TheaterFire

What do you miss about your childhood?

Posted by 2ndPlaneHit@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 98 comments

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Fm-21@reddit

My family
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Pure_Air2815@reddit

Not having to worry about paying utility bills
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Early_Government198@reddit

My parents. The simplicity of being young.
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inevitablelizard@reddit

People go for the usual stuff about responsibility, which is of course one of them. But I would go for how every new place I went to felt like an adventure. As a kid I would look out at the countryside in the distance and it seemed like some wilderness at the time. My primary school was on the edge of the village and had a clear view of all this, a woodland hill in the distance which I just used to look up towards. As an adult these are places I easily walk past in no time, and these places have lost some of that mystery and allure they had when I was a kid. It's not quite the same when you can look places up on google maps beforehand too. It's part of the reason I like to roam off paths as much as possible. I live not far from an upland national park with lots of open access land and I make full use of that.
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sjw_7@reddit

For me its Christmas. I love it now and we have kids of our own so have experienced the magic with them too. But when I was young the excitement of waking up on Christmas morning wondering if Santa had been and left us presents downstairs. Had to wait for Mum to wake up so we could all go downstairs to see what we had.
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Indigo_222@reddit

Absolutely nothing, with the exception of my dog and grandparents still being alive. It was miserable and i’m in a much better place now
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Fun_Yogurtcloset1012@reddit

Saturday morning children's tv. I missed watching CBBC and SMTV, I remember having to change the channels over when my favourite show was on, mostly ended up settling on SMTV because of Ant and Dec and Pokemon. The shows seems better back then.
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cainejay93@reddit

Playing out
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Ok_Manufacturer_5790@reddit

Going in for my little pals.
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HannaaaLucie@reddit

I think possibly the only thing I miss is not having such high responsibilities. Like it would be lovely to just have a week where I don't think about work, bills, cleaning the house, getting the shopping in, etc etc. Other than that I don't miss a thing.. maybe the ice cream man!
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madeonworkstime@reddit

Cadburys Fuse & Astros
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sock_cooker@reddit

My parents. Having the run of the neighbourhood and marching in and out of people's houses on my street and them all humouring me because I was such a cute little bastard. My dog. Feeling safe. Playing with my sister.
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Harrry-Otter@reddit

Having 13 weeks off a year.
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PM-YOUR-BEST-BRA@reddit

Become a teacher and that reality can be yours once more
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TSC-99@reddit

The only thing that keeps us in the job
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pajamakitten@reddit

Not when you spend a good chunk of that time dealing with admin. You also lose your nights and weekends.
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oudcedar@reddit

I have much more off for the last 10 years, it just takes some planning and accepting a lower income.
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2ndPlaneHit@reddit (OP)

HH
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PuffCakeRebaked@reddit

Reading Fighting Fantasy gamebooks under the covers and having no cares.
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MisterD90x@reddit

Family Holidays. There's a point as you grow up where we just stopped going on them, we used to go maybe once a year or so. Then it stopped probably due to costs, it wasn't till last year was my first holiday in 13years, 5days with a mate in Oslo. And before that close to 7years, I miss those times, happy and free
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AgeofVictoriaPodcast@reddit

I haven't been able to afford a holiday since before COVID. I'm sick to death of "tough times and sacrifice" to balance the budget.
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MisterD90x@reddit

I don't get paid enough and everything is sooo expensive :(
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reddit_disliker9@reddit

Ice lolly after a day of school on the trampoline
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Eternal_Demeisen@reddit

Houses that cost 35k.
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AlwaysCreamCrackered@reddit

How time seemed to go so slow when waiting for things and I'd wish time would speed up. Waiting for holidays, Christmas, birthdays seemed like an eternity so the excitement of the event was constantly building. Now time just goes so quickly and I wish it'd slow down. Coming up to 5 years since the lockdowns, for example....where the hell did those years go?
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-_-___--_-___@reddit

Time goes slow when you're younger as everything is a new experience. If you are finding time going quickly then you aren't doing enough new and different things.
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olivinebean@reddit

This is why adults need hobbies. Last two weeks I've been quilting and embroidering. Going to paint the frame of a second hand mirror I found later. Got over 200 photos on their way too, so that's a whole afternoon of sorting out photo albums coming up. Time feels so much longer when you do different things.
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Commercial-Repair301@reddit

You can remember being that age?
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2ndPlaneHit@reddit (OP)

Yes and no, I just remember snips of that time. It’s like when you just remember certain events, like when I cried for a toy, or went shopping at a mall, you only remember about 5/10 seconds of it. It’s like you remember being young, perhaps you don’t know the exact age, you just remember seeing or overviewing your life
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Commercial-Repair301@reddit

Yeah I know the sort of memory you're referring to, I'm just surprised you can remember that far back!
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Chemical-Mango-3652@reddit

Not having any responsibility. Not having to cook or think what’s for dinner every night. I miss Christmas as a kid and I really miss my childhood bedroom.
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_feedmeseymour@reddit

I don’t remember my childhood, only really the things like tv shows, toys, etc. but the one thing I do remember and think about was this particular feeling you’d get as a kid where you find something new and create an instant love for, and it becomes a new obsession. Occasionally I get it again here and there, but it isn’t the same. There was just a certain type of feeling when you’re younger, discovering new things you love and enjoy, to the point it almost feels magical. A lot of that gets pushed out to you as you’re expected to become and adult and leave the whimsy behind. When really, I think we’d all be a lot happier if we kept that wonder, imagination, creativity and whimsy, rather than the notion that as an adult you have to be all serious.
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T_raltixx@reddit

My health, my friends, my dad.
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frogfoot420@reddit

The joys of playing oblivion and cod 4 for the first time
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LittleGreene43@reddit

My mum
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AgeofVictoriaPodcast@reddit

That trust that things would be ok in the end. That if I worked hard, studied, and was a good person, good things would happen. That the world was a work in progress, and one day humanity would achieve the things I saw in Star Trek, even though I wouldn't be around to see it. I miss that so much now. I really wish we would be the best of humanity, but greedy war mongers, and racist kleptocrats are in charge. Now I know that a senile ex reality TV star could end the world for nothing with the push of a button, and there's nothing I can do about it, and he doesn't care whether I want it or not.
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pikantnasuka@reddit

It not being my responsibility. None of it. I did not have to be the one who looked after it all. Also, the sheer unrivalled joy of unexpected sweets.
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forgottenpopcork@reddit

“It not being my responsibility” So relatable.
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pajamakitten@reddit

Being the adult in the room can be scary. I remember my first day teaching and it suddenly hitting me that the kids and the teaching assistant were looking at me for guidance. All I could think was "Fuck."
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JustJezebeluk@reddit

Yeah, this. Absence of responsibility. Parents being able to fix stuff.
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forgottenpopcork@reddit

My mum passed last October and I’m only 19. I miss the time when I had no worries at all. Now I’ve had to grow up fast and know everything overnight. I miss my mum.
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Interesting-Scar-998@reddit

No bills to pay.
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theeternal_420@reddit

Everything
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jj198handsy@reddit

The permenance of it, life just seemed to be endless, I remember the first time I realised that I probably only had another 50 or so summers left.
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Choice-Standard-6350@reddit

Lucky you, I ham crossing my fingers for another twenty
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jj198handsy@reddit

Well me too now, I was looking back.
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Frosty_Manager_1035@reddit

🥹
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Neither_March4000@reddit

Absolutely nothing. I hated being a kid, always being told what to do, having to do this or that, homework, a weapons grade wanker of a father, a mother who just wanted to 'keep the peace', not having my own money, not being able to make my own decisions , the lack of privacy, the noise, the bullying by older siblings, no space to call my own....It was fecking awful. When I finally was able to move out I loved it, I didn't care that I was skint. Being able to shut that door and live my life on my terms was priceless.
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Traditional-Roll-102@reddit

Weapons grade wanker is amazing lmao but sorry to hear about that and glad it got better!
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Neither_March4000@reddit

Cheers! It did and couldn't be happier :-D
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thathorsegamingguy@reddit

Not being afraid to run or even walk too fast on the pavement.
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philphoo@reddit

Couch co-op with the siblings
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Aphr0dite19@reddit

Not much. My childhood was abnormal and I was, as a result, a weird kid. Not much changed into adulthood but at least I had some say in my life.
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MaximusSydney@reddit

Days that lasted forever. Going out on the estate to call on all my mates, spending the whole day playing hide and seek, building dens, exploring etc. until it was dark. I swear an entire weekend goes by faster than one of those days now.
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moonrakernw@reddit

Life was simple. Only a few TV channels and you watched a program when it was broadcast or you missed it. Reading books, newspapers and magazines printed on paper. Listening to vinyl records on a turntable. Buying things in shops in a thriving high street.
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passengerprincess232@reddit

This! Technology is making life more complicated and harder! Scanning QR codes and a million passwords to get into banking apps, we’ve lost the inability to self service because there’s no shops anywhere so we have to buy things online and wait for them to come. I miss watching whatever was on tv because we had no choice but to.
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moonrakernw@reddit

It’s people like my elderly mum I feel sorry for who feel marginalised by entities like the local council for not “going on line” when trying to do some simple transaction like renewing her garden waste bin.
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Dopey_Armadillo_4140@reddit

I’ve come to the conclusion that limited choice is actually a lot more peaceful. And it makes what you do have more special. Remember the feeling at Christmas when you got that CD or video that you’d been waiting for. Like now you could play that song/film *whenever* you wanted. That was a genuine privilege that someone had gifted you. Now we can access anything whenever we want, where’s the excitement in it?
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Big-Swing3912@reddit

my naïvety, ignorance is bliss. although i was aware of a few bad things in the world (moreso than other kids my age imo) its nothing compared to now
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pajamakitten@reddit

Naivety. You did not fully understand how the world worked and you did not need to either. Know I what what is happening and it is pretty worrying.
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FeistyUnicorn1@reddit

Someone else paying all the bills and cooking all the meals.
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Odd_Presentation8624@reddit

The idea that adults were in charge of the world. Mind you, I miss that about last month, not just my childhood.
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Cultural_Tank_6947@reddit

My grandparents. Well the two who are no longer here. My mum's mum died when I was 18 but when I was about 9 or 10, she had a pretty nasty stroke which left her a shell of her former self. I'm 40 now but one thing I hate the most is that I can't recall her face pre-stroke. Like all my memories of her are from the really ill phase.
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oudcedar@reddit

Rum’n’Raisin Toffos.
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sayleanenlarge@reddit

The falling asleep cosy thing was great. I still remember the feeling of the car pulling into the driveway after a long day. It had a particular atmosphere to it. The pulling in and stopping felt sleepy fat. As a kid, I could always tell when I was going to fall asleep because my gums used to get fat at the back and they'd end up touching each other where they'd swelled. No idea what that was - I guess it was wisdom tooth related, and it stopped when I was an adult, I guess it coincided with when they broke out. I always had this feeling, so I'm guessing your wisdom teeth are there all through childhood just waiting for you to turn 25.
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Snoo_82776@reddit

I'd say: 1. Not having to cook 2. Not having to think about having to cook The End.
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C0nnectionTerminat3d@reddit

not being able to tell the time. It’s such a small thing but i hate waiting for something and thinking “ugh we’ve only been waiting X amount of time” or doing something really fun and thinking “i only have a few more minutes to enjoy this”.
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The_Salty_Red_Head@reddit

A body that works properly and without pain.
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blainy-o@reddit

The lack of financial responsibility. Late 00s Xbox Live in my teen years was also a laugh.
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Honeygiver1960@reddit

The innocence
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EugeneHartke@reddit

The price of a pint.
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IThinkItMightBeMe@reddit

Feeling invincible
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BrushMission4620@reddit

Not having to deal with the crushing reality of life in late stage capitalism?
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Choice-Standard-6350@reddit

My parents
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Traditional-Roll-102@reddit

Deep
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spokenwealth@reddit

I miss skateboarding with my best friends on a hot summer's day
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Susseelf_g03@reddit

10p Freddos
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Martysghost@reddit

Having a functioning body that was able to repair itself more effectively. Knees that work. 
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Dopey_Armadillo_4140@reddit

Not only was I happy but I thought everybody else was too. My mum did a great job of that. When I later found out what had actually been going on I was like… oh :( You know that part of Love Actually where Emma Thompson has just found out Alan Rickman bought the necklace for someone else. But then she wipes her tears and goes back into the family room acting happy as anything for the kids cos it’s their school play. It always makes me cry thinking that my mum did that for me
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Super-Explanation343@reddit

Hearing 'Teas ready' instead of having to buy all the food and cook all the teas.
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Grouchy-Bell6388@reddit

Being ignorant of politics.
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Mr-ananas1@reddit

playing videogames and being realy realy bad at them, the PS3 was amazing and probably one of the most fun things ever at the time
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CharringtonCross@reddit

The country we had. It was beautiful.
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Nandor1262@reddit

The promise that one day if I went to uni and had a more successful career than my parents I’d afford to buy a bigger house than them. Sadly it wasn’t true.
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Queasy-Response-3210@reddit

The fact that every holiday felt so long and 3 months of summer feels like 8 months now as an adult
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tjjwaddo@reddit

My cat.
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buy_me_a_pint@reddit

The summer holidays, my parents took me and my sister every summer first week in August up to Scarborough, we stayed in the same guest house three years running Yes it was a set menu every evening apart from Fridays for those who did not eat fish, could have cold ham and chips Breakfast we had to pre-order the night before during evening meal what we would like on our full breakfast so the staff prepare School holidays went by slowly sometimes,
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tdrules@reddit

No internet
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RinVersailles@reddit

I miss my grandparents; their warmth, comfort and safety that came with them.
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Main_Special_3154@reddit

The innocence. The raw view about life thinking it was all fun and happy. Please can somebody unsubscribe me with adulting!!
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ShockingHair63@reddit

No responsibilities, and no social media making me constantly conscious of how others are judging me like the young have to deal with today
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Upbeat_Midnight5098@reddit

Not much my dad was suffering with a brain tumor through all of it, did have a few nice times bit that over shadows it
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ClassicMaximum7786@reddit

Thinking it was real. Narcissist families are hell.
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2ndPlaneHit@reddit (OP)

HH
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ClassicMaximum7786@reddit

HH?
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DarthKrataa@reddit

Not paying bills
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Additional-Nobody352@reddit

No social media and everything been connected to online.
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