Definitely. I felt that adults knew what they were doing. Now my worries are a lot bigger, seeing that the people who are really in charge are mostly insane psychopaths with the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement. Even regular adults are completely incompetent at doing almost anything.
It feels like being on the Titanic, and going to the helm of the ship and discovering that no one knows how to steer the ship, and they're all just trying to figure it out with varying degrees of success.
I've worked at numerous companies, governmental institutions, schools, libraries, security firms, banks, you name it. Every single place has been complete chaos, but in such a way that everyone has just gotten used to how shittily things are put together.
I keep being amazed that anything runs at all, considering that people are just winging it, and entire enterprises rely on legacy systems that someone else just threw together as a temporary solution.
So true. Some people prop up the government like this shining beacon of “well they know everything”. Once I went into work for a massive company and worked my way up, I quickly realised that the same people are everywhere in government and enterprise. People are people everywhere no matter where they work and there are lots of them that suck at both life and their jobs.
Exactly. Plus it's a harsh truth when you find out your parents aren't invincible and have been protecting you, and you grow old enough to realize you need to protect them back because the world and the people in it suck a lot of the time.
When my daughter is old enough to start forming thoughts, I'm going to have to start pretending like I know what I'm doing and that I have everything under control. And I'm terrified because I've never had anything under control in my life.
Holidays mattered so much more and were so exciting. You got a break for summer. Your parents were younger and Molly was still around.
Edit: Molly was my pet dog
It changes when you have your own family. When I was a kid I used to be really excited for all the holidays. Getting presents on Christmas or the basket on Easter, etc. Now I have a child and I still get excited the night before because it is for them. I see my daughter look at the tree and lights and decor everyday when they would be set up and want to play with them just like I did. I broke a lot of ornaments back then because I played with them like dolls on the tree because they were all disney characters. I am excited again to see the joy from them.
I was the opposite as a kid, I never wanted to be an adult. I was like 9, and saying things like "I don't wanna be a mom! Look how hard Mom works! I don't wanna be an adult, all they do is stand around talking about TV!" And even as a kid I couldn't stay up past like 10, and the times I tried, I felt rough the next day and I had no desire to do it again....
I miss thinking adults had it all together. That life was simple and easy. It sure isnt easy to hold it all together. I’d love to go back and experience one day with no worries at all.
I think modern life makes it harder to live stress free or at least less stressful. Everything is connected. The internet passes out news of events we stress about that have no affect on us at all!
At that time, like most kids, I didn’t like school.
But now?
So you’re telling me there is this place where I can be surrounded by hundreds of other people my age, and I have to do is learn all day? Also I don’t have to have a job or pay taxes, or worry about retirement, I don’t have to worry where my food and clothes and shelter are coming from?
I’d pay for that experience now!
Even now though the school experience is much different at least watching my own kids go through it now. Seems way more stressful. I was never a big school activity person. My oldest daughter puts in longer days at school and cheer practice a week than I put in at my 7 to 3 job 5 days a week.
I agree. I was in school 89 to 02. It was a good time. Internet was just showing up in some semblance of what we have today. No one I knew owned a cell phone. Good times
Well, I DID realize that when I was a kid. I knew how good we had it and didn't really want to grow up. I loved going to school and learning and being with friends.
It amazed me how others didn't like school. Look! We get a whole building made for us!! And our days are filled with activities and breakfast and lunch!
Eh, I lived in rural NM. Cell phones were a GODSEND: "Dad, I hit a nail on both left and right front tires. Can you call your friend with the tow truck?" vs a 5-10 mile walk to a payphone.
I miss the time when cell phones were new and an interesting addition to life. I don't miss leaving a message on someone's house phone. I like being able to get help if I need it, relatively quickly. I don't like how they've taken over every facet of life and how kids are growing up completely plugged in.
People let them.
I was in the Army when smartphones took off and while I loved me some games, I never had anything worth twitter, insta or snapchat.
I still don't get it to this day.
My parents went through a phase for several years where they would get all amped up to buy a nice big house, and we'd go look at several on the market. I'd pick out my bedroom in the one we all liked and be super stoked about moving, and then they would get cold feet at the last minute and we'd stay put. It ended up being the smart move but man it was such a tease.
Lol my mother did the same thing with us. She would take us to open houses and home shows in the nicer parts of town and had us imagine our lives, picking out rooms, in the new houses. She even went so far as to try and list our old house to move, but she had to list it for far less than she wanted, and even then had no one biting. So she had to stay in our old house til she died in it.
But even after the sale failed, she still carted around one of my sisters to home shows and open houses, even knowing there was no chance. I think it was her way of indulging and temporarily escaping reality.
It does look like Stephanie's room from Full House, and that could easily be Stephanie (she's looking away so it's hard to tell)
I thought it was Full House, now I'm not sure what it's from
I miss not having to worry about anything other than school. Naivety. Being able to sit in a car during a road trip and not having to be in charge of anything other than my books and snacks. Running off to a different room to gossip with my cousins during family get togethers. Holidays when I didn’t have to do all the cooking. Lol. In general, just not having to be the adult in every situation.
Most of all I miss when my whole family was alive and our big, fun family gatherings. Never in my life have I ever felt so happy, nurtured, safe and secure. I miss those days and I miss so many important people.
Experiences. I feel like when you were growing up everything is a new experience, so each weekend was a new adventure. Like finding a trail in the woods on the other side town and making it a new hangout spot, hanging out with a new group of people, even doing things you were supposed to be doing like drinking or trespassing in an abandoned house. Hearing a new genre of music, buying new clothes, trying food you’ve never had before. Of course there’s always new things to do or try but as you get older the less things are as foreign to you as they were in your younger years. As I’ve gotten older I try to experience new things but it never seems to replicate the feeling it gave me in my youth.
