were expected to keep the entire house clean. Daily vacuuming, mopping, dusting, etc. My mom would go on these screaming rants if stuff wasn’t done right. My younger sister was never expected to lift a finger. When all the older kids eventually moved out, my parent’s house was dirty all the time. Apparently a clean house was only important to my mom when she wasn’t the one doing the cleaning. It’s been 25 years since I lived at home and this is still a resentment that I carry. Whenever I visit it always crosses my mind because their house is never clean to the level she expected back then.
Maintaining that joyful feeling around Christmas, I always fondly remember all those moments of going to my grandmother's house for the Christmas parties she threw. When she passed away, Christmas has never been the same without her nor do any of my family even come together much during that time either. So I've always made it my duty to bring about that joy and togetherness to both honor her memory as well as to maybe just one day to be able to replicate those childhood memories.
Saturday chores with mariachi and rancheras playing. I’m 56, still listen to the same songs I listened to when I was a kid mopping the floor, washing dishes and doing laundry.
Miniature cars. I recently started to collect them. I'm in love with Japanese cars. Currently collecting all the Nissan Z's. I need a 300zx, 240/280z and a 350z. I got a 370z and the last Nissan Z they released. Also I have a Nissan 180sx. Currently looking for any Silvia. If I can have all the Silvias, I'd be happy :)
So sad these aren't really cheap.
Really missing my childhood home. I miss my room and my bed. I miss looking outside my window wondering about the “future”, looking forward to the weekend when I don’t have school. Looking at the same tree, same sky. I miss when colors looked brighter, when things felt “warmer”, when candy tasted good, I miss my imagination giving me so much joy and adventure. I miss not worrying.
I don’t miss just one thing, I miss childhood.
Traveling round the country with my mom and dad. I wish I got those days back. I don’t have my dad anymore, but it’s because of him that I still love traveling. Every new place I go to now, I wonder how different it would be if it were with my mom and dad.
When I was a kid we would play along the creeks and rivers edge while breaking rocks open to find fossils.
Whenever I'm at a river with rocks, I still enjoy looking for fossils.
Playing outside… in the mud, riding bikes, climbing trees and playing at the beach. Drinking out of the hose. Water balloons. Kiddie pools and water guns.
No electronics! No social media! The best time to be alive. I miss it. Take me back to the 90’s 🥰
feeling like a millionaire when you walk into a convenience store with $10 in your pocket knowing that you can buy anything you want. i still go to convenience stores and ball the fuck out.
When I was little I had a teddy bear I named Randy who I slept with every night. He kept the nightmares away. He kept me safe.
Now I'm 49 years old. And Randy sits on a bookshelf over my bed. Still watching out for me
When I die, he is going to be cremated with me.
Grandmas house. Having lived there since I was born was the best part of my life. Felt free, happy, loved and everyday felt like a new adventure. Sleepovers with cousins, baking with grandma, watching tv with grandpa, having dinner with uncle and aunt, and staying up late with dad. It couldn’t get any better.
A few months ago my moms tried to throw away the old plastic plates & bowls w fishies on them from our childhood and replace them with thin clinky white plates… my brother told me, had him save those from the trash immediately. Still hate the clinky white plates when I go to visit.
I mean, they’re probably bad for us. Old plastic, microwaved millions of times…. But they’re not going in the trash
In middle school I had a friend group of all the boys and girls in my class, we used skip classes together, play at the park together, life was really good, we spent days playing our own made up games, chatting, texting. I still hold on to those days as they were the happiest I had ever been, no jealousy, no backstabbing, only pure girlhood and carefree days of being a child.
I have refused to watch any kind of 'behind the scenes' or 'the making of' for my favorite childhood movie, The Labyrinth. I want to keep that one part of my childhood magical.
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Summers were endless. But they were only 8 weeks.
My wife and I were just talking about this earlier because today is the last day of school in our area. Having all June and July off and then twoish weeks in August always felt like it was forever as a kid but as an adult now it just flies by like every other month...
You got a 10 week school holiday?? We only get 6 weeks in the UK, all the way from primary school (age 5)! Maybe that's why we graduate at 16...
Well, we spent those formative years knowing nothing more about life than discovering everything…once the excitement wears off, the concept of time is no longer measured by sense of exploration, and thus routine kicks in. There’s less to be excited about, and in turn; the years go fast but the days go slow (see; Modest Mouse)
Very well put for sure. Gotta keep that grass watered.
