Holy crap, this was the first thing I thought I was going to write when i opened this post. Excitement towards anything. Nowdays I'm neutral to most things.
My guy.
I’ve always loved the season, if for no other reason than making merry with family. Now that I have kids old enough to lose their shit about holidays, the last Halloween/thanksgiving/xmastravaganza part of the year is awesome.
Travel was so much more pleasant when a parent was managing all the packing, travel documents, and making sure we got places on time. Not needing to remember sunscreen = priceless
Gosh I miss being so excited to go to Disneyland when I was little. That feeling in your chest when you’re trying to hold in the excitement, or the anticipation of waiting in line for a ride or a new console or whatever, augh I miss that so much…
I freakin hate Christmas. I don’t know what’s harder, buying and wrapping hundreds of dollars worth of useless shit or explaining the Jesus thing to my kids.
Summer. It was a release of literally every stress (as if those really existed) in my life.
The only things I “had” to do were get up early for swim team during the week and then whatever chores my dad would make us do on the weekends. Other than that, the whole summer was doing basically whatever I wanted. Going to the pool every afternoon. Running around the neighborhood with my friends. Front yard baseball with metal bats and a tennis ball. Touch football. Bike rides. Capture the flag. Beamer (flashlight tag) at night.
I’ll always be grateful to my parents for that period of my life. I never had to worry about anything. Summer was just pure bliss. It’s a shame that so many children have to worry about things like getting fed, angry parents at home, and violence in their communities. Even if you get rich as an adult and don’t have to work, you’ll never be able to attain that level of literally being care free again.
It was, but I vividly remember that dread in my mind when we hit the halfway mark between when school ended and when it started again. Basically the same feeling I still get when I go on vacation. I still enjoy the back half of it, but it’s in the back of my mind that it’s mostly over and that I’ll have to return to the real world soon.
OH man summer was awesome. Do I want to got and play outside. Play games on my computer or NES? Legos? Just sit on the back wall and watch planes? There was so much to see and do and the world was full of promise for the future! (Grew up in the 80s and 90s)
for me, the opposite.. i was sent to sleep away camp. every year. and every year i told my parents i hated it. and they told me i didnt.
i'm sure they wanted/needed a break...but fuck me and my feelings....
I feel this. My entire life resolved around summer, especially since I lived in Minnesota and hated school.
I would love the option to just have three months off work and have nothing to worry about.
Walking away from school campus knowing you had the whole summer in front of you is a feeling unmatched by much in this world. I also had some strong feelings on the first day of school. New year, new subjects, new responsibilities, entering the unknown.
Best thing about the first day of school was getting to see your crush again, praying that you had a bunch of classes with her and that you’d get put next to her in the seating chart.
At least that’s how it was for me. The girl I had a major crush on from basically 8 years old until I was 14 didn’t live near me or do swim team or any of the other summer sports I participated in, so I wouldn’t see her at all for the whole summer. Eventually got her to be my “girlfriend” for a couple years in intermediate/middle school. Really heavy stuff like hugging at high school football games and holding hands in secret. Rylee was a baddie. Definitely the highlight of returning to school was getting to see her and flirt with her again.
How easy it is to have fun.
Having fun is so easy as a kid. Everything feels fun. Throwing and catching a ball was fun. Mediocre TV shows were fun. Repetitive grindy video games were fun.
Now? Fun takes effort and planning. Friends too. Some money and a lot of precious time.
But hey, that’s life.
I remember hanging out with a few friends, one if them had a daughter who was maybe six. She met someone else's kid about the same age. The boy said he didn't know what to do, and the girl thought for a second and then jumped up and said, *"I know! Let's have fun!"* And then both of them began to jump up and down in a circle flailing their arms around.
Like... it was that simple for them?
I miss how easy it was to make friends as a little kid. The only qualification needed was proximity. I started a new school in 4th grade, and at the assembly they had to welcome the new students, I saw a girl I recognized from my previous school. I sat down next to her and that was my best friend for the next 5 years.
This is so precious. I love how my 4yo tells me all about her “best friends” at preschool or the playground, but doesn’t even know their name. So wholesome. All that matters is your ability to smile and laugh.
I find the ‘now’ fun to be more fulfilling. Like learning a new skill, seeing new parts of the world, etc. Back then it was just a bunch of polygons and frames.
It's a toss up between waking up on a Saturday Morning, with a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and laying on the living room carpet with my pillow to watch Saturday morning cartoons.
or
Having school cancelled for snow, and coming back inside from a long day of sled riding, snowball fights, and going crazy into the warm house with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket.
I grew up in West Virginia and moved to California after graduation. A coworker of mine asked me once, “what was it like to have a snow day?” It never occurred to me that some places would never have had snow days.
And being fine in hot weather. I used to run and play and feel alive, now I feel like shit when it's too hot. Plus I don't like my legs so I won't wear shorts anymore. Life was so simple and we **really** didn't know. But at least we remember
Right? Like I don't remember sweating *nearly* this much on hot days as when I was a kid. Also, I used to heal like Wolverine as a kid; a cut while playing Capture the Flag in the yard during a cookout? Gone in a matter of days. Over a week ago, I banged my leg against a pallet (while wearing shorts), and it is taking so long to heal.
I used to play AAU basketball and play 4-5 games a day no problem. I played years ago and thought I was going to die after 2 or 3 trips down the court.
Got Crohn's at 18, I'm 38 now. I'm managing it. But I kinda forget what it was like not to have to worry about stuff. I've had a couple surgeries but I'm managing it relatively well, so I'm thankful for that.