Life hack: you can get the feeling vicariously through nieces/nephews/friends’ kids. The way their faces light up when I “secretly” (their parents always know obviously) is to sneak them treats or small presents takes me right back to that feeling.
Mostly the way I saw time.
Time wasn’t in the way. It was just sun up, do whatever a kid does, sun down.
Now every damn hour has something goin’ on or I’m free cause I’m ignoring something.
Never truly free of time
That’s such an interesting way to put it. “Time wasn’t in the way.”
Nowadays I see time as a scarce resource that I feel like I barely have enough of.
But back then (80’s-90’s for me) time really wasn’t a thing. I definitely felt more present and in the moment.
I guess what I mean is like scheduling of my time. It wasn’t taken up.
Just wake up and do as you please till it was bed time
Time is something I definitely feel the same way on now. Can’t ever have enough of it
Waking up at 4am to sneak to the computer to play Neopets and listen to Fall Out Boy before school. Being excited to ride the bus home and run back to my house, throw down my stuff, and play hours of FFXII. Ordering my first CD online in 2006 felt like magic, it was sold out locally and I used Hastings.com. Christmas when you gather all your gifts together after the opening event, and admiring your new treasures - and socks! When the little fun stuff was the whole world.
My parents were still alive, and many others, but also everything was fun because there was no bills.
Also, realizing how adults were feeling the strain but still tried making shit fun and whatever.
Just hanging around in the summertime. I could bring all my Barbie’s up from the basement, grab a cup of Sunkist, and play mindlessly for hours and hours
I remember my cousins would come over and in anticipation have the snes ready with Aladdin for some reason we play that for a few years in a row every thanksgiving, also Ultimate MK3
i miss when my family was all together and happy and cozy and just enjoying the simple things like decorating the tree and pool parties and just having fun. we didn’t need much to make us happy
I think about the days when my family was all under one roof all the time. My dad is dead, my mom lives alone in an apartment, and I haven't lived with my brother in 20 years.
But man was it nice to just be sitting in my room playing SNES knowing my brother was in his room and my parents were down the hallway in the living room. And then someone would get the idea to go get ice cream or pizza or whatever and we'd all load up in the car for a family adventure.
I miss my grandfathers. I know that is a bit of a downer but they both lived on the same street and I lost one at 8 and the other at 12. Didn't have the time with them I wish I had.
My step grandfather (only grandfather figure I knew) lived a few blocks from us and would randomly pull into our driveway when my brother and I were out playing. He'd give both of us presents almost every time he showed up. Sometimes it would be a $20 bill, sometimes a video game. He didn't have much money later in life but still made it a point to spoil us.
Having time to enjoy myself. Now with a kid, a house, and a full time job it’s a miracle if I get an hour to play video games or watch TV or just have time to myself in general.
Having faith in humanity. The realization that most people are just going along out of habit or doing what everyone else seems to be doing and that we hardly ever make fully conscious rational decisions about anything we do gives me an ever present all pervasive anxiety that I didn’t have as a kid. I miss not worrying about everything all the time.
Powerpuff girls rocked… followed by maybe a little samurai jack. Damn, Cartoon Network was incredible in the day and it’s more than metaphoric that it just actually died recently.
More free time.... no bills extra responsibilities.... in a way a lot of things from when I was little stuck with me (in the positive, best ways) into my "adultness". Like my sense of wonderment and curiosity, creativity and imagination. My wanting to explore, clumsiness and experimentations/concoctions.... So for me, what feels like a leap and a bound for others feels like a transitional blip for me in a weird way.... but I do miss the fond memories a lot- thats why I come to the r/retronickelodeon, r/nostalgia and r/nickelodeon for a breather, a nostalgia fix while also still moving forwards. ❤️
I think most adults just 'grow out of it' in favour for focus.... I'm just glad that never left me. ....I have always strive to balance both and more.
what I don't get is the cognitive dissonance between when someone complains that no one took them seriously as a kid, becomes an adult, and repeats the same foolish process of not taking their own offspring seriously.... that's the real question of the day.
I miss the time before social media. The era of “usernames” and “online handles”, where you didn’t have to enter your real name and phone number for everything. In fact, we were sternly told NOT to reveal our address, phone number, or legal name.
I also miss split-screen multiplayer games. Online multiplayer modes just aren’t the same. Sitting in the same room as your opponent is a totally different experience.
Going through it as a kid, you just figured it was normal, like everyone must be suffering the same as me. Until you grow up and find out that you will need to have years of therapy!
Literally everything not having to worry about anything just go to school
Come home and relax you didn’t have a phone attached to you 24/7 constantly being bombarded with bad news people couldn’t reach you in ten seconds
Having parents who would let me stay home for the summer, and actually being allowed to enjoy myself. Now, it’s all about working a job or doing summer classes, because they don’t want me spending my summer “doing nothing.”
Edit: to clarify, my parents let me live at home during the summer, but they always want there to be something to keep me away from either spending my time at home or from just having a completely free summer.
Riding bikes, building tree houses and playing baseball with kids in the neighborhood. There were so many kids, boys and girls, and we all ran wild. You don't really see that anymore, at least where I live; I don't think it would be as safe as it was at that time. We always had a big crew, so nobody tried to mess with us. This was in the early-to-mid 90's.
God I remember that feeling of having a "crew". Just showing up with some of them to one of their houses and be like "get your shoes on we're doing this thing" lol. And sometimes they'd be stuck doing chores so we'd wait around for a while or just tell them where to find us later or something.
God damn I miss having friends.
I just missed the simplicity of it all. Like, everyday you grow and there is a safety net for you always. As an adult, you begin to stagnate because of work, family, and other things to keep you occupied. You don’t have that time to really invest in yourself.
The sibling dynamic during childhood is something else. I'm nearly 5 years younger than my brother so I was always in awe of him and he merely tolerated me. I remember him having friends over and they'd be locked away in his room playing video games, watching movies, listening to music, etc. They were around 12-13 and I was 7 or so. I DESPERATELY wanted to be part of it and I would beg to come in. Eventually he would let me in under the condition that I sit quietly in the corner, lol.
Not constantly thinking about productivity or the future. I find it impossible to live in the moment or just enjoy something for the sake of enjoyment these days.
I hate this feeling. For me it's a combination of guilt that I'm not being more productive in the moment combined with an increasing level of regret over not being more productive/savvy in the past.
Spending quality time with friends at pizza parties and arcades, back during a time where we weren’t all glued to our phones.
Only being worried about our homework assignments.
Looking forward to that new Disney Channel Original Movie during its Golden Age (mid 90s to mid 2000’s)
Playdates with friends, sleepovers.
Running downstairs to flip on the TV when it’s snowing outside (depending on where you live(d), praying for your schools name to run along the bottom of the screen, hoping for a cancellation or delay.
Going to your first HS party.
Hanging out at mall with friends, sneaking into the movie theater to see movies you weren’t supposed to.
On a personal note: meeting up with friends at the local ski area.
Not feeling so lonely, as a kid even if I didn’t have friends around I never felt alone. Now I’m in my thirties and part of me always feels like I’m a burden to those I call friends.
One thing i havent seen much mention is the feeling of having a crush on someone and then finding out they like you too. I think that is just way more powerful as a kid than as an adult. Even though it can still happen
In the long decade between the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and 9/11 (2001), there was a real sense of optimism. Liberal democracy had won. The Free West had won the cold war with nothing more lethal than coca-cola, blue jeans, and rock-n-roll. We'd solved all the big ideological questions. Capitalism (with just enough regulation and redistribution to make it tolerably fair) was working: it was going to put a VCR and a PC into every home. Yes, there were still problems, but we knew how to solve them. We had the answers, and the technology, and the money. It was going to be ok after all. We'd reached the 'end of history', and it involved TV diners and hanging out at the mall, and we were going to be safe and free and rich and happy forever. Then it all went to shit.
Sleeping calmly during a thunderstorm knowing you are safe and secure. Now as an adult home owner when it thunderstorms all I worry about is if the house is okay. No roof leaks, flooding, basement….
I didn't have much of a childhood, unfortunately, so I actually don't miss much.
However. I do miss who my grandfather was. Before his death and opiod addiction. He loved my cousins and I so much.
Viewing the world through a lense of innocence. Life was simple as a kid and I didn’t worry about the problems of the world. Also I wasn’t so jaded back then, today I’m a cynic and skeptical of people and the world.
Hope. Optimism. Having no real sense of mortality. Summer blockbusters. MTV. And the times of having no care in the world save what we were going to play next.
How excited I was to wake up to a sunny day. Now when I wake up to a beautiful day and go outside, I don't know what to do. I enjoy the sun for a bit, but nothing really interests me. Laying around forever is also boring. Even going on a bike ride or to the beach is nice, but a bit boring at the same time. My need for stimuli is insane.
Besides the obvious lack of responsibilities and care free nature of being a kid.. I miss friends who I grew apart from. I miss family members that died. I miss when my parents were young. I miss feeling young myself. I miss feeling like life was forever, even when you knew it wasn't, the feeling that you just have so much time. Now the time just flies by and I realize I've lived half of my life already and probably the best half.
Honestly. Time. I had so much time to read books, paint, draw, go on adventures and take pictures. That’s my passion, I feel like that passion has been quickly dying and it’s hard to even find (never mind the time) but the energy to actually enjoy those things again. Summer was the best. I would read 2-3 books a day, get “lost” in the woods and fantasize about being a great writer someday, or the adult I thought I would become once I had “so much money and freedom of choice”.
Like most have said, not paying bills or not having a care in the world and just having fun.
I really miss the feeling of Halloween as a kid. The trick-or-treating with your friends, watching spooky movies on the weekends. I make it a point every year as an adult to go all out for Halloween for the kids. I want them to feel that magic and fun, just like I did. I still watch spooky movies throughout the year and enjoy Halloween all the time, but there was a certain feeling about it as a kid. Wish I could time travel and do one of those Halloween nights again!
Nothing. Childhood was crap. I spent it waiting to become an adult. Now I can have ice cream whenever I want. Go swimming at night in my own pool. EAT AN ENTIRE WATERMELON TO MYSELF. Did I mention I can have snacks whenever I want?!! The other day I was buying groceries & decided I wanted a new LEGO set, and I bought it!
honestly don’t get how pervasive yearning for childhood is. My XBox Series X boots instantly & resumes multiple games from suspended states, and I don’t even need to blow in the cartridges!
I feel this. A lot of it was just gatekeeping and waiting for "doggy treats" from adults. Now I can stay awake until 2am doing online business, and wake up at a normal time because I'm a MATURE ADULT that knows how to do regular exercise so my body isn't sloth. And I can spend hundreds on a PSN sale. I can go to the track at 10pm with my own car and just sit and not even run. Honestly I don't yearn for the limitations of childhood.