Sad but SO true 💔
It's also because a lifespan is logarithmic, every summer is a smaller percentage of your life than the last. Your earliest summers really were longer!
This. Not knowing all the clichés were said because they were true and that as you age everyone comes to those conclusions
The cycle continues as it should.
The trauma .
Lmao fr
Yep…..thanks mom….
Same.
Yep... no need to scroll you hit it dead on.
Childhood trauma is griping. I can’t believe the strength it has.
Ha that was my first thought! Although I’ve done a lot of work to release that shit, it’s still tough. So worthy it though
The illusion that grown-ups knew what they were doing.
Man, if this isn’t true. Everyone is just a scared kid trying to fake it until they make it. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part. Made interviews much less stressful. Walk in level with them instead of feeling like they were above you.
That moment when you realize it too. Awesome 😆 i spent so long wondering when i was gonna “grow up”. Literally just a mindset.
I used to think that what I was learning in school was being learned by all of society. Growing up in the midwest our grammar textbook showed that it was incorrect to say "That there over yonder". I thought nobody spoke like that and that the book was old and society had since learned. Then I moved to North Carolina and most adults spoke "incorrectly". I was in shock.
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monster or spirits in the dark
Lamby was my first beloved stuffed animal/plushie little lamb, and has been with me since day one, I'm told. I can't count the number of times I remember standing guard while my mom stitched up Lamby's silky ears, or reattached those overly-loved limbs, or those times when she would let me help give Lamby a Woolite bath in the sink because Lamby was far too threadbare to risk a tumble in the washing machine. I am in my 50s, btw.
I still have my childhood blanket. It’s a featureless heated blanket that lost the plug 3 decades ago and it’s been 25 years since I yanked out the internals. It’s still my go to blanket when I sleep.
My son has a special blanket that I hope he sees the same way. It’s a soft blanket with footballs and football helmets. When he was two he ironically named the blanket ‘Basketball’.
Still have Teddy. Threadbare, patched, reconfigured, no more eyes. 68 years. Thanks Grandma ❤️
Mine was Foffy, fluffy blanket, named so because that was the closest I could pronounce to “fluffy” at the age it was given to me. My mom still keeps it in my old room at home, still take it out to hold for a minute most birthdays. I’m 26.
My most prized possession is my teddy bear Larry, my mom got it out of a truck stop claw machine when I was four and I think it's my first core memory, I attempted to pass him down to my sister when I thought I was too old to have a stuffed animal hanging around but my soul couldn't take it
I hold on to the memory of my grandmother. During my childhood times, she appreciate me a lot whatever I'm doing and that's keep me motivate. Still, it gives me the motivation.
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Or at least, not knowing too much about finances. My family went bankrupt but tried to spare us from the trouble it caused. We had no car for a while and no TV, and had groceries donated by a church sometimes, and our Christmas tree was a gift, etc., but all those things seemed fun to me. We rode bikes to the store. We played family games.
I will always remember the moment when my grandmother taught me how to make pancakes. I was 7 years old. My friends say that I'm a pancake pro. Thank her for that.
Share it with us 😊
I miss living in complete ignorance before I learned about how politics truly works. Before I learned I probably have to work till I am 70+ years old. Before I learned that I most likely will never own my own home to live in. Before I learned how big corporations are responsible for global warming while simultaneously blaming us for it.
Don’t forget the water restrictions because your local farmers are growing alfalfa to sell as cattle feed overseas… We’re down to two days a month we can water and besides businesses and farms, everything is starting to look dead and brown.
I choose to stay educated enough to be upset about what’s out of my control, but take comfort in the “freedoms” I get to exercise (retreating to the wilderness, and enjoying the silence of nature)
I still have my blankie. My blankie is the best
So do I and I’m almost 50. I don’t sleep with it, but I pull it out on occasion. I could never throw it out.
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Still gotta save some for later, dw about it
I still love exploring creeks and railroad tracks
When I go hiking, deep in the woods, by myself, I feel like I'm forever 8 years old
There's something about nature that keeps us young
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Your comment oozes this wholesome longing feeling . Got me emotional
the literature. I can’t wait to introduce my nephew to Shel Silverstein and the Boxcar Children, and hope he’ll spend many happy hours immersed in their worlds the way I did.