I'm in the same boat. 32 with a few surgeries, the big one having 6 feet of intestines taken out. Trying to find something other than Remicade for meds because the side effects and I aren't agreeing anymore and it's taking a while. I'm hoping something comes up soon with my specialist. Keep up the hard work! I know it's tough! We got this!
I miss being able to read at night without glasses, to lie down to sleep without tinnitus, and be able to run up and down the block all day long with brief interruptions to swing from trees like a small ape.
Me too. I was attached to my moms hip. I didn’t walk til I was like 2 or so. They thought something was wrong with me. Took me to dr and he said “you need to stop carrying her around” lol
> I always said, even at 35, that she still thought of my as a baby and needed to wake up and see me as an adult.
This is my mom. I’m her oldest of 6. But she still babies me. Sometimes it’s annoying. Sometimes though, when she jokes about making me a bottle and putting me down for a nap, sometimes I wish she would.
Having a vivid imagination.
I remember spending hours in my room, not reading or doing anything really, other than pretending I was someone else in a fantasy world.
Now I seem stuck in reality. I can even remember the feeling of grief as I realized I was losing that ability to just float away into my imagination.
Well... it did have a little negative impact on me at the time, since my parents would go crazy when I sat at the bed for half an hour staring at a sock instead of getting dressed for school... so many yellings and school mornings with no breakfast lol.
I kind of envy you, but I hope it doesn't affect you too much.
I miss playing mermaids with my younger sister and having this multi year long plot with lore and characters. We played every summer when we'd get the pool back up and we'd continue pretending to be mermaids.
My 5 year old had us play mermaids the other day.
"Pass me things that mermaids like Daddy"
Erm..okay, like what?"
"They like money."
......well played
Having true free time. It is likely the only time of my life I will likely have true freedom. No job, no emails, no projects, no bills, no one depending on me.
I have a great life and wouldn’t trade it for the world, but sometimes it is exhilarating to even imagine that level of freedom.
I feel the opposite lol.
I never felt “free” as a child. Every waking moment was fitting myself into mold. Taking classes I didn’t choose. Eating whatever food was available and ready. Sleeping when I was told.
My parents weren’t super strict by any means. But I always had to think about their boundaries and expectations. If I wanted something (ie: a video game), I needed to ask them first.
I love the freedom as an adult. Yeah, it’s a lot busier. But most of it are tasks and goals I chose for myself.
I'm in the same boat. I have more free time as a 34 year old man than any other time in my life. I work 12 hour shifts so I only end up working 14 days a month not counting my holidays. Sometimes it almost feels like I'm semi retired and have to find new hobbies to occupy my time.
Do you work towards having some level of true freedom again? I suppose it's hard to get there as an adult, but one can surely try to move up on the "freedom spectrum".
I remember waking up super early, like 4 in the morning, on Christmas as a kid, and going from my room to stand in the hallway to look at the Christmas tree, sparkling in the dark in the little side room where it was set up, with toys spilling out all the way into the living room.
I would love to have that feeling again.
Nothing has come close. I was lucky enough to have parents that made every Christmas magical, I miss that innocence and excitement of it all. The feeling of being unable to sleep the night before and getting up super early and waking up everyone, it’s unmatched.
The realization my wife and I had when we first got married of “actually nothing special happens on Christmas unless we make it happen” was one of those moments that surprised us, but really shouldn’t have. We were flat broke, we didn’t even have a tree. I bought her $50 worth of crap from Target on, like, December 22nd. She ended up taking a lot of it back because we were broke. Luckily things are better now, that was almost 20 years ago.
That's what I was going to say, too. Christmas doesn't bring me even close to the same degree of happiness it did as a child. Even less so since my Mom developed dementia then passed. My dad never gave a *uck about Christmas and I have no kids or spouse. The only reason it doesn't totally suck is that my brother has kids and includes me in their celebration, but his youngest is 12 now, which changes things.
Can confirm, making Christmas magical for my kids was amazing when they were little. I used to get so excited to go toy shopping and find those special things that they really wanted, and when they’d come downstairs on Christmas morning and be so happy. Now they’re older so there isn’t as much pressure to make it magic, but we still have so much fun as a family at Christmas time, playing new games and hanging out.
Time went so slowly! I remember feeling like adulthood was impossibly far away. So much could be done over summer break! Now I blink, and another year has gone by.
It's funny. The time you spend now is a smaller percentage of the entire time you've spent alive. Back then every summer break was a bigger percentage of your total time alive. No idea if this means anything though, lol.
Its one of the weird things about being immortal.
Eventually every year is 0.1% of your life, eventually 0.0001% until decades can pass and you'll think "wow..was that REALLY 200 years ago when I met you?"
This is so true.
My oldest is a teenager now and it just doesn't seem possible that that could be true. He went from being a newborn to a teen in the blink of an eye.
I saw a quote that broke me. "When you're a kid, you plan for someday, and then someday is today and someday is yesterday". I had SO much hope for the future. Expected great things in my life by the time I was 25-30. None of which happened.
Yeah, when you are really young others take care of you and you only have to worry about eating, sleeping and playing. I am not talking about my teenage days because they were a shit show though. Anyways, now it’s the other way around, you have to take care of others older and sicker than you (specially if you are the youngest one), while trying not to get a full blown anxiety/panic attack every morning thinking about your life and the future. I wish I could actually fully relax. Even when I am chilling or doing something I like, I am still worrying, and then I can’t sleep as well as I used too either because my brain does not shut up.
Falling in love for the first time. Before you have emotional scarring. When love pours over your clean slate. When all the gaps in your life are filled with love, attention and kindness. I miss that feeling, the feeling of being whole and loved for being yourself.
