Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
My sister and I have been soul-searching lately, and we're simply in awe of how different kids have it nowadays. I won't reveal my age, but I will say that TRL (Total Request Live) was a show that we would come home and watch after school each day.
My sister and I were reminiscing the other day and came up with the top 3 things we miss from our childhood. Whether it be something that you would just look foolish doing as an adult or something that has been phased out from technological advancements, reminisce with us!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Obviously my childhood was a few decades back.
1. No cell phones. (You could feel free and disconnected while out doing things instead of having what is basically a digital dog leash).
2. No internet and social media. (People saw each other in person and did things together).
3. No 24/7 stream of fake news. (Just tell us what happened, and we will decide for ourselves what the implications of it might be).
Final score:
30points
#2
1. No anxiety
2. Juice boxes at birthday parties
3. Looking at cool random stuff like birds and rocks without being judged
Final score:
28points
Lemon Beans 2 years ago
If the people in your life are judging you for liking very normal things like ROCKS ?? and BIRDS???? PLEASE get new friends!! They sound lame!! 😭☹️
#3
Innocence
Summers playing outside
Less violence in the movies/programs we watched
Final score:
22points
John Barber 1 year ago
When did you grow up?. Cartoons were much more violent when I was young.
#4
1) Building Forts out of every and anything and using flashlights as our own internal lighting fixtures!
2) Capturing us with a camcorder, Re-Creating musicals by laying off the edge of the couch upside down and covering our eyes with blankets to make our chins look like faces :)
3) FLOOR IS LAVA! Although it's making a comeback, we would rearrange our furniture into our own type of American Ninja Warrior course to ensure we would never touch the lava infested floor!
Final score:
20points
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Still building forts here. Well, mostly it's the youngsters but their friends are often surprised it's allowed. Do people not build forts with kids and visiting grandkids? Tree forts are the best!
#5
1. Being able to talk only about dinosaur facts
2. Adventure playgrounds
3. Being able to run around screaming whenever you want
Final score:
18points
Lemon Beans 2 years ago
If you become a paleontologist, I think you could probably do all of this quite frequently 😝
#6
Dad. He was my hero.
Horses.
Living in the country.
Final score:
18points
#7
1. Getting to read whatever I wanted pretty much whenever I wanted. That kind of disappeared in 8th-9th grade, when things started getting harder, and they kept giving me busy work to do. I used to be able to spend hours a day reading, and I was several reading levels ahead. Now I'm still rereading books from the 7th grade and scrolling youtube for fun. I miss when I got to read all the time. It was such a healthy escape from the real world.
2. I miss not having to worry about the way I look. When I was little I thought I was the prettiest thing ever. Now that there's so much hate and negativity in the world, and filtered life is so natural to some people, I can't help but see myself as average, and even ugly.
3. There's this Peanuts comic where they're talking about how one day you're never going to just fall asleep in the back of your parents' car again. It really hit me hard when I read it. I miss being able to do that without worrying about everything. It really sucks growing up.
Final score:
15points
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Falling asleep in the parents' car! That one hit differently. Really early memories of watching New Mexico desert sky so full of stars it was like a blanket of light. True dark skies hard to find nowadays.
#8
1. My siblings. There were 8 of us. Now we're scattered all over the globe and have our own families. Getting everyone in one place is like planning a world peace summit.
2. Indestructible cars. Those station wagons and sedans in the 80s were freaking heavy tanks on wheels. I felt safe and small. Nowadays all cars are too light and much too fragile.
3. Low prices. 99 cents for a gallon of gas was a beautiful thing. It felt like living within a budget was actually doable. Now, the mortgage and water bill alone take out your entire paycheck before you even think about eating or filling up your gas tank. Disposable income? What the hell is that? Living from paycheck to paycheck over here, as are most people I know. "Make America great again", my a**!
Final score:
14points
#9
1) being able to not being aware of the real live going on (wars, environment problems)
2) christmas spirit (Das Christkind, Der Nikolaus, Geheimniskrämerei.... )
3) being self-confident as in: without any doubt: I can do anything!
