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35 Random Things People Did As Kids And Realized Only Years Later Were Actually Not OK
Interview With Expert
Whenever my wife gets upset about one of our children's latest pranks, I ask her practically the same question: "Listen, think back to when you were a kid! Didn't you or I do exactly the same thing, or even more recklessly?"
Looking back, I'm actually amazed my peers and I even made it to adulthood. We'd do parkour on garage roofs, eat ants and other nasty things on dares, hang off passing cars with skateboards... basically, me-dad would've gone insane over me-son's antics. Incidentally, as it turns out, many other adults also reminisce about their own strange childhood behavior.
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#1
I thought my stuffed animals had feelings and would get jealous if I didn’t sleep with them so I slept with all 30+ in my bed to keep them all happy
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#2
I used to collect rocks and when my mom told me to throw them i away i would just hide them because i tought that if i threw the rocks back outside they would get cold when winter would come and i tought they would be sad because first i would take then with me and give them a warm place to be and then i would just throw them away and i just tought what if i was the rock? How would i feel?
UnclePanda 3 weeks ago
I occasionally pluck a rock out of the water and throw it back further out. "Today is not your day."
#3
If any game was loading lately I had to act like I don't care so that it will load faster lol? 😭
Serena Myers 3 weeks ago
Of course! Just wander off casually and pretend to be doing something else!
It all actually started with a video on Ryan Michaels' Instagram page, where the influencer encouraged commenters to share their strange behavior and habits from childhood, when people only realized later in life just how strange their actions and failures were.
The video now has over 65K likes and hundreds of sincere revelations from various people, and we, the Bored Panda, are bringing you a selection of the most popular and interesting stories and comments from the resulting thread. So, settle in, it's about to get interesting!
#4
I collected leaves for some reason…and it was only certain ones too. Other kids had Pokémon cards, Hot wheels and stuff while I had leaves…😅😅
Child of the Stars 3 weeks ago
I'd be willing to bet that a lot of scientists started their appreciation of their chosen field with a similar collection.
#5
I used to press on my bruises to see how long I could take the pain without flinching, (I still kinda do it)
#6
I used to think I'm the only real person in this entire world and Everything else was a simulation
Let's start with the fact that kids have almost always done strange things - from prehistoric times to the present day. Well, perhaps today's children do fewer of these strange things and have fewer of these habits - but that's only because a significant portion of their lives is spent online. However, in a couple of decades, they'll have plenty to remember, too, I'm almost certain.
#7
I literally used to be scared to share pillows because I thought my dreams could be trapped in it and it’d move into someone else’s head if they laid on my pillow.
Child of the Stars 3 weeks ago
I've had a few dreams that I struggled to understand that I absolutely wish I could've literally shared with another person to help.
#8
lowkey thought I coulda been a warewolf, I regret all of those life decisions.
#9
I used to think when I used to be out my dolls were having a dance party in my house 😭😭💀
Well, it's not just, or even primarily, a matter of hypothetical parental irresponsibility - it's simply how children learn about the world. By doing something strange, gaining their own experience, learning from their own mistakes, or from those of their friends. This has been the way we are since time immemorial; it's just the way we are now.
"Of course, the price of such habits and mistakes used to be much higher before," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. "It's enough to read any book about children, for instance, from the 19th century, to realize that children have always been incredibly curious -it's just that the risks have been significantly reduced today."
#10
I used to wish for pain. I’d try to get hurt or break my bones in the hopes that someone would care about me like I saw them care for the others with broken bones. I never did end up breaking a bone. It never worked, but I’d try and try and try.
#11
I did geometry for fun😭
Michael Largey 3 weeks ago
Geometry puzzles are great recreation, employing logic and spatial perception skills.
#12
I could hide gum in my throat without swallowing it then I could cough it back out at will
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 3 weeks ago
I did a similar trick with a penny, but I ended up swallowing it. When I got the xray the penny was right behind my belly button.
According to the expert, this is a natural process of learning, where experience gained through one's own "experiments" is valued above all else. Even more so than experience gained from the mistakes of others, since children often tend to believe that nothing terrible will happen to them.
