What Do You Miss About The Childhood Years?

[Shadsie]

I miss Optimism.

I mean, I don't really look back on my childhood as the ultra magical special time in my life because I struggled through it. I was the picked-on kid, the outcast-kid, lonely, and it was lined with death. (Some of my earliest memories are of going to the many funerals by relatives/grandparents that all decided to *drop* right when I was 4-5 years old). Sure, I had a lot of sweet, innocent times, like Saturday morning cartoons and sleepovers, it's just that I see the *entirety* of my life as bittesweet.

At the same time... there was optimism. Every kid is asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" throughout their childhood. I always answered that I wanted to be an artist, save for that brief period in my life that I considered being a veternarian. In my childhood optitism, even though I knew of the sterotype of the "starving artist" I was sure I was going to be a successful one, that I would somehow be able to make a living off of being creative. So much dreaming...

Here I am, grown up, an artist by hobby, but I've never been able to make it work for me as something to live off of, nor have been very successful at being able to make an independent living at anything. I still am trying to find what I want to be "when I grow up" and I'm my friggin' 30s. So, yes, I miss the naiive optimism of my youth most of all.

 

[Chilfo Freeze]

I miss the simplicity of decision-making.

What am I going to wear today? What's for lunch? Am I hanging with Amy or Erin today? What time is practice? Did I have homework in that class?

Such simple questions that I still answer on the daily, but college has brought upon much more controversial and life-changing decisions.

I'm not going to say that college is extremely difficult, because it's not. In fact, I'm having a great time. It's full of totally new experiences, and I'd even say that it was better than high school in many ways. What I miss, though, are the kinds of decisions that didn't affect the rest of my life, per se. Currently, I'm deciding on whether or not to declare my major, and it's much more difficult than I would have imagined. I keep re-thinking my decision. This is a big decision that I have to make, and sooner or later I won't have time to think it over.

College majors are just one decision of many that can alter your life for better or for worse. It's something that must be considered over a great amount of time. That's what I miss. Snap decisions.

 

[Ⓡⓔⓖⓘⓝⓛⓔⓘⓕ]

I'd say that I don't miss a thing from my childhood years, but I would be lying if I said that, as I do miss one thing: Holly, who'd be my 1st grade to 5th grade girlfriend. Heh, I wonder how things would have turned out to be if I hadn't moved.

 

[magiclink]

Although I was cursed with a nerve disease most of my life, I miss the way people used to treat me, I miss my friends that have either moved or dislike me. But what I miss about my life the most is that I didnt take advantage of being a scronny weak kid that was under the radar, unlike how I am now a teenager with emotional problems and a need to be unnessarily violent.
~magiclink

 

[Luke's Wife]

Can I just say everything? Because I would give anything to be a kid again. I miss my friends, the days we'd play outside at recess or sneak off the property to buy candy at the store, or run through the middle of the boy's soccer game and kick the ball through the posts on the way. I miss goofing around in class, playing make believe in the forest and falling into the creek constantly (a special talent of mine). I miss the stupid little games, cartwheels down the hill, grass stains on my knees. I miss the simple innocence, when you thought you were gonna grow up to be an astronaut or a fairy princess. Childhood to me is like when you were golden. You were perfect, you were unstoppable, and nothing could touch you. It was only as years went on that reality showed up and smacked you around the face that you began to lose your gold. And now most of us have completely lost, hidden, or abandoned that person we used to be. I miss when the hardest decision was between a red crayon or a blue one and the worst pain you could be in was from falling and scraping your knee on the sidewalk, but even that was okay because mom and dad were there to stick a bandage on it. I miss when nobody cared if you wore fancy clothes or had the latest iphone and hey, if you liked Barbie and they liked Barbie you were friends. And it sucks, it really sucks that we were introduced to the way the world really is in pretty harsh ways. None of us knew the world could be such a twisted place and yet if you sit down and watch the news its plastered everywhere for you to see. So I think overall I miss the fun and sort magic whimsy of childhood until it was taken away, just like that. I hope that my golden self is still down there, the confident person I used to be, because I don't think it's too late to be a kid again. After all...

There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.

 

[DisappearingMist]

I miss a lot of things, but at the same time, I try not to dwell on the past, since life is pretty great these days. But, a handful of the things I miss: having the time to hang out with friends daily, building forts, not having responsibility, and having more free time. I also miss having such an active imagination - like in playing with toys. I think that adults miss out on a lot by not using their imaginations often enough!

 

[Lord Carlisle]

Well I just went to Disney World today, and while I had a good time... that was all I had. A good time. It wasn't like past years when I was amazed and had a blast... I think the magic of it all grows older with age.

 

[EeveeChan]

I miss being happy & carefree as a kid. All I cared about as a kid were my friends & my parents. Things were different as a kid. My family was closer when I was a kid because they watched over me & made sure I had fun. My friends & I were friends because everyone was nice to each other, not because I had something they didn't. But most of all, we had recess & field day & field trips! For half an hour a day, we were free from the terrible clutches of the classroom desk. And if we were lucky, we would have TWO field trips each terms! I remember when I got soo excited about that! Little kids are so much fun to play with!

 

[Joy]

I miss the closeness I shared with my sister : we used to do everything together, but then we grew up, and me faster than her, ironically enough, seeing she's the elder. Now we don't get along at all.

Otherwise i don't miss anything. I had a difficult childhood.

 

[Zorth]

The lack of atrocious cartoons on Disney channel and reality shows on MTV.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I miss climbing trees and sword fighting

 

[Vanessa28]

That is hard because my father used to beat me up when I was a kid and my parents divorced when I was 12. My mother never fully fullfilled all her duties so I was kicked into adulthood at a very young age. I rather do it all over so I could be a normal kid like every other teen without having secrets for fellow teens and doing teeny stuff and live a normal life. But on the otherhand this hard childhood made me what I am today .....

 

[Spirit]

I dont miss anything, my childhood years sucked. The adult ones are a lot better and a lot more fun

 

[Justac00lguy]

Oh yeah I forgot I also missed Digimon!

 

[Burden]

I could never name them all but mainly
-Playing N64
-Watching cartoons
-Playing card games (Yu-Gi-Oh)
-Living with my brother and sister
-Grandparents
-No stress
-Playing outside

I miss it all, but being grown up and being independent makes it worth moving on.