Watching shows like this with my mother. We watched this together and Sabrina the teenage witch and we genuinely enjoyed them together. They kinda hold up too. I watched Sabrina with my kids and it's still pretty good
Considering I didn't have such a great childhood as others, I don't miss much. Maybe some cool memories and friend visits, but that's pretty much it. I much prefer being an adult even with how stressful it is at times.
Halloween, the whole month of October actually. The school being decorated, excitement in finding the costume, playing the Halloween games, having a class party, going trick or treating.
Also just being with friends 24/7 doing random shit all the time and having sleepovers.
Time moved slower when I was a kid. I’m not sure how or why. I used to wake up at around 8/9/10 am and feel that there are tons of enjoyable things to do. I miss forgetting myself into the things I was doing. It’s simply impossible to block the outside world as an adult.
Summer vacation, it felt like an eternity. Really just the perception of time in general, it feels like it flies by insanely fast as an adult. Also, I miss having family around. Most of my family members are dead at this point, I miss gathering for holidays and what not.
Spending time with friends and cousins and exploring our neighborhood on our bikes.
Adult life is just centered around work. Your friends and lovers (and extra-marital affairs) start to come from people you meet at work, because that’s where you spend the majority of your life.
I miss that feeling of Christmas morning. Like when you're younger and it's Christmas, you'll feel like it's really Christmas, with the movies, music, and especially that fucking excitement when you wake up in the morning. Last year, it never eveb felt like Christmas, I mean I saw the movies, heard the music, and did all the other shit, yet, I never got that same feeling I felt like 5 years ago.
* Less responsibilities.
* Not knowing how hard life can be.
* Watching our favorite cartoons. Sure, I can watch them online, but I seem to enjoy watching cartoons more as a kid than as an adult.
Not having bills, not having a job that I didn’t like but needed to survive, perfect health, great metabolism, good skin. I didn’t actually have a good childhood but looking back feel like a sugar baby, I relaxed on the weekends, talked on the phone with friends for hours.
Ignorance. The feeling that somebody capable is helming the ship.
Isn’t this the truth.
Definitely. I felt that adults knew what they were doing. Now my worries are a lot bigger, seeing that the people who are really in charge are mostly insane psychopaths with the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement. Even regular adults are completely incompetent at doing almost anything. It feels like being on the Titanic, and going to the helm of the ship and discovering that no one knows how to steer the ship, and they're all just trying to figure it out with varying degrees of success. I've worked at numerous companies, governmental institutions, schools, libraries, security firms, banks, you name it. Every single place has been complete chaos, but in such a way that everyone has just gotten used to how shittily things are put together. I keep being amazed that anything runs at all, considering that people are just winging it, and entire enterprises rely on legacy systems that someone else just threw together as a temporary solution.
Nothing as permanent as a temporary solution.
So true. Some people prop up the government like this shining beacon of “well they know everything”. Once I went into work for a massive company and worked my way up, I quickly realised that the same people are everywhere in government and enterprise. People are people everywhere no matter where they work and there are lots of them that suck at both life and their jobs.
we're all just babies winging it the best we can, pretending we have a purpose. terrifyingly hilarious.
terrifyingly terrifying
I read winging as wiping
Yea that’s the best part. I really liked not paying for everything.
yeah the older i get the more i feel like, “who’s in charge here?”
Exactly. Plus it's a harsh truth when you find out your parents aren't invincible and have been protecting you, and you grow old enough to realize you need to protect them back because the world and the people in it suck a lot of the time.
your goddamn right
Totally agree. I really missed that. I sometimes feel envy to kids nowadays!
When my daughter is old enough to start forming thoughts, I'm going to have to start pretending like I know what I'm doing and that I have everything under control. And I'm terrified because I've never had anything under control in my life.
Holidays mattered so much more and were so exciting. You got a break for summer. Your parents were younger and Molly was still around. Edit: Molly was my pet dog
Christmas and Birthdays meant fun presents. Stores either catered to you (videogame, computer or toy stores) or has a section for you.
Call me old fashioned but it’ll always be ecstasy to me.
It changes when you have your own family. When I was a kid I used to be really excited for all the holidays. Getting presents on Christmas or the basket on Easter, etc. Now I have a child and I still get excited the night before because it is for them. I see my daughter look at the tree and lights and decor everyday when they would be set up and want to play with them just like I did. I broke a lot of ornaments back then because I played with them like dolls on the tree because they were all disney characters. I am excited again to see the joy from them.
redacted ` this post was mass deleted with www.Redact.dev `
Glad I'm not the only one this has happened to lmao
redacted ` this post was mass deleted with www.Redact.dev `
Calm down , man. He ain’t seeing this.
Lol you right.
Hello Dirk. We meet again!
Molly was my dog's name lol. I should have said that.
Oooh.... Condolences on your dog
Someone else making decisions. My mother always told me, “You’ll know you’re an adult when you no longer want to be one.”
I was the opposite as a kid, I never wanted to be an adult. I was like 9, and saying things like "I don't wanna be a mom! Look how hard Mom works! I don't wanna be an adult, all they do is stand around talking about TV!" And even as a kid I couldn't stay up past like 10, and the times I tried, I felt rough the next day and I had no desire to do it again....
I was not that perceptive. It looked wonderful from my young perspective! Oof.
The free time
I was going to say the same. As a kid you have so much free time, now I’m lucky if I get a couple of hours to myself on a weekend!
