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We tend to think that childhood sucks when we’re little. We can’t wait to grow up and be like adults. Then we’ll be able to watch whatever we want on TV, buy whatever snacks we want, and go out without telling anyone and without a curfew. That’s why they say that youth is wasted on the young – because we don’t yet know how good we actually have it.
A couple of years ago, one Redditor was curious to know what cool things people experienced in their childhood but didn’t appreciate until they became adults. They went on r/AskReddit and posed this question to the community. People shared all sorts of wholesome and sweet things and even some impressive stories.
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#1
Energy to do s**t. The older the more I miss it.
S. E. in Indiana 9 months ago
I am 67 years old, and I agree. I cannot do 3/4 of the stuff I used to be able to do. It really bothers me.
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#2
I've shared this before, but it is a very important thing I realized I did not appreciate until I was an adult.
When I was a kid my dad and I had a tradition every week of going to the video store and renting a movie or two to watch together. I remember I used to get really upset at him because every single time we'd actually start to watch the movie he would fall asleep.
It wasn't until I was older that I realized that the reason he would fall asleep was because he was exhausted from working two very physically demanding jobs to try and give me the best life he possibly could. On top of that, even though he was tired he still made an effort to try and start a little tradition with me and spend time with me.
Those memories of me having to nudge my dad awake are so great in my eyes, because they made me realize what a caring and hard working man he was and still is to this day.
#3
3 months of summer vacation
Growing up without a cell phone or social media.
Zedrapazia 9 months ago
I've recently seen a ... Skibidi Toilet, which is apparently a little chipmunk voice man singing and spinning in a toilet. It made me really happy that I am not a kid right now because my neighbors children love that weird thing.
Sometimes we tend to remember things more fondly just because they happened in the past. That way, our childhood might seem better than it actually is. This is called 'rosy retrospection.' Experts say that the phenomenon is a "cognitive bias that runs parallel with the concept of nostalgia, though the latter does not always directly imply a biased recollection."
But it's nothing to be scared of, it happens to most of us. It's just how our brains process memories over time. Young adults tend to remember their childhood as their 'golden age.' For older adults, it's their young adult years that seem to be the best.
#4
Falling asleep somewhere, like in the car, and waking up in my bed.
shanila.pheonix_ 9 months ago
id witness my parents carry my baby bro back to his bed and his cute little face riddled with confusion after he woke up
#5
This might sound stupid or boomerish.
When I was a kid -1960s- every town had its own stores for everything. Local shoe shop, local sporting goods store, local five and dime, non franchise gas stations, local one-screen movie theater. Every town was a little, local economy.
Then the malls killed it all. Now the big box stores are killing them.
Progress?
#6
Remember how you use to feel waking up on Christmas day? And now Christmas is just a holiday we save up for and worry about what to get people and hope we didn't forget anyone. I miss the stress free Christmas.
Susie Elle 9 months ago
I still get that feeling. Every christmas, I plan at least one day with no meet-ups. For instance we'll do christmas eve at my sister's house, first day of christmas is free, second day of christmas we go to my boyfriends family. I love it, because I wake up on christmas morning with an empty agenda, feeling that sense of serenity and coziness that I felt as a kid.
Apparently, our most vivid long-term memories happen between the ages of 10 and 30, and those are the years that our brains remember the best. We also tend to concentrate on our 20s, because many significant life events occur during those years: college graduation, marriage, having children, etc. This age period is also called 'the reminiscence bump.'
But it's not simply about the things and events that we remember. The more important factor is how we felt during them. That's what we register the best, and that's what triggers us to remember these events in a positive light. Also, because younger people tend to be more optimistic about the world and the future, our memories are made even better by the dopamine we had when we lived them.
#7
Having loving & kind parents, and a happy family unit who genuinely enjoyed each other and had great holidays together.
Seemed normal to me but reading reddit makes it seem so unusual.
nomnomborkbork 9 months ago
I never knew how many people had an unhappy family life until I got to college. I really began to appreciate my family and how rare it was to all like and support each other.
#8
When I was a little kid (probably around ~5-6 years old), there were a few times when I was riding my bike around the neighborhood in the afternoon and my dad happened to see me while on his way home from work. We would always "race" back to the house, and I thought I was the fastest biker ever because I would always win even though my dad was in his car.
After a while, I completely forgot about this. Then, when I was 18, my dad was teaching me how to drive stick in the exact same car he had when that happened, and I happened to drive past a kid about that age on a bike. Suddenly I remembered those "races" again, and at the same time I realized that my dad had been revving the engine in neutral.
#9
Having a functional body.
Having free fun time.
Making friends easily.
All of these were a given for me, until it becomes no more a given.
#10
Walking around town without adult supervision and no one bothers you or calls the authorities.
Ozymandias73 9 months ago
Those times were so much easier. Being able to be gone all day without parent supervision and just checking in every now and again with one of our friend's parents. (Usually when we were hungry).