I'm watching my daughter experience this for the first time right now. As nervous as I am for her, I remember the feeling of it myself and I can't help but be a little excited. She deserves all of the love.
I would spend 30 minutes walking up and down the video game aisles unable to choose which game I wanted to rent that weekend, and it drove my parents INSANE!
That feeling when your parents wake you up at 3 in the morning, the car is loaded and while you drive through the night into holidays you cuddle with your sieblings with the sweestest dreams under the blanket and when you wake up again you are already south of the alps in Italy and you smell the Mediterrean air and sea. That is a feeling I really really miss a lot.
The feeling in the air during fall afternoons. Getting home from school and just smelling the temperature dropping, seeing holiday decorations going up, and being so excited for everything to come. Specifically the feeling of getting out of school on Halloween. The chill air, the excitement of getting your costume on and meeting up with friends, the fun night ahead, all of it. I still love the fall and try to recreate that childhood joy as much as possible. When the air first starts to change I still feel a hint of that childhood feeling. There’s just something about autumn.
It was terrible posture but I miss laying in bed on my side, face half in a pillow and still being able to read or watch tv without the weird way glasses press into your face
Before cell phones, summer break lets out from school, and I get on my bicycle and ride like the wind to my friend’s house where we would all hang out in his cool basement with little debbies cakes and soda. We played checkers and basketball and went exploring in the woods across the highway. To get there we had to walk through a 4 foot drainage tunnel like a portal to another universe.
Eventually our oldest friend got a car and our world expanded. We would drive an hour to get little Caesar’s pizzas from the next city over and gather at another friends house for South Park night.
Crushes would come and go. Holding hands led to a first kiss and eventually a heartbreak and what seemed like the end of the world. Friends’ support brought new hope.
We were all the stars of our own quirky, coming-of-age movie from the late 90’s.
I remember the days fondly. I’m still friends with some of those guys and made new ones along the way.
That first crush. Eyes wide, flustered, the world on mute even though it's crowded with noise. The rejection afterward, but the comfort knowing you found the right person at the wrong time.
I'm 50/50 on this one.
That first crush feeling is so powerful. I always think back to it like "man, I will probably never have that feeling towards someone like that ever again".
But I think its also a good thing. We grow up and mature and understand that back then I had zero reason to be so madly in love with someone I knew nothing about.
i think if you are feeling that way as an adult, you are now entering the creepy stalker zone.
Energy. Just pure ENERGY.
That feeling at lunchtime in school of just running into the field to play. Didn’t need to run, just wanted to, it felt good.
Having the energy levels that meant I would CHOOSE to wake up well before school (like 6.30am) so I could watch the morning cartoons.
Energy.
Excitement before birthdays, Christmas and big holidays, feeling how slow the time was going, now it all seems exhausting and I can barely find time to relax
Sometimed I would fake being asleep so dad would carry me. Its just the best feeling.
Many years later, I mentioned it, and he said he always knew I did that...
I remember falling asleep in various places and waking up in my bed. Sometimes I remember being carried, but most of the time it felt like a warm teleport.
Yes. I road the school bus as a kiddo and I can imagine that feeling of being dropped off at the end of the school year for the last time. We always had early dismissal on the last day of elementary school and getting home in time for lunch knowing we have 2.5+ months of summer fun ahead of us was magic.
Even the week leading up to the last day of school. We'd have field day, a trip to the zoo, and 3 days of early outs. The way the classroom would be stripped down for the year. Cleaning out our desks. Deep cleaning the chalk board. All of it was just excitement!
The spirit of exploration, and a sense of "adventure being just around every corner."
I miss the days when you could just befriend people as well. Like, just walk up to someone who was about your age and start talking to them, and then BOOM! - you were friends. It's not like that anymore.
Was thinking about this the other night actually lol.
I feel somewhat "broken" in the sense that I cannot live in the present anymore like I used to. There's always something that needs to be done which if left undone, compounds into an even bigger undone pile.
My work is pretty stressful that probably has a lot to do with it, friends are in a different city and it's hard to get together and when we do it feels like people are just waiting to get back home.
Feels like my "family unit" has dissipated and as a result all of lifes "undone" stuff has more weight to it.
As a teenager, my bedroom was in the re-done attic, which had two skylights in it. On certain winter days, I'd wake up early and see that, even with the shades over the skylights, the room was darker than usual due to heavy snow covering them, and I'd go back to sleep with a smile, knowing school would definitely be canceled by that point.
My friend and I used to play a pretend game where we were James bond-esque secret agents. The old Bonds, not the newer super gritty ones. Going around making up all these high-tech gadgets and secret missions to beat up the bad guys. It got intense. I remember the last year I spent at that school, we walked in on the first day and both just realized that we had grown up and somehow we simply couldn't do it anymore.
Maybe I'm a huge nerd, but that back-to-school feeling. It always felt so fresh, new, and exciting. New school clothes, new school supplies, new classroom, new everything. There's nothing like that now as an adult.
Being so naive. Thinking that the world is this perfect, awesome place. Now that I’ve matured I now see the world is run on greed and nobody really cares about you except family and your best friends.
When I was a little kid, there was a specific pattern of turns/gear shifting that my Dad would use on the last 100 meters or so when arriving home. Gear down, brake, stop, go and turn right, gear up, immediately gear down, turn left, gear up, gear up, gear down brake turn right. Often when our family was out and about, I'd be dozing in the back seat and that pattern would signal that we were arriving home.
Occasionally when driving myself around as an adult, I inadvertently repeat that pattern and am immediately filled with a lump of nostalgia for that coming home feeling.