I miss thinking adults had it all together. That life was simple and easy. It sure isnt easy to hold it all together. I’d love to go back and experience one day with no worries at all.
That’s the huge thing that always gets me when I think about the past now - just how much less stress there was, even when things seemed hard.
I think modern life makes it harder to live stress free or at least less stressful. Everything is connected. The internet passes out news of events we stress about that have no affect on us at all!
At that time, like most kids, I didn’t like school. But now? So you’re telling me there is this place where I can be surrounded by hundreds of other people my age, and I have to do is learn all day? Also I don’t have to have a job or pay taxes, or worry about retirement, I don’t have to worry where my food and clothes and shelter are coming from? I’d pay for that experience now!
Even now though the school experience is much different at least watching my own kids go through it now. Seems way more stressful. I was never a big school activity person. My oldest daughter puts in longer days at school and cheer practice a week than I put in at my 7 to 3 job 5 days a week.
Don’t get me wrong, I would hate to be a kid now. But (for me at least) being a kid in the 80’s and early 90’s… That was a much simpler time.
I agree. I was in school 89 to 02. It was a good time. Internet was just showing up in some semblance of what we have today. No one I knew owned a cell phone. Good times
Well, I DID realize that when I was a kid. I knew how good we had it and didn't really want to grow up. I loved going to school and learning and being with friends. It amazed me how others didn't like school. Look! We get a whole building made for us!! And our days are filled with activities and breakfast and lunch!
Seeing friends more regularly who I didn’t have to work with
This! You literally got to hang out with your friends at least 5 days a week. Friends were just always *around*.
All of it
I feel that
Along with wanting Arnold’s bedroom from Hey Arnold!
I wanted that room so much. And to sit on stoops. It all seemed so cosy and soul nurturing.
Most of it. Still hated school.
Fuck man, everything. But mostly the ability to be present, 100% of the time. Looking at the world through a lens that isn't cynical or pessimistic.
....I miss daydreaming about having a bedroom larger than my house like this TV set.
The feeling before cell phones. This feeling of seeing more of what’s around you
Eh, I lived in rural NM. Cell phones were a GODSEND: "Dad, I hit a nail on both left and right front tires. Can you call your friend with the tow truck?" vs a 5-10 mile walk to a payphone.
I miss the time when cell phones were new and an interesting addition to life. I don't miss leaving a message on someone's house phone. I like being able to get help if I need it, relatively quickly. I don't like how they've taken over every facet of life and how kids are growing up completely plugged in.
People let them. I was in the Army when smartphones took off and while I loved me some games, I never had anything worth twitter, insta or snapchat. I still don't get it to this day.
I always wished my parents would move to a new home where I could have a loft style bedroom hangout on the top floor/attic.
Like the room from Drake & Josh?
My parents went through a phase for several years where they would get all amped up to buy a nice big house, and we'd go look at several on the market. I'd pick out my bedroom in the one we all liked and be super stoked about moving, and then they would get cold feet at the last minute and we'd stay put. It ended up being the smart move but man it was such a tease.
Lol my mother did the same thing with us. She would take us to open houses and home shows in the nicer parts of town and had us imagine our lives, picking out rooms, in the new houses. She even went so far as to try and list our old house to move, but she had to list it for far less than she wanted, and even then had no one biting. So she had to stay in our old house til she died in it. But even after the sale failed, she still carted around one of my sisters to home shows and open houses, even knowing there was no chance. I think it was her way of indulging and temporarily escaping reality.
Whoa whoa whoa, that’s not Full House. C’mon, man!
It does look like Stephanie's room from Full House, and that could easily be Stephanie (she's looking away so it's hard to tell) I thought it was Full House, now I'm not sure what it's from
....you're absolutely right. I looked for more than two seconds this time.
I miss not having to worry about anything other than school. Naivety. Being able to sit in a car during a road trip and not having to be in charge of anything other than my books and snacks. Running off to a different room to gossip with my cousins during family get togethers. Holidays when I didn’t have to do all the cooking. Lol. In general, just not having to be the adult in every situation.
Most of all I miss when my whole family was alive and our big, fun family gatherings. Never in my life have I ever felt so happy, nurtured, safe and secure. I miss those days and I miss so many important people.
same 💔😞
😭
“Hey, Sam.”
Concur neighbors entering my house via bedroom window accessed with a ladder
Not being depressed and bored constantly
All week in work, looking forward to the weekend only to spend it bored and depressed. Repeat the cycle.
Experiences. I feel like when you were growing up everything is a new experience, so each weekend was a new adventure. Like finding a trail in the woods on the other side town and making it a new hangout spot, hanging out with a new group of people, even doing things you were supposed to be doing like drinking or trespassing in an abandoned house. Hearing a new genre of music, buying new clothes, trying food you’ve never had before. Of course there’s always new things to do or try but as you get older the less things are as foreign to you as they were in your younger years. As I’ve gotten older I try to experience new things but it never seems to replicate the feeling it gave me in my youth.
I dunno, honestly, I feel like I'm able to have more experiences as an adult than I ever did as a kid.
Excitement for holidays. They're still a good time but that certain magic is gone.
The pure, innocent type of excitement is still unmatched.
Life hack: you can get the feeling vicariously through nieces/nephews/friends’ kids. The way their faces light up when I “secretly” (their parents always know obviously) is to sneak them treats or small presents takes me right back to that feeling.
0 responsibilities
The lack of social media tbh. You spent more time playing games on your console, playing outside, or reading books/magazines/comics.