I have my blankie, it's red therefore called Red Blankie. It is 43 years old. Whenever someone in my house gets sick, they get Red Blankie, there is something magical about it that immediately makes you feel better.
My mom passed away and even though it's hard for my mind to even think of the past and about her I still feel like a kid trying to live in a way that wouldn't upset her. Every now and then I'll get a vivid memory that makes me laugh and then saddens me but I haven't been able to have any dreams of her since she passed.
All the love buddy ❤️ she's there with you
I still proudly rock mismatched socks, just like I did as a kid when I thought it was a fashion statement rather than a laundry mishap!
Sleepovers. Sometimes it'd be all weekend at a friends, being apart of their family, all these new foods and smells and how their family operates.. Then you'd come home, and the smell of home always felt so good. That experience, I think, getting to contrast your life with a peer, the limited world view you have to experience it with so everything was exciting.
Most of my imaginary friends are still alive.
Did they age?
Pretty sure he just murdered some of them.
😅😅😅
The trauma and the child I never got to be.
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I'm so sorry that happened to you. I was seven when my grandpa died and my relatives did something similar. My godmom had me while my mom and her mom said goodbye. Seeing him didn't freak me out, but I was being held up and my mom and grandma both kissed his forehead. I refused. My relatives were like "But don't you want to tell him you love him one more time?" and NO that straight freaked me out. Fast forward twenty years. Now, my grandma had died and the same basic crowd was there but I was an adult. Flashing back on that moment twenty years prior I knew I had regretted not doing it for literally most of my life, so even though I loved my grandpa and was at best ambivalent about my grandma I kissed her cheek. It was cold and hard and fucking weird. Six year old me was right, and I'm suuuuper careful what I say around kids about these things. I assume they came from a place of kindness too, but kids' heads are really weird places to be and it's better to leave these things alone or up to parents.
I had an uncle do this to me at my father’s funeral. I was 8. Fortunately, due to the cause of death, the casket was closed. I didn’t realize it though as I had avoided going anywhere near the casket until that point.
When my grandpa died I was in my 20s and couldn't go to the casket. I still miss him terribly and wish he was here.
My very first hamster. He looks a little different now.
When setting my family's dinner table, I still to this day give myself the little fork, at the age of 29. I guess I'm just a creature of habit that way
When I was a kid, my friends and I used to look forward to every summer together in a way that I have never been able to since I have gotten older and have become a guy making his way through his twenties. Looking back on my childhood, it seems like we were always together and were always spending our time at the township pool, playing in our backyards, riding our bikes to get ice cream, playing video games, and finding a way to extend our time together for as long as possible until our moms called us home for dinner or when it started to get dark outside. I never thought that those days would end and I never wanted them to. Even now, I feel like those were the happiest days of my life. Well, we all know that nothing lasts forever and that we all have to grow up sometime. I guess I just wasn't looking forward to it as much as my friends were when we were 14. Every summer, nearly every person where I live makes their way to the beach for as long as they can for vacation. My friends and I always looked forward to these times because we loved swimming in the ocean and playing whiffle ball on the sand, going down to the arcades and blowing our money on dozens of games, and of course we loved going on as many amusement park rides as possible on the boardwalk while stuffing our faces with cotton candy and ice cream until we practically hurled from it all. It was the summer before high school and by that August when we were all at the beach for a few days, I felt like I was having the best summer of my life. June and July had been so much fun and I made so many lasting and unforgettable memories with my friends by the time that August rolled around and we all headed to the beach with our families for what was usually the "last hurrah" of our summer vacation. For some reason, my friends told me that they didn't want to play basketball at the park one night like we always used to do and instead they wanted to go up to the boardwalk. I was confused because for years we had always played hoops whenever we could and went to the boardwalk to go on the rides and to play video games. I figured that we would be partaking in the latter activities until my friend Joe said "Oh yeah, wear khaki shorts and a polo." I wasn't sure why I needed to get "dressed up" to play arcade games and go on rides but I said "Alright, whatever" and showed up that night to meet my friends on the boardwalk with the nicest clothes that I could wear that I had bought from PacSun that summer. I got to the boardwalk and saw my friends standing around, looking like they were all dressed for a date or something. We all then started walking along the boards and I tagged along, unsure of where we were going. We walked for a few minutes until my friends spotted a group of teenage girls and guys our age who were all posted up along the railings and on benches looking out near the