Hindsight is 20/20 for sure. Once nostalgia is involved, memories get clouded. And nostalgia and clouding set in as soon as the second passes. The things we loved to play with or hold onto in our past of course mark our history but often.... when we come across them in the present we sometimes realize... meh... they weren't so hot. We all can get taken in by shiny baubles, it's human nature. Let's take a look back.
Redditor u/ILoveTicTac wanted to compare notes about what wonderful things we loved in the past that maybe didn't stay as wonderful with age, so they asked...What seemed nice when you were a child, but when you grew up turned out to not be so nice?
Round & Round....
GiphyGetting dizzy. We had an uncle who was tall and strong and would spin us around one by one. We couldn't get enough. I remember after my spin, I'd just laugh as I couldn't keep my balance and watch the world spin. Now, I avoid getting dizzy like the plague.
Good Night.
Staying up all night.
I used to want to stay awake all night and play video games.
Now if I'm awake past midnight, it takes me 2 or 3 days to recover.
4AM is like the freaking event horizon of a black hole.
"wayment"
A popular girl complimented me on my shoes. My mom had just gotten them for me from Old Navy and I thought they were really cool.
"Were they really expensive?" she asked. "Were they like..." (she dropped her voice) "twenty dollars?"
I smiled back, thinking it was cool that she must be responsible enough to buy her own clothes, cos I certainly didn't in grade seven.
I nodded and said "they were $19.99, yeah." She smiled and walked away and I was so excited to have been complimented by a person who was not only POPULAR but also A GIRL, that I wrote about it on my Harry Potter calendar and told my mom that "the cool kids liked my shoes."
It was earlier this year that I thought back on this nice memory and went "wayment".
Adulting....
GiphyBeing a grown-up.
We all do, friend. Those internal struggles don't go away. You just learn how to work with them and understand them. They are a part of you. And that's ok.
Easier Days....
Living on a farm. I begged and begged my mom to buy a farm and have horses etc. I have never even liked to literally get my hands dirty. Though a horse would be nice, I was cured when someone moved into the neighboring farm and everything they owned was dirty, and the kids always had to help out with something on the farm.
PAY for it?!
The drug talks at school would make you think that someone is going to jump you on the street and forcibly inject you with heroin. All that "they'll offer you free drugs to get you hooked and spend all of your money" - Where were all the free drugs when I was growing up, huh? I had to PAY for my weed.
Through the Screen.
I grew up in an extremely religious community that I only later found out had a lot of cult-like features. There were a lot of things that I thought were normal or even kinda great when I was a kid. Turns out television screen isn't actually the devil's device that it uses to enter your body.
Return to Sender....
GiphyGetting mail addressed to me.
Yep. Since the advent of email, texting, and social media the only mail I ever get anymore is bills, junk, and more bills.
"YEA NO SCHOOL!!!!!"
Snowstorms.
As a kid you're all "YEA NO SCHOOL!!!!!" And you get bundled up and go outside and make snow angels and have snowball fights and go sledding and run around the whole damn day and come inside and mom has a grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup.
As an adult, "OH DAAAMN I HAVE TO SHOVEL THE DRIVEWAY AND THE DAMN SIDEWALK?!?!" And then having to re-shovel the end of the driveway when the plows come by and cover it up. And if you go out in your car there's a bunch of poopheads who ONLY scrape the snow off the front windshield and the others who ignore the fact that road conditions aren't suitable for going 80 freaking mph anymore.
Stay Home!
Going on long outings or weekend trips to the beach or lake. As a kid I didn't have to worry about anything!!! Just take my damn self and my bathing suit and have a blast. Eat when the food was ready and get in the car and pass out on the way home and wake up the next morning in your bed somehow.
Now, as a parent you gotta do ALL the things. The packing, shipping, cleaning, unpacking, cooking, carrying the kids from the car to the house... it's exhausting. Never thought about that as a kid. And hey, I'll keep doing it because my kids have fun and so do we but man... there's a lot of crap that goes with those trips haha.
Mooned.
GiphyMoon shoes. Those damn things almost killed me like 20 times, but I loved them when I was child and was oblivious to just how dangerous they are.
It was the dream.
Eating a whole cake in one sitting. It was the dream. I should have learned from Matilda that it was a nightmare.
My whole life, cakes were reserved for birthdays and special occasions. See a yummy cake in the store? Maybe you can get it on your birthday in two months.
A couple of weeks ago I realized that I am a full grown adult and I can buy cake whenever the hell I want to for whatever reason or no reason at all.
It has been a good couple of weeks.
playing grown up...
I used to love to play "office" and shuffle around papers etc like I was at a job. Now that I actually do work in an office... not so much fun lol.
I used to play schoolteacher as a kid who thought it would be the most fun in the world. I've been doing it for several years for real now, and while I do enjoy it, it's not the same kind of fun. To remind myself, I keep hanging on my classroom wall a photograph of the 6 year old me explaining something on a child's blackboard.
Lake Tales....
GiphyI swam in some bodies of water as a kid that seemed fine but looking back, adult me would never get in that water.
Just the other day I drove past a "lake" I used to play in as a kid (in Florida). It's more like a swamp. No in flow, no outflow. Just a stagnant pond/swamp. It's a miracle we didn't die of brain amoeba.
Send a Stamp....
Getting mail.
If available, get the Delivery notifications for mail (USPS has it). That sends you an email every day of what mail you are getting. That way you can know when it is time to pack the car and head to the woods to avoid those bills.
Spiked.
High heels.
It's not that they're not nice, just not practical for my daily life.
I always wanted to grow up faster so I could steal some of my mom's really pretty heels. I thought they looked like the prettiest, classiest things and couldn't wait to wear some. Oh, my God, the first time I wore a pair, I about wrecked my knee and twisted my ankle. Nevermind the absolute agony my heels were in by the end of the day. Forget that noise.
The Dairy Queen.
Unlimited ice cream with no one telling me to stop before my stomach hurts.
My most adult moment so far other than getting married, divorced, married again, and having 2 children, is when I decided that I'm an adult dammit and I can buy I chocolate shake AND a banana split from Dairy Queen if I want to.
I now know my dairy limit.
Gets old pretty quickly.
Eating fast food and ramen noodles when you want. Gets old pretty quickly.
Found this out the hard way at university. Looking back, I think that's one of the reasons why my mental health took a turn for the worst.
$$$$ Spent.
GiphyEarning Money.
Don't get me wrong, I like earning money just like everyone else! But it sucks that the majority of a paycheck can't be spent on Nerf guns and LEGO's.
Rock Lobster.
GiphyAs a child, I loved looking at the lobsters in the grocery store. I thought they sold them to be pets. Imagine my horror when I found out they are sold to be boiled alive and eaten.
My dad brought home lobsters one time. As a kid, it was a magical day. We selected the lobsters, brought them home, and got to play with the forbidden creatures from the grocery store for a while on the kitchen floor. Then, we were sent out back, because it was the 90's and that's what happened as a kid, and when we came back, dinner was ready.
It took longer than I'd like to admit to connect those dots.
Well, we can't fault ourselves when we finally take off the kid glasses and get a glimpse at reality.
Do you have any stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads