An acquaintance just posted a pic of them being absolutely delighted with building a snowman and I realized I haven’t done that in years. It also made me think about things I enjoyed doing as a kid, and (whether it be from mental issues or not) I can’t quite recall anything that brought me joy.
So I’m really just curious, what are other people’s happy memories of their childhood? Might help me remember mine, and “worst” case I get to enjoy some good memories second-hand!
Edit: Couldn’t be happier to have asked this question, not only are there some wholesome little stories, but I could also finally remember some of the good times of my childhood again!
This was the 80s, health and safety be damned. People would build wooden cars with ball bearings from washing machine for wheels. It was a basic wood plank from fruit boxes hacked together with some nails. We’d hit the steepest road (yes, with cars occasionally), climb to the top and zoom down the steep descent. Ended in a 90 degree turn which meant that using shoes for braking didn’t always work and some folks would hit the pavement and be launched. Kids as young as 6 to teenagers would all join in. No adult in sight. Ahhh… good times!
Biking to the local pool to spend an entire day. Low-dive and high-dive until my eyes couldn’t take any more of the chlorine. Take a short break where I’d use my allowance to buy a choco-taco or big ol’ ice cream cookie sandwhich. The days when I never thought twice about my protruding little boy belly being visible. I was friendly with one of the life-guards, who was real hairy so we called him wolf-man. I’d get up on the diving board and ask him what trick I should do next, and he’d call it out. Haven’t been able to find a good high-dive at a pool in a long time.
Days when I’d venture out into the neighborhood, going door to door trying to collect enough kids for a proper game of kickball. One day one of the kids dad’s came out and played with us, and it was such a blast.
Biking to my school during summer break to play on the playground, finding a huge dumptruck load of mulch had been deposited on the blacktop, and I was able to kind of bike up one side and hop off. Spent hours on that mulch pile
Rollerblading in the neghborhood, using my older brothers skateboard ramp to do tricks. One time I went door-to-door, telling my neighbors that I was going to do a rollerblading trick show, and if they wanted to come outside and watch it would cost them a dollar. Think I made like 5 dollars, had some nice adults come stand at the end of their driveway, watching me do jumps off the ramp for like 7 minutes. I finished on a 360 spin with a grab to a patient golf-clap that seemed at the time just short of thunderous applause.
Watching the Super Smash Bros. Brawl opening, that was epic
Being able to play sports (baseball/football) with neighborhood kids. No organizations like today. No parents interfering. No one drove you to the field, you walked there. Everyone got along and there were no overweight kids because everyday you got plenty of outside exercise.
Not to derail this, but I think a lot about our zoning and residential housing now and how it killed these exact things. Your neighborhood is now only people in the same economic bracket as you. New builds only make bland open areas with nothing to do, and they’re built so far out that they’re essentially unwalkable. Then there’s only one exit or entrance so even if there is a city park nearby it’s minimum 20 minutes just to walk to the entrance of the residential zone. Then add on that any teens together are hooligans and Ms Jansen will call the police on them and 40 years of fear mongering has lead us to no kids can be unsupervised
Things I loved but don’t do anymore: Climbing trees, building snow forts, making elaborate toy castles. Falling asleep on the floor in a sunbeam next to the cat.
Things I still do: eat chocolate chips out of the bag, walk barefoot in the grass, take mediocre pictures of random things that feel really profound at the time but are immediately forgotten
My childhood home had a skylight, and I would use the sunbeam like a blanket, with just my head poking out into the shade. It was wonderful.
Playing tabletop RPGs with my friends. Or just hanging out with them and playing video games.
Looking out the window of a car as I was driven around town as a kid. I wondered at the layers of rocks in road cuts, the vastness of forest and what creeks and secrets it held. I would see someone in passing and picture myself as if I were them; mowing the lawn; walking in that store; speaking to someone else. I would imagine whole narratives based on the details I saw around them at a glance.