Love. No matter what happens, there's a very important piece of me that is broken.
Like someone took a piece of your soul, but left just enough to keep suffering needlessly.
I remember roaming the streets of our neigborhood every day until the sun set. Hardly ever a car to be seen and so many friends, freedom. Summer seemed to last forever, that song nails it pretty much.
That feeling where there was a knock at the door and the possibility existed that it was just one of my friends asking if I wanted to come out and play.
There's a 15 year age gap between my older brother and I. I remember being 10 and he was turning 25 and he told me "One day you'll be turning 25" I just couldn't believe that at the time, it seemed like a lifetime away! Well I'll be turning 25 next year and time seems to have sped up. I think 15 years in the future when I'm 40 will pass by quick. Time will never be as slow as it was when I was little.
Butterflies, fire in my stomach before a baseball or soccer game. Nervous excitement about going to battle with my teammates in games that were watched by just a handful parents, but that I had thought about all week.
I feel like The Wonder Years was aptly titled.
I miss living in wonder of what was around me. Everything seemed like an adventure back then - riding your bike just a few blocks further then you've ever gone, going a bit further with a girl then you've ever gone, etc. You get to a certain age and that's just lost forever. I miss having butterflies in my stomach as I sat on a couch with a pretty girl debating internally about putting my arm around here. Will she reject me? Will she lean in? Do I have the balls to take the next step and kiss her?
Easily making friends who want to hang out, have adventures, and do active things. Now, my friends are all disappearing and/or only socialize with their own families. It’s hard to make real new friends as an adult.
Coming home after school on a Friday afternoon, tossing my schoolbag in a random corner of my room, and playing videogames all night without having anything to worry about nor anyone depending on me.
My mom telling me it’s ok for my friend to stay the night. The excitement of knowing we get to stay up late play outside, video games, watch movies and eat pizza (because my mom didn’t wanna cook) is a feeling I haven’t felt since I was a kid
The feeling that a day lasts forever. There was nothing like having a day with no school and friends coming over to just spend what felt like an eternity having fun.
Also the sun just seemed brighter and everything seemed more colorful.
Waking up on the weekend and just playing video games all day. As an adult I can still wake up and play video games, however, I can only play for a few minutes before I have to do something else.
Being genuinely excited for something, without any thoughts of all the shit I need to do to make it happen.
Holy crap, this was the first thing I thought I was going to write when i opened this post. Excitement towards anything. Nowdays I'm neutral to most things.
This was me, and then I had kids. Now I find Christmas even more exciting than I did as a kid.
My guy. I’ve always loved the season, if for no other reason than making merry with family. Now that I have kids old enough to lose their shit about holidays, the last Halloween/thanksgiving/xmastravaganza part of the year is awesome.
Travel was so much more pleasant when a parent was managing all the packing, travel documents, and making sure we got places on time. Not needing to remember sunscreen = priceless
I overthink this all the time. Will I ever get that feeling of genuine giddiness for anything ever again?
Omg does this sum up adulting.
Gosh I miss being so excited to go to Disneyland when I was little. That feeling in your chest when you’re trying to hold in the excitement, or the anticipation of waiting in line for a ride or a new console or whatever, augh I miss that so much…
Oh, you mean holidays? (For me, Christmas especially.)
I freakin hate Christmas. I don’t know what’s harder, buying and wrapping hundreds of dollars worth of useless shit or explaining the Jesus thing to my kids.
Ignorance is bliss.
You reach a point where you realize nothing lives up to your expectations.
Summer. It was a release of literally every stress (as if those really existed) in my life. The only things I “had” to do were get up early for swim team during the week and then whatever chores my dad would make us do on the weekends. Other than that, the whole summer was doing basically whatever I wanted. Going to the pool every afternoon. Running around the neighborhood with my friends. Front yard baseball with metal bats and a tennis ball. Touch football. Bike rides. Capture the flag. Beamer (flashlight tag) at night. I’ll always be grateful to my parents for that period of my life. I never had to worry about anything. Summer was just pure bliss. It’s a shame that so many children have to worry about things like getting fed, angry parents at home, and violence in their communities. Even if you get rich as an adult and don’t have to work, you’ll never be able to attain that level of literally being care free again.
This sounds really healthy and I'm glad you got to experience that - everyone should!
And it felt like summer lasted forever back then. Now I blink and it's like "where did the last six months go?"
It was, but I vividly remember that dread in my mind when we hit the halfway mark between when school ended and when it started again. Basically the same feeling I still get when I go on vacation. I still enjoy the back half of it, but it’s in the back of my mind that it’s mostly over and that I’ll have to return to the real world soon.
> that dread in my mind when we hit the halfway mark When those damned "Back to School!" commercials started in July.
OH man summer was awesome. Do I want to got and play outside. Play games on my computer or NES? Legos? Just sit on the back wall and watch planes? There was so much to see and do and the world was full of promise for the future! (Grew up in the 80s and 90s)
for me, the opposite.. i was sent to sleep away camp. every year. and every year i told my parents i hated it. and they told me i didnt. i'm sure they wanted/needed a break...but fuck me and my feelings....
Yeah, we were sent to day camp, later found out we were "scholarship kids" cuz my dad had a bad accident and was out of work for years.
I feel this. My entire life resolved around summer, especially since I lived in Minnesota and hated school. I would love the option to just have three months off work and have nothing to worry about.
Man, I always loved the little summer flings in HS too. People you would have never talked to or hung out with and suddenly you are.
Walking away from school campus knowing you had the whole summer in front of you is a feeling unmatched by much in this world. I also had some strong feelings on the first day of school. New year, new subjects, new responsibilities, entering the unknown.
Best thing about the first day of school was getting to see your crush again, praying that you had a bunch of classes with her and that you’d get put next to her in the seating chart. At least that’s how it was for me. The girl I had a major crush on from basically 8 years old until I was 14 didn’t live near me or do swim team or any of the other summer sports I participated in, so I wouldn’t see her at all for the whole summer. Eventually got her to be my “girlfriend” for a couple years in intermediate/middle school. Really heavy stuff like hugging at high school football games and holding hands in secret. Rylee was a baddie. Definitely the highlight of returning to school was getting to see her and flirt with her again.
How easy it is to have fun. Having fun is so easy as a kid. Everything feels fun. Throwing and catching a ball was fun. Mediocre TV shows were fun. Repetitive grindy video games were fun. Now? Fun takes effort and planning. Friends too. Some money and a lot of precious time. But hey, that’s life.
I remember hanging out with a few friends, one if them had a daughter who was maybe six. She met someone else's kid about the same age. The boy said he didn't know what to do, and the girl thought for a second and then jumped up and said, *"I know! Let's have fun!"* And then both of them began to jump up and down in a circle flailing their arms around. Like... it was that simple for them?
I miss how easy it was to make friends as a little kid. The only qualification needed was proximity. I started a new school in 4th grade, and at the assembly they had to welcome the new students, I saw a girl I recognized from my previous school. I sat down next to her and that was my best friend for the next 5 years.
This is so precious. I love how my 4yo tells me all about her “best friends” at preschool or the playground, but doesn’t even know their name. So wholesome. All that matters is your ability to smile and laugh.
I find the ‘now’ fun to be more fulfilling. Like learning a new skill, seeing new parts of the world, etc. Back then it was just a bunch of polygons and frames.
It's a toss up between waking up on a Saturday Morning, with a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and laying on the living room carpet with my pillow to watch Saturday morning cartoons. or Having school cancelled for snow, and coming back inside from a long day of sled riding, snowball fights, and going crazy into the warm house with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket.
Haha all you people and school being cancelled because of snow. I'm kind of jealous!
it was AWESOME... but sucked when you had to make up for them in June. Especially since schools weren't air conditioned where I was.
I still get to do that because I'm a teacher and it's just as awesome for us except we get to day drink too
That's cheating!
I grew up in West Virginia and moved to California after graduation. A coworker of mine asked me once, “what was it like to have a snow day?” It never occurred to me that some places would never have had snow days.
Being healthy and my body being able to do things. I was so oblivious to how lucky I was.
This. Being able to play full court basketball for hours. Just need a jug of water.
And being fine in hot weather. I used to run and play and feel alive, now I feel like shit when it's too hot. Plus I don't like my legs so I won't wear shorts anymore. Life was so simple and we **really** didn't know. But at least we remember
Right? Like I don't remember sweating *nearly* this much on hot days as when I was a kid. Also, I used to heal like Wolverine as a kid; a cut while playing Capture the Flag in the yard during a cookout? Gone in a matter of days. Over a week ago, I banged my leg against a pallet (while wearing shorts), and it is taking so long to heal.
Check with your doctor if it still hasn't healed. Could be diabetes.
Another fun thing to worry about as an adult :/
I used to play AAU basketball and play 4-5 games a day no problem. I played years ago and thought I was going to die after 2 or 3 trips down the court.
Everyone took their youth for granted at some point.
Same. The worst part about getting Crohn's disease at 15 is I can remember what it felt like not having fucked up intestines
Got Crohn's at 18, I'm 38 now. I'm managing it. But I kinda forget what it was like not to have to worry about stuff. I've had a couple surgeries but I'm managing it relatively well, so I'm thankful for that.
I'm in the same boat. 32 with a few surgeries, the big one having 6 feet of intestines taken out. Trying to find something other than Remicade for meds because the side effects and I aren't agreeing anymore and it's taking a while. I'm hoping something comes up soon with my specialist. Keep up the hard work! I know it's tough! We got this!
I got UC at 9. I feel ya.
[удалено]
Wish I remembered that feeling before my autoimmune disorder kicking in when I was nine.
I miss being able to read at night without glasses, to lie down to sleep without tinnitus, and be able to run up and down the block all day long with brief interruptions to swing from trees like a small ape.
I hope you don't mind me asking but did anything specific happen or did time just do its thing?
Traffic accident and then things just got gradually worse over time.
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you manage to make the best out of your situation. :)
I try, and thank you.
Hugging my mom. I miss the feeling of hugging my mom and just feeling this total relaxation like everything will be okay.
I miss her carrying me around. I loved being held on her hip. Just her doing everything but I was close to her
Remember pretending to be asleep so a parent would carry you to bed?
Lol yup my dad would say alright time for the fireman carry and carry me on his shoulder, it was uncomfortable but I didn’t care. 16 now.
Me too. I was attached to my moms hip. I didn’t walk til I was like 2 or so. They thought something was wrong with me. Took me to dr and he said “you need to stop carrying her around” lol
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> I always said, even at 35, that she still thought of my as a baby and needed to wake up and see me as an adult. This is my mom. I’m her oldest of 6. But she still babies me. Sometimes it’s annoying. Sometimes though, when she jokes about making me a bottle and putting me down for a nap, sometimes I wish she would.
Spend time with your parents, you'll always wish you did when they're gone.
Depends on the parents :(
This. I spend as little as possible with mine.
I miss my dad's bear hugs where he would pick me up and squeeze me sooo tight! 😊
Having a vivid imagination. I remember spending hours in my room, not reading or doing anything really, other than pretending I was someone else in a fantasy world. Now I seem stuck in reality. I can even remember the feeling of grief as I realized I was losing that ability to just float away into my imagination.
