Hey Pandas, What Are The Top 3 Things That You Miss From Childhood? (Closed)

Obviously my childhood was a few decades back.
1. No cell phones. (You could feel free and disconnected while out doing things instead of having what is basically a digital dog leash).
2. No internet and social media. (People saw each other in person and did things together).
3. No 24/7 stream of fake news. (Just tell us what happened, and we will decide for ourselves what the implications of it might be).

1. No anxiety
2. Juice boxes at birthday parties
3. Looking at cool random stuff like birds and rocks without being judged

Innocence
Summers playing outside
Less violence in the movies/programs we watched

1) Building Forts out of every and anything and using flashlights as our own internal lighting fixtures!
2) Capturing us with a camcorder, Re-Creating musicals by laying off the edge of the couch upside down and covering our eyes with blankets to make our chins look like faces :)
3) FLOOR IS LAVA! Although it's making a comeback, we would rearrange our furniture into our own type of American Ninja Warrior course to ensure we would never touch the lava infested floor!

1. Being able to talk only about dinosaur facts
2. Adventure playgrounds
3. Being able to run around screaming whenever you want

Dad. He was my hero.
Horses.
Living in the country.

1. Getting to read whatever I wanted pretty much whenever I wanted. That kind of disappeared in 8th-9th grade, when things started getting harder, and they kept giving me busy work to do. I used to be able to spend hours a day reading, and I was several reading levels ahead. Now I'm still rereading books from the 7th grade and scrolling youtube for fun. I miss when I got to read all the time. It was such a healthy escape from the real world.
2. I miss not having to worry about the way I look. When I was little I thought I was the prettiest thing ever. Now that there's so much hate and negativity in the world, and filtered life is so natural to some people, I can't help but see myself as average, and even ugly.
3. There's this Peanuts comic where they're talking about how one day you're never going to just fall asleep in the back of your parents' car again. It really hit me hard when I read it. I miss being able to do that without worrying about everything. It really sucks growing up.

1. My siblings. There were 8 of us. Now we're scattered all over the globe and have our own families. Getting everyone in one place is like planning a world peace summit.
2. Indestructible cars. Those station wagons and sedans in the 80s were freaking heavy tanks on wheels. I felt safe and small. Nowadays all cars are too light and much too fragile.
3. Low prices. 99 cents for a gallon of gas was a beautiful thing. It felt like living within a budget was actually doable. Now, the mortgage and water bill alone take out your entire paycheck before you even think about eating or filling up your gas tank. Disposable income? What the hell is that? Living from paycheck to paycheck over here, as are most people I know. "Make America great again", my a**!

1) being able to not being aware of the real live going on (wars, environment problems)
2) christmas spirit (Das Christkind, Der Nikolaus, Geheimniskrämerei.... )
3) being self-confident as in: without any doubt: I can do anything!

1) stability at home (no financial pressure)
2) time to be free and explore my city
3) solid friendships

Relaxing, no pressure, little responsibility, and being able to make anything a game. Now it feels like everything is a chore.

1) Hearing the icecream truck 4 blocks down (not as much traffic then) and having time to grab 2 quarters before they got to your street where they actually stopped and kids you didn't know existed came out of the woodwork and that's how you made friends.
2) Being able to play outside anywhere in or out of the city and not have to worry about getting abducted or hit by a car.
3) The creativity of the young mind. Could entertain myself for hours within my own thoughts. Now if I don't see a phone or tv within several hours it feels weird....

1. The illusion from innocence that life is much, much simpler than it really is.
2. My once seemingly boundless imagination, and the free time to spend exploring it.
3. Optimism.

1) My Grandparents
I called them Grandma and Pap. I loved them both and I would tell them all the time. Sadly, my Pap's mom wouldn't let him say I love you because it wasn't manly. I never got to hear my Pap say, "I love you," but you could see it in his eyes. They lit up when they heard those words. My grandma would tell me it all the time. I would give anything to see them again one last time. They both passed a few years ago. I miss them more than words can express.
2) Going places like Walmart and thinking it was fun.
No joke I thought grocery shopping and stuff was fun. Now that I'm older, I realize it's just a pain. But at least I get out of my house for a bit.
3) My parents having freetime.
They both work all the time. I'm left with my siblings to babysit. I don't have much of a life outside of that sadly.

1. My child body
2. Telling stories to my rabbits
3. Halloween as a child

1. The smell. You know the one. It penetrates your memory but you only know what it smelled like when you catch a ghost of it on the wind. It’s like a name without a face; a rhyme without a reason. I don’t remember where it came from. I wish I could smell it forever but I think it might make me feel sick.

2. The excitement that I felt over everything. My heart fluttered and my eyes sparkled and fireworks went off in my body. Everything was whimsical and golden. Magic. That childlike sense of wonderment is foreign to me now. I don’t remember the last time I felt it.

3. Make-believe. I have not played make-believe in years. I just don’t really enjoy it anymore. So I guess the correct thing to say would be: I miss enjoying playing. I miss sitting down with my toys for hours and being perfectly happy. I miss those ongoing games of dolls that sometimes lasted years. I still remember them. I play them again if you asked me to. But it wouldn’t be fun anymore, and that hurts me.

1. Not having responsibilities
2. Having friends
3. Not having (nearly as much) anxiety

1) Tamagotchi pets, from early 2000s. They're still being made, but it isn't the same. I have no idea where mine went...
2) Nintendo Gamecube. It's one of my favorite Nintendo consoles. I would play on it at night for hours.
3) Beanie babies, I had so many I couldn't count them all..

As The Beatles would say, “Yesterday - all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay.”

- The fact that I wouldn't feel self-conscious. I wouldn't have to worry about what I wore. In preschool, I would wear a tutu with stripped leggings and a rainbow polka shirt and no one would care.
- I liked fruit and milk. I don't necessarily miss that but my body needs the vitamins and I don't eat them because I don't like them. I often have to be reminded or told to drink milk and have fruit.
- There weren't so many high expectations and I don't have to worry about my future too much. Now I have to think about SAT, college applications, what I actually want to do with my life, and more.