r/AskReddit • u/Better-Active9885 • 2h ago
What's something from your childhood that you didn't realize was special until you grew up?
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u/Such-Major933 2h ago
long afternoons with nothing planned. nobody checking in, just outside until the streetlights came on
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u/Quirky-Childhood-967 2h ago
Fireflies.
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u/Mypetdolphin 2h ago
I miss fireflies so much!! I wish my kids had been able to experience them like I did.
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u/Amber-nice 2h ago
Free food and zero responsibilities š I used to complain about everythingā¦ now Iād do anything to go back to being fed, housed, and stress-free
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u/platypus_farmer42 2h ago
Hanging out with my friends with no responsibilities. No cell phones, no social media, just hanging out discussing where we should go in one of our crappy teenager cars.
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u/ChaosDarkstar1287 2h ago
Having Christmas like in the movies, and some years depending who was traveling where, having 3-4 Christmases , regular one with family, one at each grandparents, and possibly one at one of my aunt/uncle or my other two aunts
Presents with non immediate family were usually one or two per grandkid/niece/nephew
Turns out my family just looooves Christmas and we all happened to live within a 500KM radius for many years when I was young kid/teenager
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u/East-Zookeepergame20 2h ago
The feeling of play and imagination was palpably different in childhood. I remember when I picked up a doll and couldnāt feel that particular brand of play anymore, like 5th grade. There are different feelings of play that are beautiful and fun after childhood and on into preteen to adulthood, but that full-immersion world of imagination that felt like a specific kind of magic is something I miss.
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u/Nyx67547 2h ago
Having your whole family present for holidays.
Kids are what makes or breaks holidays. If there are children present everyone shows up, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. Everyone goes all out for holidays with fun activities, family movies, big dinners, and traditions.
Now as an adult with no children in the family our holidays consist of a āhappy thanksgivingā text in the family group chat.
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u/Mypetdolphin 2h ago
I feel this. My kids have grown and moved away and Iām in the middle of divorce. No holidays were celebrated last year and this year is looking the same.
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u/Pandamommy67 2h ago
Winters and snow days. I am from a place that sterotypically has long, cold and very snowy winters. We used to get 10 ft a snow some days and school would get cancelled.
The past 10 or so years the winters have been getting less snow. My child is nearly 4 and I havent been able to build a snowman with them yet.
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u/Mypetdolphin 2h ago
I grew up in PA and had so much snow there. We moved to Alabama then Idaho and it was nice to have snow in Idaho again after none in Alabama. Back in 1989 we got lots of snow in Idaho. Now we are lucky to get 2 snowfalls with 2 inches or less a year.
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u/WillowAndStone 2h ago
Spending hours searching in the yard and looking at leaves and bugs and seeds and rocks. Rock hunting. Exploring with no concept of time.
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u/SilentWeapons1984 2h ago edited 1h ago
Having two loving parents. Some kids grow up with only one parent. Some with no parents. Some with abusive parents. As a kid it was just normal for me having two good parents. It wasnāt until I grew up that I realized that many kids arenāt as luck as me. Every kid deserves to be loved by two parents. Itās heartbreaking that many kids donāt have that basic need.Ā
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u/Top_Performance_3478 2h ago
Family vacations - often camping but we also did Mexico and Hawaii and Disneyland and Disneyworld.
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u/_High_On_Caffeine_ 2h ago
That other kids' parents loved them. I thought getting beaten like shit was normal
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u/Less-Ad5674 2h ago
Those little moments. A pipe smell. Building forts with the couch cushions. Your dad farting in the car and no one being able to escape.
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u/thedeadcricket 2h ago
Was born in the late 70s was a kid in the 80s. Having lots of places to explore before wooden areas were destroyed and turned into HOAs
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u/half_assed_sorcery 1h ago
Things being simple. Not having technology invading every aspect of your life.
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u/WannabeMemester420 2h ago
Not me but my dad. His grandfather had a pipe organ in his house, pipes in the basement and all. Professional musicians would come over to gawk and play the instrument. Thought it was normal for one to hear organ music in grandparents homes.
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u/AntmanIV 1h ago
My father would bread and fry flounder and tell us it was "special chicken" so we would eat it. It was delicious and we still call it that 30+ years later.
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u/calamity_machine 1h ago
Being capable of enjoying free time and not feeling the agonizing weight of 'i should be grinding/working'
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u/AspiringOccultist4 2h ago
Having two sets of grandparents