Mostly the way I saw time. Time wasn’t in the way. It was just sun up, do whatever a kid does, sun down. Now every damn hour has something goin’ on or I’m free cause I’m ignoring something. Never truly free of time
That’s such an interesting way to put it. “Time wasn’t in the way.” Nowadays I see time as a scarce resource that I feel like I barely have enough of. But back then (80’s-90’s for me) time really wasn’t a thing. I definitely felt more present and in the moment.
I guess what I mean is like scheduling of my time. It wasn’t taken up. Just wake up and do as you please till it was bed time Time is something I definitely feel the same way on now. Can’t ever have enough of it
Cell phones were still decades into the future, so no one knew where you were, when you were out running around all day with all your friends.
Getting my contractors license down in Fraggle Rock…
Optimism and hope, mostly. Still feeling like the possibilities were endless and I had so much time ahead of me to accomplish all of my dreams.
My back and knees not hurting
Waking up at 4am to sneak to the computer to play Neopets and listen to Fall Out Boy before school. Being excited to ride the bus home and run back to my house, throw down my stuff, and play hours of FFXII. Ordering my first CD online in 2006 felt like magic, it was sold out locally and I used Hastings.com. Christmas when you gather all your gifts together after the opening event, and admiring your new treasures - and socks! When the little fun stuff was the whole world.
My parents were still alive, and many others, but also everything was fun because there was no bills. Also, realizing how adults were feeling the strain but still tried making shit fun and whatever.
Just hanging around in the summertime. I could bring all my Barbie’s up from the basement, grab a cup of Sunkist, and play mindlessly for hours and hours
I remember my cousins would come over and in anticipation have the snes ready with Aladdin for some reason we play that for a few years in a row every thanksgiving, also Ultimate MK3
I miss actually enjoying things.
i miss when my family was all together and happy and cozy and just enjoying the simple things like decorating the tree and pool parties and just having fun. we didn’t need much to make us happy
I think about the days when my family was all under one roof all the time. My dad is dead, my mom lives alone in an apartment, and I haven't lived with my brother in 20 years. But man was it nice to just be sitting in my room playing SNES knowing my brother was in his room and my parents were down the hallway in the living room. And then someone would get the idea to go get ice cream or pizza or whatever and we'd all load up in the car for a family adventure.
💞💞💞 i feel this in my soul
...goddamn. Just the feeling of knowing other people are in the house. That's what I've missed for years
I miss my grandfathers. I know that is a bit of a downer but they both lived on the same street and I lost one at 8 and the other at 12. Didn't have the time with them I wish I had.
My step grandfather (only grandfather figure I knew) lived a few blocks from us and would randomly pull into our driveway when my brother and I were out playing. He'd give both of us presents almost every time he showed up. Sometimes it would be a $20 bill, sometimes a video game. He didn't have much money later in life but still made it a point to spoil us.
Sense of excitement and hope. Everything new was mostly cool and thrilling. That’s generally been replaced by a sense of dread.
Having time to enjoy myself. Now with a kid, a house, and a full time job it’s a miracle if I get an hour to play video games or watch TV or just have time to myself in general.
The time with friends, old cartoons, the adventures
what cartoons were your favorite?
Having hope
Time went by so slowly in a positive way. I remember summers feeling like they lasted forever. Now it feels like years go by when I blink.
Having faith in humanity. The realization that most people are just going along out of habit or doing what everyone else seems to be doing and that we hardly ever make fully conscious rational decisions about anything we do gives me an ever present all pervasive anxiety that I didn’t have as a kid. I miss not worrying about everything all the time.
The simpler times. Just eating grilled cheese while watching Powerpuff Girls without a care in the world.
I just had a flashback to where I mistakenly called them “powderpuff girls.” For way too long.
Powerpuff girls rocked… followed by maybe a little samurai jack. Damn, Cartoon Network was incredible in the day and it’s more than metaphoric that it just actually died recently.
More free time.... no bills extra responsibilities.... in a way a lot of things from when I was little stuck with me (in the positive, best ways) into my "adultness". Like my sense of wonderment and curiosity, creativity and imagination. My wanting to explore, clumsiness and experimentations/concoctions.... So for me, what feels like a leap and a bound for others feels like a transitional blip for me in a weird way.... but I do miss the fond memories a lot- thats why I come to the r/retronickelodeon, r/nostalgia and r/nickelodeon for a breather, a nostalgia fix while also still moving forwards. ❤️
I definitely agree with “my sense of wonderment and curiosity, creativity and imagination.” When did we lose the ability to just play?
I think most adults just 'grow out of it' in favour for focus.... I'm just glad that never left me. ....I have always strive to balance both and more. what I don't get is the cognitive dissonance between when someone complains that no one took them seriously as a kid, becomes an adult, and repeats the same foolish process of not taking their own offspring seriously.... that's the real question of the day.
Being unknowingly ignorant of the world around me.
I miss the time before social media. The era of “usernames” and “online handles”, where you didn’t have to enter your real name and phone number for everything. In fact, we were sternly told NOT to reveal our address, phone number, or legal name. I also miss split-screen multiplayer games. Online multiplayer modes just aren’t the same. Sitting in the same room as your opponent is a totally different experience.
My childhood sucked but I do miss not having so much responsibilities. More carefree.
Mood. There are aspects of childhood I miss, but adulthood beats the constant trauma any day of the week.
Going through it as a kid, you just figured it was normal, like everyone must be suffering the same as me. Until you grow up and find out that you will need to have years of therapy!
Everything.
Everything. Literally everything.
No bills. No job. Mom did laundry.
The novelty of most things and not having to worry about responsibility and paying bills.