Final score:
13points
John Barber 1 year ago
Cheer or jeer?. Belschnikle is here!! Have you been impish or admirable?.
#10
1) stability at home (no financial pressure)
2) time to be free and explore my city
3) solid friendships
Final score:
12points
#11
Relaxing, no pressure, little responsibility, and being able to make anything a game. Now it feels like everything is a chore.
Final score:
12points
#12
1) Hearing the icecream truck 4 blocks down (not as much traffic then) and having time to grab 2 quarters before they got to your street where they actually stopped and kids you didn't know existed came out of the woodwork and that's how you made friends.
2) Being able to play outside anywhere in or out of the city and not have to worry about getting abducted or hit by a car.
3) The creativity of the young mind. Could entertain myself for hours within my own thoughts. Now if I don't see a phone or tv within several hours it feels weird....
Final score:
12points
#13
1. The illusion from innocence that life is much, much simpler than it really is.
2. My once seemingly boundless imagination, and the free time to spend exploring it.
3. Optimism.
Final score:
12points
#14
1) My Grandparents
I called them Grandma and Pap. I loved them both and I would tell them all the time. Sadly, my Pap's mom wouldn't let him say I love you because it wasn't manly. I never got to hear my Pap say, "I love you," but you could see it in his eyes. They lit up when they heard those words. My grandma would tell me it all the time. I would give anything to see them again one last time. They both passed a few years ago. I miss them more than words can express.
2) Going places like Walmart and thinking it was fun.
No joke I thought grocery shopping and stuff was fun. Now that I'm older, I realize it's just a pain. But at least I get out of my house for a bit.
3) My parents having freetime.
They both work all the time. I'm left with my siblings to babysit. I don't have much of a life outside of that sadly.
Final score:
10points
#15
1. My child body
2. Telling stories to my rabbits
3. Halloween as a child
Final score:
10points
#16
1. The smell. You know the one. It penetrates your memory but you only know what it smelled like when you catch a ghost of it on the wind. It’s like a name without a face; a rhyme without a reason. I don’t remember where it came from. I wish I could smell it forever but I think it might make me feel sick.
2. The excitement that I felt over everything. My heart fluttered and my eyes sparkled and fireworks went off in my body. Everything was whimsical and golden. Magic. That childlike sense of wonderment is foreign to me now. I don’t remember the last time I felt it.
3. Make-believe. I have not played make-believe in years. I just don’t really enjoy it anymore. So I guess the correct thing to say would be: I miss enjoying playing. I miss sitting down with my toys for hours and being perfectly happy. I miss those ongoing games of dolls that sometimes lasted years. I still remember them. I play them again if you asked me to. But it wouldn’t be fun anymore, and that hurts me.
Final score:
10points
Louieeeeee (Submission author) 1 year ago
Apologies for the repost, I didn’t realize this was supposed to be three things
#17
1. Not having responsibilities
2. Having friends
3. Not having (nearly as much) anxiety
Final score:
9points
#18
1) Tamagotchi pets, from early 2000s. They're still being made, but it isn't the same. I have no idea where mine went...
2) Nintendo Gamecube. It's one of my favorite Nintendo consoles. I would play on it at night for hours.
3) Beanie babies, I had so many I couldn't count them all..
Final score:
8points
#19
As The Beatles would say, “Yesterday - all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay.”
Final score:
8points
#20
- The fact that I wouldn't feel self-conscious. I wouldn't have to worry about what I wore. In preschool, I would wear a tutu with stripped leggings and a rainbow polka shirt and no one would care.
- I liked fruit and milk. I don't necessarily miss that but my body needs the vitamins and I don't eat them because I don't like them. I often have to be reminded or told to drink milk and have fruit.
- There weren't so many high expectations and I don't have to worry about my future too much. Now I have to think about SAT, college applications, what I actually want to do with my life, and more.
Final score:
7points
BeepBeepBoopBoop 2 years ago
hey! As a heads up you don't have to drink milk to be healthy, especially if you don't like it. There's plenty of other ways to get calcium. Most adults lose the enzyme to break down cow's milk anyways. You have lots of ways to get calcium while still being healthy, yogurt and cheese, some fruits, lots of nuts and seeds have calcium, along with lots of leafy greens! If there's another reason you're drinking milk, I'd recommend googling alternatives! 😁❤️
#21
I am glad that most of the people here had good childhoods. I don't miss ANYTHING about mine. I'm just glad that it's over and I am still alive.
Final score:
7points
#22
My parents actually being my parents. After the age of 13 my mom took me from my dad and left me at a family friends house, promised me she would come get me and then 5 years later still never did. I can count on my fingers the amount of times my mom has told me she loves me after the age of 13 (btw I’m 21 now). My dad has done a lot better than her, he has shown me that he actually loves me, though it could be better on both of our ends. I miss my parents being my parents
Final score:
6points
Savannah Barnett (Submission author) 2 years ago
I just realized the prompt said three things and I only put one but oh well
#23
The Ice Cream Man and The Helms Bakery Truck coming down the street. (Mmm fresh donuts)
Hitchhiking to the beach during the summer.
Riding in the back of a pick up truck.
Final score:
6points
#24
Having lots of fresh fruit and veggies, and time outdoors----finding and picking wild asparagus beside the country roads, playing in a crab apple tree with my brother in my grandparents yard for hours, picking wild hickory nuts, picking peas left in the field after Libby harvested them for canning, going to pick strawberries and raspberries.
Living on a farm during high school-- going down to the neighbor's on Friday evening for fresh baked bread smothered in butter. Having my own horse and helping our dog birth 9 puppies when I was home alone.
Living with Gran and Gramps all summer during grade school. Going to swim in a big pool with my brother almost every day. Going to a nearby stables (with lots of animals besides horses) to ride horses, and later work there. Getting to go to a weekend horse show with Carol, the owner, sleeping in a horse stall and going to Sunday church in cowboy boots.
Final score:
6points
Old Roadie 1 year ago
You had the childhood I always dreamt of... now that I have a place in the country, priority is making those memories happen with the next 3 generations. Well done to your parents and grandparents. They sound like wonderful people.
#25
I miss my family. We have all grown up and gone all our own ways. Both parents passed, grand parents gone, lost a sibling... it sucks but it's life.
Final score:
6points
#26
My own little world of make believe
Climbing trees
Having a friend spend the night and sleeping in the recroom
Final score:
6points
#27
1. Swimming in our town's huge pool.
2. Sledding on a nearby snow-covered closed street and skating on its frozen-over basketball court.
3. Playing everywhere, every front yard, catching lightning bugs, hide-and-seek, tag, etc. No boundaries!
Final score:
6points
#28
1. School plays. I loved acting and singing.
2 Chinese jump rope. I'd break bones if I tried to do them today.
3. Hitting my sister in the head with the tetherball.
Final score:
5points
#29
My grandparents
My language (I hardly get to use it anymore living in the United States)
My city (it was a violent s**t hole, but I miss it)
Final score:
5points
#30
Honorable mention to my hopes and dreams. 😉
Final score:
5points
#31
Three things I miss most (in no particular order)-
my Nana
my Grandpa
my Grandma
Final score:
5points
#32
1. Being able to go outside and know to be back when the street lights came on
2. No cell phones
3. No social media you actually had to go and be with your friends
Final score:
5points
#33
I'm a very sentimental person, so it was hard to narrow it down.
1. Less Responsibility (I know that sounds lazy, but don't get me wrong. I am in a college program I love, and I have a job I'm thriving in. But when you're a kid, there's less pressure, you know?)
2. PC games geared towards kids (Jumpstart, Webkinz, things like that. I don't play those anymore, but they were fun. Even as an adult, the only video games I play are The Sims, SimCity, and Animal Crossing (I prefer Simulation games).)
3. Hershey's Kissables (My maternal grandmother, may she rest in peace, bought me those a few times during the four years they were available. They were my favorite candy, and one of my favorite memories with her, along with going to a bakery we liked. Why did they stop making those?)