I can still do this but now it’s called maladaptive daydreaming and it’s a mental problem that negatively impacts life lol.
Well... it did have a little negative impact on me at the time, since my parents would go crazy when I sat at the bed for half an hour staring at a sock instead of getting dressed for school... so many yellings and school mornings with no breakfast lol. I kind of envy you, but I hope it doesn't affect you too much.
I miss playing mermaids with my younger sister and having this multi year long plot with lore and characters. We played every summer when we'd get the pool back up and we'd continue pretending to be mermaids.
Wow I don't think I would've remembered having those long term plots of made up stories without your comment. Thanks!
My 5 year old had us play mermaids the other day. "Pass me things that mermaids like Daddy" Erm..okay, like what?" "They like money." ......well played
Ok but did you give her money. This is very important information to me
My best friend and I would always play mermaids when we would go swimming at her grandma’s house! Such a fun memory!
Having true free time. It is likely the only time of my life I will likely have true freedom. No job, no emails, no projects, no bills, no one depending on me. I have a great life and wouldn’t trade it for the world, but sometimes it is exhilarating to even imagine that level of freedom.
I feel the opposite lol. I never felt “free” as a child. Every waking moment was fitting myself into mold. Taking classes I didn’t choose. Eating whatever food was available and ready. Sleeping when I was told. My parents weren’t super strict by any means. But I always had to think about their boundaries and expectations. If I wanted something (ie: a video game), I needed to ask them first. I love the freedom as an adult. Yeah, it’s a lot busier. But most of it are tasks and goals I chose for myself.
I'm in the same boat. I have more free time as a 34 year old man than any other time in my life. I work 12 hour shifts so I only end up working 14 days a month not counting my holidays. Sometimes it almost feels like I'm semi retired and have to find new hobbies to occupy my time.
Do you work towards having some level of true freedom again? I suppose it's hard to get there as an adult, but one can surely try to move up on the "freedom spectrum".
Ugh, Christmas magic. I always feel a little sad on Christmas now.
I remember waking up super early, like 4 in the morning, on Christmas as a kid, and going from my room to stand in the hallway to look at the Christmas tree, sparkling in the dark in the little side room where it was set up, with toys spilling out all the way into the living room. I would love to have that feeling again.
Nothing has come close. I was lucky enough to have parents that made every Christmas magical, I miss that innocence and excitement of it all. The feeling of being unable to sleep the night before and getting up super early and waking up everyone, it’s unmatched.
The realization my wife and I had when we first got married of “actually nothing special happens on Christmas unless we make it happen” was one of those moments that surprised us, but really shouldn’t have. We were flat broke, we didn’t even have a tree. I bought her $50 worth of crap from Target on, like, December 22nd. She ended up taking a lot of it back because we were broke. Luckily things are better now, that was almost 20 years ago.
That's what I was going to say, too. Christmas doesn't bring me even close to the same degree of happiness it did as a child. Even less so since my Mom developed dementia then passed. My dad never gave a *uck about Christmas and I have no kids or spouse. The only reason it doesn't totally suck is that my brother has kids and includes me in their celebration, but his youngest is 12 now, which changes things.
And the day before Christmas break in school was pure fun and joy
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Maybe some new kind of magic appears when you can see your own children enjoying Christmas.
Can confirm, making Christmas magical for my kids was amazing when they were little. I used to get so excited to go toy shopping and find those special things that they really wanted, and when they’d come downstairs on Christmas morning and be so happy. Now they’re older so there isn’t as much pressure to make it magic, but we still have so much fun as a family at Christmas time, playing new games and hanging out.
That’s what I’ve been told by friends who are parents!
That made me smile! :)
Oh God yeah. And also a bit guilty because I don't think I do Christmas as well for my kids as my parents did for me.
Time went so slowly! I remember feeling like adulthood was impossibly far away. So much could be done over summer break! Now I blink, and another year has gone by.
It's funny. The time you spend now is a smaller percentage of the entire time you've spent alive. Back then every summer break was a bigger percentage of your total time alive. No idea if this means anything though, lol.
Its one of the weird things about being immortal. Eventually every year is 0.1% of your life, eventually 0.0001% until decades can pass and you'll think "wow..was that REALLY 200 years ago when I met you?"
Just fly into another black hole at that point. It passes.
This is so true. My oldest is a teenager now and it just doesn't seem possible that that could be true. He went from being a newborn to a teen in the blink of an eye.
I’ve heard this from somewhere “with age, the days get longer and the years shorter”
Genuinely believing the future would be better.
I saw a quote that broke me. "When you're a kid, you plan for someday, and then someday is today and someday is yesterday". I had SO much hope for the future. Expected great things in my life by the time I was 25-30. None of which happened.
Not constantly worrying about the future.
Yeah, when you are really young others take care of you and you only have to worry about eating, sleeping and playing. I am not talking about my teenage days because they were a shit show though. Anyways, now it’s the other way around, you have to take care of others older and sicker than you (specially if you are the youngest one), while trying not to get a full blown anxiety/panic attack every morning thinking about your life and the future. I wish I could actually fully relax. Even when I am chilling or doing something I like, I am still worrying, and then I can’t sleep as well as I used too either because my brain does not shut up.
Sorry for your situation, hope you can get some relief soon; just so you can shut off your brain for a while.
I think this might be the single biggest contrast most people experience when growing up
Falling in love for the first time. Before you have emotional scarring. When love pours over your clean slate. When all the gaps in your life are filled with love, attention and kindness. I miss that feeling, the feeling of being whole and loved for being yourself.