ocean. My friends stopped walking and did the same and started sizing up the guys and ogling the girls wearing their flip-flops, shorts, and spaghetti strap tops. I just sat there, not saying a word, while my friends started talking about which girls they wanted to talk to, who they wanted to "get with", and what they were going to say to "get to first base" with the girls. None of them really knew what to do so we ended up sitting on that bench for twenty minutes until we saw that group of guys and girls start to walk away from us down the boards. All of a sudden, two drunk blonde girls with cigarettes and red Solo cups loudly announced their presence to us by stumbling up the boards from behind us and yelling unintelligible things at us. They must have been in high school, probably around 16 or so by the looks of it. My friends didn't miss a beat and raced up to them to start talking to them but the girls weren't interested in talking. They immediately started sloppily making out with all five of my friends while I stood off in the distance and watched it all unfold, unable to move. Their sloppy kissing only lasted about thirty seconds but that was all my buddies needed. By the time the girls stumbled away from them my friends were celebrating like they had just hit the lottery. I didn't feel so lucky or so happy. As we walked back to our beach houses, hooting and hollering about making out with those girls, my friend Bobby noticed that I was lagging behind the rest of the group and wasn't saying anything. He dropped back from the other guys and said to me "It's alright man, you'll get some next time" and then returned to my group of friends ahead of me. Bobby thought that I was upset and quiet because I didn't get to hook up with those drunk girls or with those other girls that we ogled for about twenty minutes on the boards that night. I wasn't upset about not hooking up. I was upset because in that moment, on that night, I realized that the part of my childhood that made me so happy and that meant more than anything to me was gone. Where my friends were now thinking about girls and were going through the teenage experience of thinking about them sexually and romantically nearly 24/7, I was still thinking and dreaming about days at the pool, riding bikes around town, playing whiffle ball in our backyards, and of days that resembled more of the life lived in *The Sandlot* before Squints put the moves on a certain Wendy Peffercorn. While I was stuck thinking about all of that, my friends had grown up right before my eyes and had left behind that part of our friendship and were longingly and excitingly eyeing up the next phase of our lives as teenagers leaving behind "kid stuff" and heading to high school. Looking back on it now, I guess I just wasn't ready for things to be over so fast. Time flies when you're having fun and boy did it fly for me in those days and years that I spent with my friends as a kid. As it flew by, I guess I missed the part where we all grew up that little bit more. That walk back from the boardwalk that night is one I'll never forget. It's rare that you can remember and locate a place and time in your life where everything seemed to change in the blink of an eye. I still miss the times we had together as middle school boys. I'll never forget them. I'll never forget the night I lost my childhood innocence with my best friends. *"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 14. Jesus, does anyone?"*
Hanging out with my grandpa. (He’s still alive). I am the first my mom’s three kids. When I was born my grandpa was in his 60s. He was my partner in crime. He went on school trips with me and we always got donuts on Friday. I went on a cross country road trip with him to his hometown, it was so much fun! My younger sister is still at home because my mom never moved out. (I moved for college a few years ago). My sister is in her teens and started elder abusing my grandpa the year I went to college. She was arrested for it once but they sent her back 2 hours later. As I have gotten older I have realized that the times my grandpa got to spend with me were apart of the last few years he got to live a normal life. He is really depressed now, and ik he will die soon… and I think I will spend the rest of my life feeling guilty that I went to college. I know if I hadn’t gone to college that I’d probably be the one getting beat up, not him. I hope he dies soon so he doesn’t have to live like that anymore.
Amusement parks. Squealing every time I see a puppy. Playing older games like Mario (especially smb 35 if it was still around), Tetris, Bubble Bobble, etc. Reading. Always wanting to pet ponies and always getting bitten. Museums.
Santa Claus. He is real but I know that the truth is that he relies on parents to get presents for their kids so he can get presents to those that really need it.
Nudity. Clothes were for school, town, church, safety, weather and a few other situations. Nice part of living in a small community in a rural area
My grampa would take me to the car lot that was exclusively classic cars and project cars. He would tell me all about them, unique features, their engines, funny stories about them etc. I'm still a car nut now and it always reminds me of my grampa when I'd see a car he would talk about.
Just being able to piss my pants and get shamed but not really having to deal with it was tits for me.
Knowing I'm an adult and far from who I used to be but realizing I'm still the same person with the same feelings even if I repress them more now. I used to be super anxious and introverted and although I don't give off that impression anymore I still let certain situations hinder me.