"That's why adults sometimes find themselves completely stunned when children, faced with a negative example from one of their peers, repeat their mistake over and over," Irina says.
"But this is simply that very childish notion of one's own invulnerability - when it seems that a friend's failure wasn't because it was actually impossible to do, but simply because they were unlucky or just clumsy. In many ways, this is where that elusive charm of childhood comes," Irina Matveeva concludes.
#13
Peeling the skin off of my lips until they bled due to boredom.
#14
I would always imagine my loved ones dying and start crying as a kid
Blackmoon The Dragon 3 weeks ago
This happens to everyone once in a while... and the sign that you're crying means you're empathic to other people. This is a good thing! The only thing that would make this terrible is if you're constantly doing it and wallowing in the sadness.
#15
I used to think I am the main character in this world 💀
Michael Largey 3 weeks ago
If I am the main character, the dressing room life has assigned me certainly doesn't reflect it.
In fact, so much in our lives is the product of a "social contract" between adults, and children, who are often simply unaware of all these "boring conventions," repeatedly do things that just horrify them or make them blush years and years later.
In any case, our childhood is our memory, and it’s, in one way or another, an integral part of us. Even our shameful actions, failures, and risky habits. They are what made our childhood this interesting. I do believe you have something similar under your belt as well - so please feel free to share it in the comments after reading this list.
#16
Halfway swallow noodles then pull them out of my throat😔😔
#17
Eating paper 🙂
Zero Costa 3 weeks ago
my older brother used to eat the edges of books! drove me mad when I was trying to read them and some of the letters were ripped off
#18
I used to undress my dolls to see their melons and peach😭
Lily bloom 3 weeks ago
Wow, BP. Censor words like breasts, a*s, and m**********n, but posts/comments literally about the same are A-OK
#19
I was peer pressure into eating ants on the side of the road, but they tasted good. They have this weird lemon taste to them because of some acid or something in them. You can look it up probably
Blackmoon The Dragon 3 weeks ago
Bugs are actually eaten in most of the world... they're good for you :D just probably don't eat them live (although that's also fine and mostly wont k**l you, unless you eat a venemous/poisonous insect)
#20
i would cry if the stitch of the sock was not lined up with my toes 😭 or if the sock was put on wrong and it was under instead of over
#22
Pulling out my teeth before they were ready (as a kid I wanted to. So I pulled our my front teeth bottom teeth)
Saltypepper 3 weeks ago
I did it too ,I loved pulling it back and forth when it was just starting to get loose as hard as I could,I loved they way it felt.
#23
i ate glue
#25
Ate leaves idk they taste good 🤷♂️
#26
Talking to the wind and thinking it was telling me to form a group to take over the world then forming a group worshiping this voice 💀 Our main focus was to stop climate change and war then everyone left coz they thought it was a game.
Michael Largey 3 weeks ago
Wanting to annex the world and worshipping someone's voice. Hard to imagine it in real life.
#27
whenever i got a headache or any other kind of pain i just hit myself harder in the place where it hurts, idk why, maybe it was some weird way of saying ‘it could be worse’??
#28
I would always imagine myself dying and how my parents would cry and feel empty without me
Blackmoon The Dragon 3 weeks ago
Said this in an earlier comment, yes, its sad, but happens every once in a while (at least in my case). As long as you're not wallowing in it then you're fine. You need to think about the sad things in life every once in a while.
#31
I use to catch frog and put them in my mouth 👄
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What do you think ?
David Paterson 3 weeks ago
Eating things, collecting things, and love of geometry are just a normal part of childhood.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 weeks ago
Literally everything I did and thought was normal before getting my ADHD diagnosis (and now I'm trying to get tested for autism following my psychiatrist's advices so it makes me review my life differently too)
David Paterson 3 weeks ago
Eating things, collecting things, and love of geometry are just a normal part of childhood.
Ellinor she/they/elle 3 weeks ago
Literally everything I did and thought was normal before getting my ADHD diagnosis (and now I'm trying to get tested for autism following my psychiatrist's advices so it makes me review my life differently too)
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