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Ready to blush? Just kidding—nobody enjoys making their cheeks burn out of involuntary embarrassment in awkward situations. But this time, we are taking you on an emotional rollercoaster where it may be the only option.

It’s called blast from the past. Remember your 8-year-old self drinking coke in a wine glass, thinking you were as tipsy as auntie Becky at a family reunion barbecue, ready to pass out on the floor and beg for salvation? What about the time you cried for 10 days straight after finding out that gum you swallowed would stay in your stomach forever? What if I told you that you're not the only one? In fact, that little kid with ginger frock from school, your cousin from Wyoming, and I was all secretly doing the same weird things. So, let’s go down this cringe-inducing memory lane were things we all did as kids are laid out on the table.

Pandas, is anyone having a déjà vu moment? Then share your experiences and childhood memories in the comments. Also, scroll down below to see what Krystine Batcho, a professor of nostalgia at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, told Bored Panda about the influence that childhood experiences have on the course of our lives.

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Things-Everyone-Experienced-In-Childhood

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Prof. Krystine Batcho, a licensed psychologist and scholar in nostalgia, has developed a universal tool to measure our emotions towards the past using The Nostalgia Inventory Test. It measures how deeply and often people feel nostalgic.

Bored Panda asked the professor about the role our childhood memories play in our lives. “Childhood memories can influence adult lives in a number of ways. They can contribute to our overall sense of happiness in life.” Social experiences we had when little turn out to be crucial. “Positive childhood social events, such as family get-togethers during the holidays or parties to celebrate birthdays or achievements, help establish good self-esteem and healthy social skills in adulthood.”

Prof. Batcho’s life-long research has suggested that “positive childhood memories are associated with more adaptive coping skills in adulthood.” For example, people with happier memories of childhood were less likely to turn to counterproductive ways of dealing with stressful situations, such as substance abuse or escapist behavior. Healthy coping is not something we’re born with, but rather “is learned during childhood by role modeling trusted adults, and memories of how respected adults coped with adversity,” said the professor.

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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to draw on my erasers and then stamp them on my skin whilst the pen ink was still wet.

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Most of us deeply cherish powerful childhood memories and carry them throughout our lives. Batcho explained that this phenomenon is called a “'rosy retrospection,' that is, a tendency to remember the past as better than it really was.” But there might be an evolutionary reason for it, because “a favorable focus on the past helps most people remain healthy and happy despite the practical and emotional challenges of adult life.”

On the other hand, one's current mood has a tremendous influence on memory retrieval. “When we are sad or depressed, we are more likely to remember negative events in our past and remember past experiences less favorably.” That’s why if you’re in a bad mood, it’s better to leave those blasts from the past for another time in order not to distort them.

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Starbelly Eleven
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do this at my parents' house and I snarl and hiss because my dad's office is right at the top and I know he's sitting there witnessing it. I'm 46.

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MagicalUnicorn
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i always dreamed of having this one as kid, but mom said it was too expensive...

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Bookey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hated this!! And they'd ask "do you remember me"? How the flipping heck would I remember you?

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Hendra Lim
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i still feel so proud when i hide in the bathroom while the lights out, my cousins searching for me, even get in the bathroom but didn't find me at all because of the darkness and me silently dodging their hands movement, because i got adapted to the darkness)

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LOttawa
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still do that when I go shopping with my teen. It's fun to innocently embarrass her.

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Danish Dynomummy
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So true. And the same snacks you had at home tasted 1000 times better at their place!

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slackjack
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I'm watching that." "But your eyes are closed." "I'm watching that!!" "But you're snoring." "I'M WATCHING THAT!!!!!"

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Nicky OldfieldDesciple
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh My God. That is so true. My dad could be sleeping and snoring like a pig with sinus problems but if you as much as hovered your hand over the remote he'd just suddenly wake up and yell LEAVE IT!!

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Petra Schaap
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this is my boyfriend "watching" snooker or a race, falling asleep and leaving me with a program i dont wanna see and then I try to chance the channel "I WAS WATCHING THIS!!!" sure hon.... <3

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deanna woods
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My dad: I was watching that. Young Me: You were asleep. My dad: I wasn't asleep, I was resting my eyes.

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Rinpai
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh god lol the "resting their eyes" bullsh*t lmao. Then you point out "you were snoring so loud it sounded like a jackhammer with sleep apnea." and they just double down in full denial mode lol.

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Sterling Wible
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My dad does that watching live pd I change it he wakes up I’m doomed

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Arieana Mays
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one right here but it be with my granny she be sleeping I turn the channel she wake up and tell me to give her back the remote and fall back to sleep she don’t even be looking at the tv

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Jayden Arias
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

lol if your dad is Mexican he gonna smack you and say STOP IM WATCHING SOCCER

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Todd Hollfelder
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My Dad knew better than to try this. When we were sure he was sleeping, we always turned the Atari on.

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Anna roberts
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My youngest older brother (6 yrs older than me) reading the newspaper, holding it up in front of his face, I change channel, he yells, mom yells from kitchen to change it back, I tell mom no way he'[s not watching it, mom comes in and smacks me across the face, I smack her back, dad jumps up to come after me , middle brother (12 yrs older) jumps in between me and dad and tells me to get out of house, I run like ... Came back around 3 hrs later, apologized to mom, told her she could beat me all she wanted but don't ever smack me in the face again. I think my brother probably saved my life that day....

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#39

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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is such an old wives tale, so many people still believe this as adults. For those of you that do, it isn’t true.

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Ilona
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I did that once.. they cared. I ended up being so embarrassed about pretending to have drowned that I actually pretended to have drowned

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