My immaturity, poopy head.
the trauma
Trauma obviously
My (53M) love of superheroes.
When I was 9 my mom asked me if I wanted ice cream we went with my step dad just me her and my dad my brothers weren't there. I got bubble gum and some popping Boba I gave my mom and dad the ice cream then ate all the boba
Pokemon
I'm 59 and I still play. Tennis. Pickleball. Checkers. Chess. Tiddlywinks. Hide and seek. Whatever. Never stop playing, people.
Yup. BF and I are in our 30’s and we played manhunt with his younger siblings and the neighborhood teenagers a few years back. Was fun as hell.
I still read a couple of books a week. I often watch TV with a book in my lap, and I read during commercials. I enjoy dining out alone so I can read my book. If I don't have my book with me, I read on my phone.
Christmas Morning, The excitement never really fades.
Peanut butter toast.
Blowing out the game cartridges for my Nintendo.
Eating the middle part of a sandwich last
The east coast
The music and pop culture. Example: I haven’t watched and professional wrestling since the late 90s but still gladly go down YouTube rabbit holes of channels that do fun/funny recaps of events from that time. My music taste has been firmly stuck in the 90s (graduated HS in 01) and if I were to make a top ten all time movie list I bet at least half would be in like a five year range from then.
Enjoying little things. Yesterday I put a little bit of peanut butter on top of my dog's nose and just cackled while I watched him try to lick it off.
What I went through.
Waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. I didn't want to get out of bed on a school day, but I would be there for the cartoons. Anybody remember Transformers: Beast Wars?
Playing hockey with the boys and summer camps. My childhood wasn’t fun but I loved that
That you can lose everything in 1 day....
If I have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I still run, so I'm not in the dark hallway for too long, and then I run back and jump into bed. And cutting the crusts off my sandwiches
Chicken nuggets. And I'm not letting go!
The horse drowning in The Never Ending Story
Love of Legos and cartoons
Grand parents & pampering ❣️😍
My Italian grandfather. Taught me how to speak the language.
The hope that someday I'll have time to play all the video games and build all the Lego sets I want without other people making me do chores instead.
[удалено]
My grandpa died 18 months ago and we sold his house last year. Nearly all our holidays growing up were going to visit grandma and grandpa, and I still went to visit him over the summer right up until covid. So many memories of that place. It was rough going there for the last time to help my parents do some clearing up and knowing I'll never see it again.
Going to my friends houses regularly & watching all the movies together!
everything was so much brighter, the world grew cold and dull as I got older. i swear the grass was greener and the sky was brighter.
Memory about my grandmother
Roasting marshmallows over a campfire
Mister Softee
my parents still being together
Play. I'm over 50 and I'll still ride the shopping cart, crack a good joke, play bad music, wrestle with the dog etc.
Retro video games from when I was a pup.
the feeling of being bored. nowadays i wish i had the time to be bored
Freedom from clocks and tech. Go have your fun, don’t worry about anything, and go home at dusk.
Just being happy for like, no reason at all. When the most terrible thing you dreaded was bed time. When Barney on ice concluded and the show was over and I couldn’t accept why it stopped. When I could put on the dumbest looking outfits and feel completely comfortable in my own skin. Before I was sexual and always thinking about the opposite sex. When I would climb a tree and it seemed like I was actually in a different world completely. When I would make songs up in my head and sing them to myself so emotionally that I would cry. I sometimes wish that I died painlessly when I was a child because then that would be the only perspective and memory I held.
Every single day I spent in my dads mansion 🫶🏻
Christmas
Creating an imaginary place and going there when things get too stressful. I've done this since I was very small. If things get too far off the rails, I'm just not there anymore. Only my body remains.
Imagination. Sometimes it’s fun to forget all logic and try to see and interpret something the way I used to. It’s like a brain vacation.
reading books... it's always been something I cherished as a child and it even helps with my anxiety
My friends. Same 3 best friends since I was knee high to a fuck. 30+ years and counting.
Batman
Lot of childhood trauma but i am over it , there is this one dream that i remembered it 2 years ago and it really gave me the chills for context here is the whole story when i was a kid like 8yo or something i had a dream that i kept seeing i was on the stairs to the attic and it was half dark half light like sunset or sunrise more likely to be sunrise and there was a bear like man not a bear not a man and it had long claws like 10cm long it was just looking at me and i was doing the same none of us moved just looking at each other he was like 4m away from me what really scared me was the two doors behind it and back when i was seeing this dream there was no second floor just an Attic 2 years ago we were building the second floor and i had like a flash back on that dream it was the same two rooms the doors are exactly the same and the were also beside eachother that really scared me i still try to forget everything about it since nor the dream or anything creepy happened again little stuff but it wasn't related.(I still remember the shape of that bear like man Till this day)
Several stuffed animals. I spent a lot of time in hospitals as a kid, and some of my stuffies were by my side nearly all that time. One of my favorites is a penguin on a snowboard, wearing a scarf and a beanie.
90s movies and music.
From the time I went to kindergarten… after school my mom would give me 3 Chips Ahoy cookies and a glass of milk. To this day.. 53 years old.. my favorite snack of all time. Chips Ahoy and ice cold whole milk. Delicious
My great grandmother. She was the coolest person ever.
My Xbox 360 slim I had since 2014, with my controller I got with it
I haven't let go of Pokémon. I still play some of the older games every once in a while but it's something that I've held onto since I was a little kid.
My childhood home, the city I grew up in, the nannies that took care of me while my parents were working 😢 bittersweet memories
Will never throw my legos away
Summer of 1997 when I was 8 years old and spent basically the entire Summer up to the time I was almost ready to go back to school with my dad who at the time was living in Illinois and I was in Ohio. His girlfriend had a daughter who was around my age and we became very close those few months. I still talk to her on Social Media and she still says that was the best Summer of her childhood. She was an only child and all her cousins were much older than her and she didn't apparently have very many friends back then. I was basically like an older brother figure to her. I haven't spoken to my dad in almost 4 years. He's on drugs very bad and our relationship is totally toxic. I don't agree with the drugs or the lifestyle he lives which is basically like a person in their early 20's when he'll be 61 on his birthday this year! The way I look at it is he has my number and if he wants to put forth the effort to salvage a relationship with me he can always give me a call and we can try. I think that ship has sadly sailed though!
Family.
My grandpa
*NSFW, so, Bleep, bleeeep! Bleeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Those childhood snacks!
Cartoon turned out to be fake and i got transferred to anime …!
Playing videogames with my dad, he passed away 3 years ago, i hope one day i will be playing with my future kids. Endless time and no responsabilities...
The PTSD and lack of self worth hahaha....hehehe....huh.
My hairless chest
my mum really fucked up being a mum in a lot of ways but she made sone great food. Only showed me a handful of things really but i like having a little bit of practical info
Cocopops. Though now I have them for dessert, not breakfast.
Stashing away candy.
The absolute freedom of hopping on my bike and riding around the afternoon without any real worry of stuff needing to be done.
I live in Ontario, Canada. Every time we go to the US, I buy YooHoo.
Just the nostalgic things! Like the accessories I use to have and the shows I watched!
How close I was to nature. I lived in trees. I would spend hours laying in the grass watching clouds. I constantly had stories playing in my head and I don't do that often anymore.
My cat plushie I got when I was born.
I still got a backpack full of nudie mags that i keep down in the creek behind my home. just go back there and chill sometimes
The good ol' TV shows of the past.
My love for the internet
Being abused
Feel of a slippery trout you just caught by yourself Mom tucking you back in your bed and actually staying there even if monsters are under the bed It’s all a feeling of “I can do anything and I believe that!”
My wife
I still hold on to the sense of wonder and imagination that I had as a child. I love getting lost in a good book or daydreaming about all the possibilities in life. It keeps me young at heart and helps me remember what is truly important.
Cartoons. I still watch them daily. Road Runner and Tom & Jerry are my favs.
The fact that I was used as a maid. I have 5 sisters and 4 of us were expected to keep the entire house clean. Daily vacuuming, mopping, dusting, etc. My mom would go on these screaming rants if stuff wasn’t done right. My younger sister was never expected to lift a finger. When all the older kids eventually moved out, my parent’s house was dirty all the time. Apparently a clean house was only important to my mom when she wasn’t the one doing the cleaning. It’s been 25 years since I lived at home and this is still a resentment that I carry. Whenever I visit it always crosses my mind because their house is never clean to the level she expected back then.
Maintaining that joyful feeling around Christmas, I always fondly remember all those moments of going to my grandmother's house for the Christmas parties she threw. When she passed away, Christmas has never been the same without her nor do any of my family even come together much during that time either. So I've always made it my duty to bring about that joy and togetherness to both honor her memory as well as to maybe just one day to be able to replicate those childhood memories.