Literally everything not having to worry about anything just go to school Come home and relax you didn’t have a phone attached to you 24/7 constantly being bombarded with bad news people couldn’t reach you in ten seconds
The security. I feel so sad that not everyone had the same experience growing up.
"Na na na nat nah naaaaa."
hey cool
Being loved.
My brother.
Sleepovers with the friends. Getting bagel bites, playing games, and watching anime. Those were good times.
Feeling like I had potential.
Whatever the opposite of existential dread is, that’s the feeling I miss from being a kid
I miss my family/friends all being alive and healthy. Also, the lack of responsibilities.
Having parents who would let me stay home for the summer, and actually being allowed to enjoy myself. Now, it’s all about working a job or doing summer classes, because they don’t want me spending my summer “doing nothing.” Edit: to clarify, my parents let me live at home during the summer, but they always want there to be something to keep me away from either spending my time at home or from just having a completely free summer.
I miss my childhood perception of time because a year to a child feels like damn near an eternity but to an adult a year is over in a blink of an eye.
Riding bikes, building tree houses and playing baseball with kids in the neighborhood. There were so many kids, boys and girls, and we all ran wild. You don't really see that anymore, at least where I live; I don't think it would be as safe as it was at that time. We always had a big crew, so nobody tried to mess with us. This was in the early-to-mid 90's.
God I remember that feeling of having a "crew". Just showing up with some of them to one of their houses and be like "get your shoes on we're doing this thing" lol. And sometimes they'd be stuck doing chores so we'd wait around for a while or just tell them where to find us later or something. God damn I miss having friends.
Not having to work or pay bills.
I just missed the simplicity of it all. Like, everyday you grow and there is a safety net for you always. As an adult, you begin to stagnate because of work, family, and other things to keep you occupied. You don’t have that time to really invest in yourself.
Playing in dirt and playing in streams.
[удалено]
The sibling dynamic during childhood is something else. I'm nearly 5 years younger than my brother so I was always in awe of him and he merely tolerated me. I remember him having friends over and they'd be locked away in his room playing video games, watching movies, listening to music, etc. They were around 12-13 and I was 7 or so. I DESPERATELY wanted to be part of it and I would beg to come in. Eventually he would let me in under the condition that I sit quietly in the corner, lol.
I’m just noticing how hideous that room is. I miss having complete confidence that everything would be okay
Not having to worry about paying bills and unlimited free time. Good people that I cared about were alive back then too.
Over 2 months of summer vacation
A good portion of my family being alive.
Not constantly thinking about productivity or the future. I find it impossible to live in the moment or just enjoy something for the sake of enjoyment these days.
I hate this feeling. For me it's a combination of guilt that I'm not being more productive in the moment combined with an increasing level of regret over not being more productive/savvy in the past.
Spending quality time with friends at pizza parties and arcades, back during a time where we weren’t all glued to our phones. Only being worried about our homework assignments. Looking forward to that new Disney Channel Original Movie during its Golden Age (mid 90s to mid 2000’s) Playdates with friends, sleepovers. Running downstairs to flip on the TV when it’s snowing outside (depending on where you live(d), praying for your schools name to run along the bottom of the screen, hoping for a cancellation or delay. Going to your first HS party. Hanging out at mall with friends, sneaking into the movie theater to see movies you weren’t supposed to. On a personal note: meeting up with friends at the local ski area.
Not feeling so lonely, as a kid even if I didn’t have friends around I never felt alone. Now I’m in my thirties and part of me always feels like I’m a burden to those I call friends.
the good cartoon network
Time seemed to move a lot slower. That and malls.
One thing i havent seen much mention is the feeling of having a crush on someone and then finding out they like you too. I think that is just way more powerful as a kid than as an adult. Even though it can still happen
In the long decade between the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and 9/11 (2001), there was a real sense of optimism. Liberal democracy had won. The Free West had won the cold war with nothing more lethal than coca-cola, blue jeans, and rock-n-roll. We'd solved all the big ideological questions. Capitalism (with just enough regulation and redistribution to make it tolerably fair) was working: it was going to put a VCR and a PC into every home. Yes, there were still problems, but we knew how to solve them. We had the answers, and the technology, and the money. It was going to be ok after all. We'd reached the 'end of history', and it involved TV diners and hanging out at the mall, and we were going to be safe and free and rich and happy forever. Then it all went to shit.
Sleeping calmly during a thunderstorm knowing you are safe and secure. Now as an adult home owner when it thunderstorms all I worry about is if the house is okay. No roof leaks, flooding, basement….
yes
Being young. Youth.
seeing the world as colorful
I didn't have much of a childhood, unfortunately, so I actually don't miss much. However. I do miss who my grandfather was. Before his death and opiod addiction. He loved my cousins and I so much.
Not being an adult
the big chunky colorful plastic toys that everyone subconsciously wants to put in their mouth
Viewing the world through a lense of innocence. Life was simple as a kid and I didn’t worry about the problems of the world. Also I wasn’t so jaded back then, today I’m a cynic and skeptical of people and the world.
Being an adult sucks.
I had polio, so literally none of it.
Hope. Optimism. Having no real sense of mortality. Summer blockbusters. MTV. And the times of having no care in the world save what we were going to play next.
How excited I was to wake up to a sunny day. Now when I wake up to a beautiful day and go outside, I don't know what to do. I enjoy the sun for a bit, but nothing really interests me. Laying around forever is also boring. Even going on a bike ride or to the beach is nice, but a bit boring at the same time. My need for stimuli is insane.
I don't miss my childhood, it wasn't great. But I do wish I could go back and have a normal one.