I was coping with the boredom in my own ways. That abstraction is one of the most valuable to me. The thoughts that streamed from staring out a window of a moving car are a big part of the base of the tree that became me. This is the mental structure that has kept me grounded through a decade of social isolation from physical disability and being forced to reinvent my sense of self nearly from scratch. It is how far back I had to go to redefine myself anew within the reality of my physical constraints. So while it may seem entirely mundane, I have been forced to reflect and redefine myself in ways most humans never confront.
There are many facets involved here, like how I am still able to talk about my past without causing myself harm by thinking about what I have lost, or how I’m purposefully turning within myself, because any other tangent of thought leads to vengeful anger at what was taken from me. In my cascade of abstract thoughts, my most pleasant and happiest is not really resolved to a specific moment or event. In truth, I can recall the exact moment I was looking at a rock cut on the side of a road and realized the layers were deep time, but it was more of a subconscious back burner thought than a solid moment of understanding. All of this abstraction has a root in that thought. It is an actual place in my mind, a small hillside rock cut on a highway between Cleveland and Chattanooga Tennessee with a limestone formation of very old rock. That abstraction has likely saved my life thus far, and continues to redirect me into my curiosities in moments of profound loneliness, boredom, and a lack of purpose. The only thing I cannot overcome with this thought is the burden I have become for others. Baring the thought of being a burden, my abstract curiosity; wondering about the world; exploring by turning within; is my basis for continuing day to day. I find great value in this abstraction and that makes me happy in the present.
Ai is turning me paranoid. Is this socializing or an Ai trying to gain answers for human questions?
Good and valid question! But no, this time actually a human being behind this, trying to get some memories back and enjoy more of the little things in life. Gotta say, I really love the answers so far and I was able to finally remember some of my good childhood parts again : )
It’s like that plot point from Blade Runner 2049… all the best memories are hers
The house I grew up in had two trees in the front yard. We would tie string (probably a thin nylon rope) between the trees and hang sheets/blankets on the string, creating a “fort”. All the neighborhood kids would hang out there in the summer and we had so much fun pretending it was a fort, spaceship, bus, etc.
I just want to say how much I love this question! Yes, I should think more often if the things that I really enjoyed as a kid :)
Thanks! When I noticed how long it’s been since I’ve done anything with that pure joy of a child I kinda felt sad. So I really wanna try to bring that back into my life a little bit!
Painting my grandma’s face with makeup. I thought she didn’t realize I was painting her like a clown with a red nose and all, and I thought it was hilarious. Was always mildly disappointed whenever she took the makeup off before leaving, but I never lost the hope one day she wouldn’t notice and would walk out with it.
Ah fun times.
Catching crabs on the bank of the bay. Playing catch with my best friend. Reading an exciting new book.
Edit: Come to think of it, it hasn’t changed much. I’m catching a different type of crab now and my best friend has become a dog. Not too bad.
I am sitting on a blanket on the lawn under the weeping willow tree. Mother comes out, a surprise. She’s holding a plate and hands me two things of matza pizza and says she made me some. I thank her and she goes back inside. I am munching the matza pizza.
Pretty sure this was back around the time of the diamond and pearl anime, but watching that because marathon on TV while having Sonic 3D Blast paused on the Sonic Mega Collections disk we had for gamecube because there was only one TV in the main room of the basement for watching TV and playing games. I definitely played that game collection the most out of me and my 2 brothers.
I also remember getting stuck on a “puzzle” for Starfox Adventures because you needed to shoot a flame to make it hit a holder but it had to be the right colour. I got stuck because I didn’t have the right cord for the gamecube, so I’m pretty sure I was using something like a PS2 avi cable, which made the whole game grayscale. Not saying I was happy to get stuck, but I do remember it being a real fun game. Definitely gonna replay it when I get my Steam Deck back from being fixed since I never beat it as a child or teen into young adult.
My mum had a big mare, sweet thing. Would let me cuddle with her head that was about as big as my whole body. Many happy memories there :)