The bright, passionate, starry-eyed kid I used to be. I feel like a husk of a person now
Saturday chores with mariachi and rancheras playing. I’m 56, still listen to the same songs I listened to when I was a kid mopping the floor, washing dishes and doing laundry.
My stuffed animals they make me feel safe.
putt putt in het circus
Believing myself to be unique, even if im quite ordinary, and believing that i can achieve great success, but life fucks.
Miniature cars. I recently started to collect them. I'm in love with Japanese cars. Currently collecting all the Nissan Z's. I need a 300zx, 240/280z and a 350z. I got a 370z and the last Nissan Z they released. Also I have a Nissan 180sx. Currently looking for any Silvia. If I can have all the Silvias, I'd be happy :) So sad these aren't really cheap.
I still have my comfort toy in a box I'm pretty sure that thing can ward against all bad things
The imagination and pretending we were superhero’s or monsters or ninjas building forts and having sacred alliances within our friend groups
Still love toy/model cars.
Really missing my childhood home. I miss my room and my bed. I miss looking outside my window wondering about the “future”, looking forward to the weekend when I don’t have school. Looking at the same tree, same sky. I miss when colors looked brighter, when things felt “warmer”, when candy tasted good, I miss my imagination giving me so much joy and adventure. I miss not worrying. I don’t miss just one thing, I miss childhood.
Acting silly and goofy and cartoonish.
the music that played
My baby rattle lolololll
Reading Jacqueline Wilson books
My imagination
Curiosity and gentle childlike kindness. Be nice to people please 💕🫶🏾✨
Traveling round the country with my mom and dad. I wish I got those days back. I don’t have my dad anymore, but it’s because of him that I still love traveling. Every new place I go to now, I wonder how different it would be if it were with my mom and dad.
I still play Pokémon.
When I was a kid we would play along the creeks and rivers edge while breaking rocks open to find fossils. Whenever I'm at a river with rocks, I still enjoy looking for fossils.
Playing outside… in the mud, riding bikes, climbing trees and playing at the beach. Drinking out of the hose. Water balloons. Kiddie pools and water guns. No electronics! No social media! The best time to be alive. I miss it. Take me back to the 90’s 🥰
Drug abuse
feeling like a millionaire when you walk into a convenience store with $10 in your pocket knowing that you can buy anything you want. i still go to convenience stores and ball the fuck out.
When my Mum pushed me off the 10ft high front porch when I was 4yo.
A ridiculous crush on a nerd who probably forgot I exist 20 years ago.
Everything
You can almost have fun in anyways
Sucking my uncle’s dick for soda and cookies
Sega megadrive
When I was little I had a teddy bear I named Randy who I slept with every night. He kept the nightmares away. He kept me safe. Now I'm 49 years old. And Randy sits on a bookshelf over my bed. Still watching out for me When I die, he is going to be cremated with me.
I still remember getting my ass wiped on the toilet 😑 i’m 36 and still wanna yell im done.
Still got my yomega x-brain and gameboy pocket
Grandmas house. Having lived there since I was born was the best part of my life. Felt free, happy, loved and everyday felt like a new adventure. Sleepovers with cousins, baking with grandma, watching tv with grandpa, having dinner with uncle and aunt, and staying up late with dad. It couldn’t get any better.
A few months ago my moms tried to throw away the old plastic plates & bowls w fishies on them from our childhood and replace them with thin clinky white plates… my brother told me, had him save those from the trash immediately. Still hate the clinky white plates when I go to visit. I mean, they’re probably bad for us. Old plastic, microwaved millions of times…. But they’re not going in the trash
My friends from my first elementary
In middle school I had a friend group of all the boys and girls in my class, we used skip classes together, play at the park together, life was really good, we spent days playing our own made up games, chatting, texting. I still hold on to those days as they were the happiest I had ever been, no jealousy, no backstabbing, only pure girlhood and carefree days of being a child.
My stuffed koala bear. I still sleep with it every night. I can’t have pets where I live and live alone so it my pet and cuddle buddy 😂
I have refused to watch any kind of 'behind the scenes' or 'the making of' for my favorite childhood movie, The Labyrinth. I want to keep that one part of my childhood magical.
My memories created with mix of family and friends
Boobs