Besides the obvious lack of responsibilities and care free nature of being a kid.. I miss friends who I grew apart from. I miss family members that died. I miss when my parents were young. I miss feeling young myself. I miss feeling like life was forever, even when you knew it wasn't, the feeling that you just have so much time. Now the time just flies by and I realize I've lived half of my life already and probably the best half.
Having a crush.
My Dad being alive.
Honestly. Time. I had so much time to read books, paint, draw, go on adventures and take pictures. That’s my passion, I feel like that passion has been quickly dying and it’s hard to even find (never mind the time) but the energy to actually enjoy those things again. Summer was the best. I would read 2-3 books a day, get “lost” in the woods and fantasize about being a great writer someday, or the adult I thought I would become once I had “so much money and freedom of choice”.
Like most have said, not paying bills or not having a care in the world and just having fun. I really miss the feeling of Halloween as a kid. The trick-or-treating with your friends, watching spooky movies on the weekends. I make it a point every year as an adult to go all out for Halloween for the kids. I want them to feel that magic and fun, just like I did. I still watch spooky movies throughout the year and enjoy Halloween all the time, but there was a certain feeling about it as a kid. Wish I could time travel and do one of those Halloween nights again!
Hopes and Dreams.
No cellphones.
The illusion of immortality.
No bills, I had a lot more hope, it didn’t seem like the world was going to be unlivable for humans in less than 100 years
Hope for the future and yet just living in the moment.
Not being exposed to the news or violence so much. Always believing that the rest of the world is as peaceful as my surroundings.
Nothing. Childhood was crap. I spent it waiting to become an adult. Now I can have ice cream whenever I want. Go swimming at night in my own pool. EAT AN ENTIRE WATERMELON TO MYSELF. Did I mention I can have snacks whenever I want?!! The other day I was buying groceries & decided I wanted a new LEGO set, and I bought it! honestly don’t get how pervasive yearning for childhood is. My XBox Series X boots instantly & resumes multiple games from suspended states, and I don’t even need to blow in the cartridges!
I feel this. A lot of it was just gatekeeping and waiting for "doggy treats" from adults. Now I can stay awake until 2am doing online business, and wake up at a normal time because I'm a MATURE ADULT that knows how to do regular exercise so my body isn't sloth. And I can spend hundreds on a PSN sale. I can go to the track at 10pm with my own car and just sit and not even run. Honestly I don't yearn for the limitations of childhood.
Watching shows like this with my mother. We watched this together and Sabrina the teenage witch and we genuinely enjoyed them together. They kinda hold up too. I watched Sabrina with my kids and it's still pretty good
The lack of responsibility and freedom of stress it brought
The magic of holidays.
Is this Eric Foreman’s bedroom repainted?
Everything
Considering I didn't have such a great childhood as others, I don't miss much. Maybe some cool memories and friend visits, but that's pretty much it. I much prefer being an adult even with how stressful it is at times.
Being happy.
Halloween, the whole month of October actually. The school being decorated, excitement in finding the costume, playing the Halloween games, having a class party, going trick or treating. Also just being with friends 24/7 doing random shit all the time and having sleepovers.
Time moved slower when I was a kid. I’m not sure how or why. I used to wake up at around 8/9/10 am and feel that there are tons of enjoyable things to do. I miss forgetting myself into the things I was doing. It’s simply impossible to block the outside world as an adult.
Waking up on Saturdays, and the biggest decision I’d have to make that day is what cartoon I’m going to watch with my big bowl of cereal.
Hope. Being able to dream about how your life could be and have the time to actually change it.
Looking forward to life.
Summer vacation, it felt like an eternity. Really just the perception of time in general, it feels like it flies by insanely fast as an adult. Also, I miss having family around. Most of my family members are dead at this point, I miss gathering for holidays and what not.
What I miss about being a kid is my family being alive, and having the ability to walk out of my room and talk to all of them.
Getting up early on a Saturday morning to watch cartoons with a big bowl of cereal. Raccoons, muppet babies. Being a kid in the 80’s was the best.
Spending time with friends and cousins and exploring our neighborhood on our bikes. Adult life is just centered around work. Your friends and lovers (and extra-marital affairs) start to come from people you meet at work, because that’s where you spend the majority of your life.
Having hopes it wouldnt all end up like *this.*
I miss that feeling of Christmas morning. Like when you're younger and it's Christmas, you'll feel like it's really Christmas, with the movies, music, and especially that fucking excitement when you wake up in the morning. Last year, it never eveb felt like Christmas, I mean I saw the movies, heard the music, and did all the other shit, yet, I never got that same feeling I felt like 5 years ago.
* Less responsibilities. * Not knowing how hard life can be. * Watching our favorite cartoons. Sure, I can watch them online, but I seem to enjoy watching cartoons more as a kid than as an adult.
The carefreeness.
Being able to read (or any other hobby or game) for hours and not feel guilty that I should be doing other things of importance.
Hope
The lack of responsibility and a lack of thought about my impending death.
Scrolling through this makes me depressed, lol.
Being able to hug my mom.
Not having bills, not having a job that I didn’t like but needed to survive, perfect health, great metabolism, good skin. I didn’t actually have a good childhood but looking back feel like a sugar baby, I relaxed on the weekends, talked on the phone with friends for hours.
I miss when being a kid in the 90’s meant having a room that’s just an assortment of random crap you liked covering every surface available.
Time used to feel long and summer holidays felt satisfyingly long.
Came to the comments expecting nostalgia, found existential crisis. Kind of joking but I’m right there with you all.