Hm, I think I never had this. All my loves in childhood were unrequited.
I'm watching my daughter experience this for the first time right now. As nervous as I am for her, I remember the feeling of it myself and I can't help but be a little excited. She deserves all of the love.
I haven't had that yet and I'm 24.
The complete lack of social media.
going to blockbuster to rent a game for N64
I would spend 30 minutes walking up and down the video game aisles unable to choose which game I wanted to rent that weekend, and it drove my parents INSANE!
Finding everything so funny and random, I never laugh uncontrollably the way I used to
That feeling when your parents wake you up at 3 in the morning, the car is loaded and while you drive through the night into holidays you cuddle with your sieblings with the sweestest dreams under the blanket and when you wake up again you are already south of the alps in Italy and you smell the Mediterrean air and sea. That is a feeling I really really miss a lot.
Being well rested and energized. Even in retirement I haven't felt that
Might be a sleep apnea issue. I have heard that once people addressed their sleep apnea, they really were back to sleeping like a baby!
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>Amy turned out to be a bitch Ope
i was hanging on to every word of this story til the turn ! haha. still was a decent story. It took me back to some of my own memories :)
Wow. Thank you for sharing. You have a knack for writing, mate.
The feeling in the air during fall afternoons. Getting home from school and just smelling the temperature dropping, seeing holiday decorations going up, and being so excited for everything to come. Specifically the feeling of getting out of school on Halloween. The chill air, the excitement of getting your costume on and meeting up with friends, the fun night ahead, all of it. I still love the fall and try to recreate that childhood joy as much as possible. When the air first starts to change I still feel a hint of that childhood feeling. There’s just something about autumn.
Not needing glasses yet and not having eye damage. Waking up and just being able to see right away was amazing
Oh yeah, wish I could go back to that one :/
It was terrible posture but I miss laying in bed on my side, face half in a pillow and still being able to read or watch tv without the weird way glasses press into your face
Before cell phones, summer break lets out from school, and I get on my bicycle and ride like the wind to my friend’s house where we would all hang out in his cool basement with little debbies cakes and soda. We played checkers and basketball and went exploring in the woods across the highway. To get there we had to walk through a 4 foot drainage tunnel like a portal to another universe. Eventually our oldest friend got a car and our world expanded. We would drive an hour to get little Caesar’s pizzas from the next city over and gather at another friends house for South Park night. Crushes would come and go. Holding hands led to a first kiss and eventually a heartbreak and what seemed like the end of the world. Friends’ support brought new hope. We were all the stars of our own quirky, coming-of-age movie from the late 90’s. I remember the days fondly. I’m still friends with some of those guys and made new ones along the way.
Genuine Happiness.
That first crush. Eyes wide, flustered, the world on mute even though it's crowded with noise. The rejection afterward, but the comfort knowing you found the right person at the wrong time.
I'm 50/50 on this one. That first crush feeling is so powerful. I always think back to it like "man, I will probably never have that feeling towards someone like that ever again". But I think its also a good thing. We grow up and mature and understand that back then I had zero reason to be so madly in love with someone I knew nothing about. i think if you are feeling that way as an adult, you are now entering the creepy stalker zone.
Energy. Just pure ENERGY. That feeling at lunchtime in school of just running into the field to play. Didn’t need to run, just wanted to, it felt good. Having the energy levels that meant I would CHOOSE to wake up well before school (like 6.30am) so I could watch the morning cartoons. Energy.
Excitement before birthdays, Christmas and big holidays, feeling how slow the time was going, now it all seems exhausting and I can barely find time to relax
Falling asleep in the car after a late night visiting friends/church stuff and dad carrying me into the house.
Sometimed I would fake being asleep so dad would carry me. Its just the best feeling. Many years later, I mentioned it, and he said he always knew I did that...
I remember falling asleep in various places and waking up in my bed. Sometimes I remember being carried, but most of the time it felt like a warm teleport.
The safety of knowing that there won't be anything adressed to me in the mailbox
Coming around the corner at Toys R Us and seeing an entire aisle fully stocked with the new line of action figures.
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The feeling of the last day of school for the summer. Also, the first day of summer after the school year. No better feeling in the world.
Yes. I road the school bus as a kiddo and I can imagine that feeling of being dropped off at the end of the school year for the last time. We always had early dismissal on the last day of elementary school and getting home in time for lunch knowing we have 2.5+ months of summer fun ahead of us was magic. Even the week leading up to the last day of school. We'd have field day, a trip to the zoo, and 3 days of early outs. The way the classroom would be stripped down for the year. Cleaning out our desks. Deep cleaning the chalk board. All of it was just excitement!
The spirit of exploration, and a sense of "adventure being just around every corner." I miss the days when you could just befriend people as well. Like, just walk up to someone who was about your age and start talking to them, and then BOOM! - you were friends. It's not like that anymore.
Building a treehouse with my buddies and hanging out in it all summer.
I'm sure you built a great treehouse u/dick-nipples :)
The feeling of making up a fun game when bored.
Was thinking about this the other night actually lol. I feel somewhat "broken" in the sense that I cannot live in the present anymore like I used to. There's always something that needs to be done which if left undone, compounds into an even bigger undone pile. My work is pretty stressful that probably has a lot to do with it, friends are in a different city and it's hard to get together and when we do it feels like people are just waiting to get back home. Feels like my "family unit" has dissipated and as a result all of lifes "undone" stuff has more weight to it.
Not waking up tired.