Final score:
4points
#34
All my problems weren't that monumental
Living in my home state
Being comfortable in my skin
Final score:
4points
#35
1. The kitchen toys in the dentist's waiting room
2. ball pits
3. having a pure mind
Final score:
4points
#36
1. Sneaking into the living room at 6am on Christmas morning to get our stockings off the fireplace mantel then running to our room like bandits. Little did we realize our parents loved it because it meant they could sleep in longer before we got loud.
2. Trekking through the woods with my friend across the street..catching frogs and snakes before climbing trees and stripping all the nearby huckleberry pushes of their stash.
3. Being at my Grandparents for a week or two in the summer with my cousin. Grandma would give us 5 bucks each and we would head down to the local mini mart to blow it on Jolly Ranchers and Bubble gum.
Final score:
4points
#37
1. The house we had. It was big, nice, and you could totally not see anyone for a few days if you wanted to.
2. My cat and dog. I was highly allergic to both but I still loved them and they died old, like 16 & 14 respectively.
3. Living in the country where the forest was on two sides of our house (see #1). You could go there and have peace. I would never get lost in it either.
Final score:
4points
#38
1-Just playing
2-going to the beach with a friend
3-my late sister
Final score:
4points
#39
My mother, the house I grew up in and my first cat, Mumma puss. ( my only childhood friend)
Final score:
4points
#40
Imaginary friends. They were great fun
Endless summers
The blissfullness of having the innocence of childhood
Final score:
4points
#41
1) Not paying rent/Having to work. I love my job, but it can be stressful at times.
2) Spending time with my mom/enjoying her cooking.
3) Being more physically fit than I am now (though, that's more of me as a teen), or as flexible.
Final score:
4points
CG (Submission author) 1 year ago
I still have a good relationship with my mom to this day, but I miss being able to hang out with her as much as I used to (work schedules and everything).
#43
- Christmas through the eyes of a child.
- Magical time with grandparents.
- Being carried to bed in your parents’ arms when you’d fallen asleep in the car.
Final score:
3points
#44
1. frickin bubble guppies and paw patrol and wonder pets. mother of macaroni i loved these shows so so much
2. not caring what anyone thought about me!!! omg this is such an issue now (this includes peer pressure and social media)
3. my sense of innocence. ong i have such a dirty mind now and i wish i could get rid of it (sometimes 👀)
Final score:
3points
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Try this perspective: what others are thinking is none of our business. It's their mind, their life, not ours. This outlook might help with the peer pressure and judgmental attitude of others. They are *not better than you. You rock. Go with that.
#45
Riding an up-and-down horse on the merry-go-round. Playing kick-the can at twilight. Back scratches from Mom.
Final score:
2points
#46
Apricot doll from the Strawberry Shortcake line in the 80's.
Some of the velvet posters I coloured.
And the gas stove we had with a griddle built into it.
Also I would love if humanity let go of its grip on technology and social media some. Not all of it, but get back to talking to people without looking at your phone.
Final score:
2points
#47
1. U miss the talks my grandfather, and I had while he walked me to and from elementary school. The safety I felt when he held my hand. His vision of me as good and worthy.
2. Playing in the marsh by my home in the summer. It was cooler on triple-digit days, and we kids had so much fun discovering brightly colored bugs and insects and having games of adventure and daring-do among the reeds and tall grasses.
Shirley Temple movies on the TV every Saturday on repeat for years.
Final score:
2points
#48
The smell. You know the one. It penetrates your memory but you only know what it smelled like when you catch a ghost of it on the wind. It’s like a name without a face. I don’t remember where it came from. I wish I could smell it forever but I think it might make me feel sick.
Final score:
2points
Catharine Munson 1 year ago
Is it that sweet smell that randomly appears outside? I could never figure out what it was.
#49
Disney popsicles. They were the most delicious popsicles in the world.
Final score:
2points
#50
I miss how my house smelled, how my childhood bed felt after curling up into it and feeling unbelievably safe and so warm, and being a child with no responsibility but to play.
Final score:
2points
#51
I miss us being a family together.
I miss watching cartoons in the morning.
I miss playing volleyball for hours and hours.
Final score:
2points
#52
I miss…
Innocent naive wonder at life, the universe, and everything while being encouraged to be that way and being free from judgement FOR being that way.