#11
Growing up on a farm and participating in 4H. So many kids today completely lack any sense of where their food comes from, why we need to be humane ro animals or why it's so good for the mind to be outdoors! Not to mention the built in work ethic and sense of responsibility and accomplishment that comes with raising animals and doing physical tasks.
#12
Waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday to play video games for a few hours before watching cartoons.
I mean, I can do that now. But it just lacks a certain charm as an adult.
#13
Home cooked food. Every day.
featherytoad 9 months ago
I remember when me and my bf could finally drive to school our Senior year. We would stop at McDonalds or KFC after school and chow. I would still eat a big dinner three hours later.
#14
Just being a kid in general. All I ever wanted to do was grow up.
#15
I'm from europe and in the middle of the woods near my village there is an abadon monestary from the XV century, it's a huge place. We would play hid and seek there. It's an amazing place but for us was just a good place to play.
nomnomborkbork 9 months ago
How enchanting! Being from the US, we could only imagine places like that to play.
#16
Showing livestock. I was embarrassed about it as a kid and especially as a teen. Looking back, it's pretty badass that I was able to halter-break, groom, and show 1,200 pound steers as a kid.
#17
The early stages of the internet. It felt like I was part of a secret club. The vibe of it felt much more underground and it had a ton of variety.
Me. Just Me. 9 months ago
Not just the internet, but computers and technology in general. It was advancing so fast and there was always so much cool stuff that even buying one of those things was the most exciting part of your whole month. You bought a new computer because you couldn't play that new game with your old one, but now you can. You got a new cell phone that was so much cooler than your old one. I don't know if it was the time we were living in or the amazement we felt just because of our kid-brains, but I miss it.
#18
Coming home after school and having almost no responsibilities. In fact, we were not even allowed in the house until dark because we got in the way! Now I get home after work, and I still have so much to do. I would love that feeling again.
Annie Bieber 9 months ago
In the summers and weekend we were Free Range kids; out til dark and only home for meals.
#19
My dad had an airplane and I lived on a farm and he would buy a bag of candy and rain it down in the field for me and my cousin to find.
#20
Eating meals at the table with the whole family, using food grown in our garden. Majority of my childhood friends were raised this way so i didn't see the value in it until i left my small town for college and realized that it wasn't the norm in a lot of households. Now I really appreciate the time and conversations my family had during meals.
nomnomborkbork 9 months ago
We always had family meals too, minus the home-grown food. We weren't rich by any monetary standards, but this family time and the thoughtful meals my mom could make on a low budget enriched all our lives so very much.
#21
When I was about 10 years old, I lived next door to a guy who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins. (This is in Massachusetts)
One spring morning, I was playing hockey in the driveway with my friends. Pro hockey playing neighbor comes over to play with us. He was so nice/cool to us. We gave it everything we possibly had, against him, while he wasn't even close to trying. At one point, he took a slap shot that ripped a few seams in my street hockey net. (Worth it.) He also put a dent in the wooden back stop we had behind the net. He stopped after that, because it was as loud as a gun shot and he didn't wanna disturb the neighbors. We were all checking him, hitting him, roughing him up, trying to fight him, etc. and he did a good enough acting job where it kinda seemed like what we were doing was actually semi-effective.
That night, the Penguins had a playoff game against the Bruins, in Boston. Neighbor was an absolute animal that night. He hit everyone who dared to touch the puck, scored a goal, nabbed an assist, got in a fight and eventually got ejected from the game. At the old Garden, the away team had to walk past the Bruin's bench in order to get to their dressing room. When hockey neighbor went to pass by the Bruin's bench, he got into it with the guy at the end and absolutely manhandled him. When a resulting brawl broke out, the camera zoomed in on neighbor who was terrifyingly angry and talking trash. (I could see his mouth form the words "F**K YOU! YEA YOU! F**K YOU!" as blood leaked from the bridge of his nose.) A seriously intimidating individual at 6'5, 250lbs.
In looking back, it's absolutely insane to me that he went from my driveway to my TV screen and that my friends and I also "fought" him earlier that morning.
#22
Not only making friends easily but always getting to hang out with them easily because of school. As an adult, it's difficult finding the right time to hang out with one friend, let alone several.
#23
When I was five or so I was throwing a tantrum. So my dad locked me in his room and let me tire myself out. Once I was quiet, he'd walk in and calmly ask "are you ready to talk?"
The first couple times I baited him and just went back to the tantrum.
The last time, after I was thoroughly disheartened, he explained to me the importance of thinking things through rather than emotionally.
The lesson stuck.
