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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.

#1

Things-Everyone-Experienced-In-Childhood

emersonic420 Report

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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Things-Everyone-Experienced-In-Childhood

FahadKhreji , rudyright Report

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What does a Foxxy say?
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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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#10

Things-Everyone-Experienced-In-Childhood

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

Unless you live in a country where Mac and Cheese aren't a thing.

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

That is not Mac & Cheese. That's Kraft and there's a monumental difference.

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

What on earth is that, how is it that colour, and why are you feeding it to a child?

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

I don't know why you have been downvoted eighter, Mac and cheese is not a thing where I come from - luckily

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

My daughter liked to put pitted olives on her fingers & eat them off.

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Snorkeldorf
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to do that too when I was a kid! Did you ever go to a restaurant where they have real calamari? Little squids that are simply deep-fried little squids? You can put them on your fingers and do a puppet show before you eat them. Of course, as an adult, I received disapproving looks. Oh well.

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

I'm 44 and have never ever eaten 'mac and cheese'. And I don't understand these tubes either. All macaroni here is elbow shaped.

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

i haven't but i did try eating all of it at one with stabbing the mac and cheese with the fork

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

I'm 50 & I still do this at least once a mac & cheese meal.

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

I used to do this with Spaghettios...filled each tine with teeny circles of goodness!

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

I kind of did it but we don't have cheese with it. Not like that. This seems not very "attractive"

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

I still do it! I also eat penna and rigatoni that way...every time!

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

I didn't know you could get this in a can. Macaroni (out of a box or packet), with grated fresh cheese (not processed yellow plastic), grilled under the oven and add some diced bacon- delicious.

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

Yup...I used to do that occasionally...if I wasnt starving...lol

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Race Blakhart
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It always seemed to just happen to me. I never had to actively line them up.

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

I did that. Even when I started eating mac n cheese made with Penne pasta (big tubes), I put two tines (the 4 skinny things that make a fork a fork) through one noodle and the other two through another. It was oddly satisfying.

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

It is Kraft Dinner or KD, in Canada. Never ever do we call it macaroni & cheese never.

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

No, can't say that I've ever done that, but an interesting idea though...

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

I used to see how many spaghetti hoops I could get on all four prongs of the fork without the ones on there already falling off.

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

Nope, never. I always think of mac & cheese as a McDonald's cheeseburger. Why is it so difficult for people to say macaroni cheese now?

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#19

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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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#20

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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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#23

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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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#26

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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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#28

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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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#32

Things-Everyone-Experienced-In-Childhood

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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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#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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#40

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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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#41

Things-Everyone-Experienced-In-Childhood

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Note: this post originally had 66 images. It’s been shortened to the top 41 images based on user votes.