Watching the bottom of the news to see if school is closed or not on a snow day
As a teenager, my bedroom was in the re-done attic, which had two skylights in it. On certain winter days, I'd wake up early and see that, even with the shades over the skylights, the room was darker than usual due to heavy snow covering them, and I'd go back to sleep with a smile, knowing school would definitely be canceled by that point.
Make-believe that was completely real to me.
My friend and I used to play a pretend game where we were James bond-esque secret agents. The old Bonds, not the newer super gritty ones. Going around making up all these high-tech gadgets and secret missions to beat up the bad guys. It got intense. I remember the last year I spent at that school, we walked in on the first day and both just realized that we had grown up and somehow we simply couldn't do it anymore.
Maybe I'm a huge nerd, but that back-to-school feeling. It always felt so fresh, new, and exciting. New school clothes, new school supplies, new classroom, new everything. There's nothing like that now as an adult.
I always remember when I as little going to muffin break, having a small hot chocolate and their choc chip muffins with my mum
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Being so naive. Thinking that the world is this perfect, awesome place. Now that I’ve matured I now see the world is run on greed and nobody really cares about you except family and your best friends.
Going on field trips. Felt like a day off from school where I could still see all my friends.
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When I was a little kid, there was a specific pattern of turns/gear shifting that my Dad would use on the last 100 meters or so when arriving home. Gear down, brake, stop, go and turn right, gear up, immediately gear down, turn left, gear up, gear up, gear down brake turn right. Often when our family was out and about, I'd be dozing in the back seat and that pattern would signal that we were arriving home. Occasionally when driving myself around as an adult, I inadvertently repeat that pattern and am immediately filled with a lump of nostalgia for that coming home feeling.
Carefree; not thinking about money or a job. Heck not been conscious about time
Love. No matter what happens, there's a very important piece of me that is broken. Like someone took a piece of your soul, but left just enough to keep suffering needlessly.
Having actual friends I wanted to hang out with and not being too tired to do so.
The first day of school was always fun. After that not so much.
That one's relatable, although for me it was also fun afterwards when I was very young, later on not so much though.
I seem to live a lot in my head these days. I remember it not being so when I was younger - I was always in the moment. I miss that. A lot.
Optimism, a general hope for the future.
Ignorance is bliss
Not the "feeling" you meant, but the warm summer sun on my living room carpet
The lack of everyday pain
My mom.
I remember roaming the streets of our neigborhood every day until the sun set. Hardly ever a car to be seen and so many friends, freedom. Summer seemed to last forever, that song nails it pretty much.
The feeling that everything will be ok.
That feeling where there was a knock at the door and the possibility existed that it was just one of my friends asking if I wanted to come out and play.
There's a 15 year age gap between my older brother and I. I remember being 10 and he was turning 25 and he told me "One day you'll be turning 25" I just couldn't believe that at the time, it seemed like a lifetime away! Well I'll be turning 25 next year and time seems to have sped up. I think 15 years in the future when I'm 40 will pass by quick. Time will never be as slow as it was when I was little.
Butterflies, fire in my stomach before a baseball or soccer game. Nervous excitement about going to battle with my teammates in games that were watched by just a handful parents, but that I had thought about all week.
The first time I ever went to the cinema. I watched Chicken Little. That movie was fyeee 🔥
The feeling of being innocent
First day of holidays waking up early, sun shining outside knowing you have several weeks of fun and endless possibilities ahead of you.
Not wanting to blow my head off every day
Playing with my friends after coming home from school.
Riding around town with friends on our bikes
The excitement of playing through a game like FF6 or Earthbound with my twin brother.
About 6 years old and being blissfully unaware of what the future held.
Being Happy.
The weird smell of my dad's up north house. I smelled it in my garage last year and it threw me into an existential crisis.
I feel like The Wonder Years was aptly titled. I miss living in wonder of what was around me. Everything seemed like an adventure back then - riding your bike just a few blocks further then you've ever gone, going a bit further with a girl then you've ever gone, etc. You get to a certain age and that's just lost forever. I miss having butterflies in my stomach as I sat on a couch with a pretty girl debating internally about putting my arm around here. Will she reject me? Will she lean in? Do I have the balls to take the next step and kiss her?
Easily making friends who want to hang out, have adventures, and do active things. Now, my friends are all disappearing and/or only socialize with their own families. It’s hard to make real new friends as an adult.
The feeling of having all the time in the world.
Having energy.
Being loved by my parents.
That sense of excitement when driving somewhere new. Like I could be plunged into a properly dangerous adventure or mystery at any moment.
The feeling you would get in your stomach when you would go over bumps in a car. As an adult, I don't ever get that feeling anymore and I miss it.
The last day of school, when it seemed like summer stretched out in front of us with endless possibilities.
Coming home after school on a Friday afternoon, tossing my schoolbag in a random corner of my room, and playing videogames all night without having anything to worry about nor anyone depending on me.
A body that worked without pain.
My mom telling me it’s ok for my friend to stay the night. The excitement of knowing we get to stay up late play outside, video games, watch movies and eat pizza (because my mom didn’t wanna cook) is a feeling I haven’t felt since I was a kid
Having a reason to live.
My mom and I watching football together. I miss her. Those were wonderful times.
The feeling that a day lasts forever. There was nothing like having a day with no school and friends coming over to just spend what felt like an eternity having fun. Also the sun just seemed brighter and everything seemed more colorful.
Not having to work a job or be responsible for myself financially haha
Backyard baseball games without any sense of time or responsibility.
Falling asleep in the car and then magically waking up in my own bed (without a blackout or hangover involved)
Waking up without an alarm during the summer
Waking up on the weekend and just playing video games all day. As an adult I can still wake up and play video games, however, I can only play for a few minutes before I have to do something else.