Johnnynatfan 9 months ago
So the poster took for granted throwing a tantrum? This post does not make sense in this list
#24
For me my answer is simply my parents. As a kid the life your given tends to be what you think life is. I greatly took for granted my parents and the love they gave me. I never saw them fight or yell at eachother, they never punished me for no reason but rather explained why what I did was wrong (which worked very well) They allowed me freedom as I grew up because they had the mindset of kids and teens make mistakes our job is to help them learn from them. The craziest part about all of this is my parents are extremely Mormon. My dad is a high ranking leader in the church as well as my mom. When I decided it wasn't for me unlike many mormon parents they accepted that and told me they love me no less. This is quite unusual for mormon families especially one this deep in the religion.
Growing up I was like any other kid and would get pissed at my parents for some reason or another. I never told them I hated them but there were times that I felt like that. Looking back that was so childish as they never gave me anything close to a reason to feel that way. I aspire to be in a marriage as good as theirs and I aspire to raise my kids as well as my parents did.
#25
By age five I knew every swimming stroke except the butterfly. Had been given infant swimming lessons; learned to swim before I could walk.
As a kid I kind of noticed other people weren't as comfortable in the water, but it wasn't until adulthood that I realized how many people either couldn't swim at all, or were apprehensive about their skills at it.
Hill Branda 9 months ago
This. I was a pretty sickly kid and had severe ear and knee problems. As soon as I was well enough, my parents made me take swimming lessons. I was terrified at first and kept trying to run away from the pool. Eventually, I came to love it, and it was the only sport I was capable of doing. I was never a great swimmer but I felt so comfortable in the water that it was a great escape for me. It still baffles me when I meet people who are afraid of the water or can't swim. I got caught in a rip current at the beach once, remembered what I was taught by my swim coach, and made it back to shore, exhausted but safe. It wasn't until I was older that I realized how dangerous that was.
#26
Eating whatever you want.
#27
Family gatherings.
Marjorie Macrae 9 months ago
Appreciate them while they are still around, nothing better than family.
#28
Being allowed to be in the room while adults spoke. I would hear things & put them in the back of my mind and forget about them. Whenever they come across my mind in certain conversations & situations, they make so much sense. No, I was never bold enough to ask questions or make comments or statements if I was not being spoken too.
nomnomborkbork 9 months ago
My parents talked to my sister and me as adults, too. Hearing their conversations even though we didn't participate taught us a lot.
#29
International travel. Seemed normal as a kid, but I didn't realize how rare it was until I was an adult. The family wasn't rich; my parents just put all of their entertainment and discretionary money towards traveling.
Mia Black 9 months ago (edited)
Can't confirm. We only made one or two day trips to the nearby North sea to the dog beach (not fun. Mostly stones instead of sand). I was absolutely jealous and flabbergasted when heard that it was kind of normal for SOME kids and their families too travel far away for a few weeks. In HOTELS. With a POOL and activities. Blew my mind. Even today is so rare in my life but I know it could be far worse. I like my home. Edit: grew up with livestock and pets. Was lots of work, less free time and far less money but I think I can be happy I got so close to nature
#30
Those few kids in school who had it all to be popular and they were, but they weren't mean or cliquey.
They had all the social power a kid could have - they were good-looking, funny, dressed well, athletic, everything - but they didn’t exploit it. They were usually smart and well-behaved (though not too much) but also fun and didn't take themselves too seriously.
I didn't have many friends growing up, and even fewer genuinely good ones because most of my not-so-popular friends secretly wanted to be in those mean cliques and only spoke against them because of sour grapes (I was likely one of them, at least at some point).
I wish I had known to seek out those genuinely decent kids who really had their heads on straight.
Later in life, I got to know some of them and they are still great people - really the best kinds of friends to have. A number of them mentioned that they totally would have been friends with me when we were in school together - they even thought about it, but I didn't seem interested.
I just assumed anyone who had so much going for them wouldn't want to be friends with me.
What do you think ?
Tracy Wallick 9 months ago
This is a really bittersweet list for those of us who didn't have stable loving homes to grow up in. :(
DB 9 months ago
Yes. I wish I had more memories like these instead of the toxic nightmare that was my childhood.
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Gorilla guy 9 months ago
I'm Gen z, but this list is still so relatable for me. My family lived in the country near a small town (two harbors, MN), so it was very safe and old fashioned. All the family still live near the original homestead, and we gather there every Friday. It is pretty close to a mid size city, but most of my time was spent in the country or small town.
Tracy Wallick 9 months ago
This is a really bittersweet list for those of us who didn't have stable loving homes to grow up in. :(
DB 9 months ago
Yes. I wish I had more memories like these instead of the toxic nightmare that was my childhood.
Load More Replies... Gorilla guy 9 months ago
I'm Gen z, but this list is still so relatable for me. My family lived in the country near a small town (two harbors, MN), so it was very safe and old fashioned. All the family still live near the original homestead, and we gather there every Friday. It is pretty close to a mid size city, but most of my time was spent in the country or small town.
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