Horses.
Having a body and brain that cooperated with me! Instead of brain foggy and ouchy 24/7!
Final score:
2points
Old Roadie 1 year ago
Oh, the times I mutter about investing decades in strength and agility training only to have it vapor lock when I need it most.
#53
1. Dad's jam sessions with old friends like Sinatra, Crosby, Hope. He came up with them, was numbered among great Swing Era musicians. Alzheimer's took him in his 90s, but he still knew 2 things: should be trumpet in his hand and Mom at his side.
2. Especially miss my stunning, gifted, empathic Mom. She built family home with grandpa in the 1940s, and I still have her beast of a framing hammer. She looked like Ava Gardner-Maureen O'Hara. Taught me to read and write before 2nd birthday. Funny, smart, could do anything after seeing it once. She also had a 6th sense. I couldn't get away with a darn thing. She knew. Always. Sigh.
3. Miss my grandma, too. She raised 7 daughters without ever raising her voice or spanking them. I do not know how... especially after knowing their mischievous traits. I did not inherit her patience!
Final score:
2points
#54
Free food, free rent, free clothes parents had to pay all those
Final score:
2points
#55
1) The anticipation and excitement of Christmas. Even when I had younger siblings, seeing Christmas through their eyes as well. Miss that feeling a lot
2) How awesome it felt to live through the home micro revolution. I remember getting my first ZX81 and thinking how great it was that you could type in a game listing from a magazine and actually get a game out of it. Moving on through the years and all the computers and consoles that followed. Nothing in the modern era has ever recaptured that feeling
3) Basically not having to worry about 'grown up' stuff like the house destroying itself overnight, or whether petrol prices are going to rise again, or bin day, the weekly shopping trip, paying the bills and all the other hideous things that adults have to do but as a kid you totally take for granted are 'someone else's problem'
Final score:
2points
#56
1) Less responsibility
2) Cartoons
3) Being able to say anything you think
Final score:
2points
#57
1. I miss lying in bed at night, hearing my Dad snoring, hearing the heating pipes creaking and groaning, and the sense of safety that all of it together provided.
2. Endless bicycle riding around the neighborhood with my friends.
3. The long summer days in Alaska. 21 hours of sunlight.
Final score:
2points
#58
Home delivery of things like fresh milk & other dairy, Charles Chips, courtesy.
Final score:
2points
#60
1. Innocence
2. Kids menus
3. Little Einsteins
Final score:
1point
#61
I miss my family. We have all grown up and gone all our own ways. Both parents passed, grand parents gone, lost a sibling... it sucks but it's life.
Final score:
1point
#62
Not to worry about anything related to money, food, household, administration, etc.
Final score:
1point
What do you think ?
Raye West 1 year ago (edited)
What's really sad is all kids these days will have to "miss from childhood" pretty much are strictly tv show related or video games or phone models. They have very little substance to their childhood.
Load More Replies...
Patrick Linnen 1 year ago
Have to laugh at some of these. Cheap Gas never was an option in Europe. I can say that I miss the wide spread and available public and mass transit systems in Europe that I grew up with. In the media, I'd say that I miss those parts that did not cater to the Lowest Common Denominator. (I miss 'The Blue Marble', 'The Electric Company', music channels that played music videos, 24 hour international news, TV press round-tables with actual non-token liberals.) I can give a shout out to commercial-free sports events.
Raye West 1 year ago (edited)
What's really sad is all kids these days will have to "miss from childhood" pretty much are strictly tv show related or video games or phone models. They have very little substance to their childhood.
Load More Replies... Patrick Linnen 1 year ago
Have to laugh at some of these. Cheap Gas never was an option in Europe. I can say that I miss the wide spread and available public and mass transit systems in Europe that I grew up with. In the media, I'd say that I miss those parts that did not cater to the Lowest Common Denominator. (I miss 'The Blue Marble', 'The Electric Company', music channels that played music videos, 24 hour international news, TV press round-tables with actual non-token liberals.) I can give a shout out to commercial-free sports events.
Related on Bored Panda
