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People Share The Most Trivial Things They Miss From Their Childhood

Adults Confess Which Beloved Things From Childhood They'd Love To Get As A Gift Today

Adults Confess Which Beloved Things From Childhood They'd Love To Get As A Gift Today
Edgar Soto on Unsplash

As kids many of us made wishlists of the toys or games we wanted for major holidays or birthdays.

As adults we still make wishlists sometimes, but there's a societal expectation we'll only list practical or mature or responsible things.

But what if we still want that Lego Millennium Falcon or Barbie's Dream House?

Redditor devious_egg asked:

"Adults, what is something you'd love receiving as a gift but no one even considers giving you because you're an adult?"

Dinosaurs

"I'd like some of them pills that turn into dino-sponges when you put them in water."

- mpapillon12333

"Also the mini dinos you put in water and they would grow 100x their size over night."

- goblingirl

"How about the oatmeal with the eggs that hatch into little jelly dinosaurs?"

"I got some for 'my kids' a couple years ago and I—I mean they—enjoyed them very much."

- Fallwalking

Giphy

The Thrill of the Hunt

"So I'm 34 now and no longer with this girl but for my 32nd birthday my girlfriend at the time did a scavenger hunt around the house with little gifts for each step and a weekend away as the final gift."

"Definitely one of my cooler birthdays as an adult."

- Teejaymac

"I'm doing this for my anniversary coming up!! I'm having so much fun making the clues and the gift is one of those Steven Singer gold dipped roses, which I only just found out my wife always wanted."

- abrokenelevator


"My husband did this for my 30th, but went all out. Security at work gave me a card when I left the office."

"It had a short poem that led me to the day spa we went to before our wedding and I got a massage. After the massage they gave me another card and a small gift."

"I went to a couple of other places where I picked up various small gifts from him. After that, I ended up at a restaurant where my husband and friends were having a couple of drinks and waiting for me."

"We hung out for a bit, then headed off to a second restaurant where we had reservations. I got gifts at each of these places too. (The gifts were all like $10 things, he wasn't going all out spending too much.)"

"To top the night off, we headed to a third location to drink too much. Finally, tipsy me was carted home where I got a final card that directed me to a pair of diamond earrings."

"People, when I say this birthday was epic... I mean, it was crazy amazing. It was beyond thoughtful and so romantic in the way he did it."

- terminator_chic

Arts & Crafts

"12 pack of Play-doh, the ultimate 150 crayola crayon set—the one with the sharpener and some drawing paper. I turn into an eight year old!"

- Forsaken_Republic_98

"Totally just ordered the gigantic Crayola box (I wanna say it was atleast 164 colors) and when my husband asked why I said it's for our daughter....who is 19 months, and just discovered crayons and coloring books a couple weeks ago ....he laughed when I confessed they were for me because I am SO EXCITED that she is starting to color and I cannot cannot cannot wait until we can sit and color next week when they get here 🤣"

- Legitimate-Ad1784

"I'm 37 and in grad school and my mom still gets me a big box of crayons every year at the start of classes. I love it."

- wildlybriefeagle

Giphy

"My mother gave me a coloring book and fresh crayons every Christmas until one year when I was about 13 she didn't. I mentioned that I was disappointed, though I laughed it off, but she noted it and the next year there they were."

"She continued doing this until she died, when I was 30. I would still like a new coloring book and fresh crayons every Christmas."

"In fact, if I mention this to my son or daughter I know one of them (especially my daughter) will remember it and do it (I'm 49 now and the past two years my kids have had jobs and bought me stuff and I'm always just blown away by their generosity."

"It's the first time in my life since mom died that anyone buys me anything, which has been fine. But not gonna lie, it warms my heart so so much. They give such thoughtful gifts.)"

"But yeah, I love the smell of a fresh box of Crayolas. Such nostalgia."

- NibblesMcGiblet

Reading is Fundamental

"A few Nancy Drew books. My parents didn’t have money for books. The small Catholic school library offered books on saints, US presidents and their wives. The public library wasn’t in walking distance."

"I lied when Susan Sample, a classmate, accused me of befriending her for the “sleuth’s” books."

"55 years later, I’ll fess up; yes, I preferred my time with Nancy more than you."

- gladysk

"This is why I support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. You sign up and get two free kid’s books a month for your kid to enjoy. It rules."

- PM_ME_KITTEN_TOESIES

"Check out the Nancy Drew PC games on Steam! They're adventure point and clicks with tons of mini games, and the originals only take 4-6 hours and are $3-6 USD. They also inevitably go on sale every major Steam sale."

- IggySorcha

"I’ve downloaded Nancy Drew eaudio books from the library. I was stunned to learn that Laura Linney narrates."

- gladysk

Lego is for Everyone

"At 18 my parents would laugh if I asked for Legos—they never bought them for me unless I asked and stopped buying them for me when I was nine because I was 'too old'."

"When I play with my siblings' Legos I get brutally mocked but I honestly think that Legos are ageless and super great not just as a toy but as a hobby in general."

- Future-Parsnip4597

"The box does say up to age 99. Your parents just don’t get it."

- A_70s_Virgo

"It kind of sucks that you're not allowed to play with them once you turn 100 though."

- No-Garlic-1739

Giphy

"I got a call from a friend, she said it's a birthday and we should all come over. I got the date/time and event correct, but not whose birthday it was, although I was confident it was for a kid. Why else would she say, bring the whole family?"

"We show up and I'm frankly concerned by by all the craft beer with bows and balloons on it. I set our gift bag down and we join the party. Shortly after, her husband shouts with joy and wants to know who got him the big Lego set."

"Well, that was me, and, uh.... You're welcome."

"So, my answer is Legos. Adults want Legos."

- CanYouBeHelped

Hide!

"Not a gift, but would someone play hide n seek with me please?"

- tbama11

"Let’s do it in Ikea!"

- Low_Loss9934

"I’m in! Pick me, pick me!"

- TwoIdleHands

"Honestly, I wonder if you could book an Ikea for a specialty sleepover—like, food court opened for dinner then ice cream, hide and seek, scavenger hunt? Serious missed opportunity on their marketing department if not."

- Crackinggood

"This has happened before! An IKEA in Denmark got snowed in and 20-30 people had to stay the night. They got to watch movies and eat cinnamon buns and slept in the showroom beds."

"If this happened to me, I’d make a fort with a big pile of stuffed animals in the kid’s section."

- PM_ME_KITTEN_TOESIES

Mini Worlds

"An original Polly Pocket! They were so well made and I just love how perfectly miniature everything was."

- cnfmom

"For Christmas one year, my brother and I got the "boy" version of Polly Pocket: Mighty Max Skull Mountain, it was awesome! My sister got a bunch of Polly Pocket and Littlest Pet Shop toys that I probably played with just as much as Mighty Max."

- tavok_

Giphy

Glow-Up

"Legit anything that glows in the dark. I think it’s so fun but since I’m grown I get basic non-glowy stuff."

- I-like-bagels15

"Growing up my brother had glow in the dark stars and moons stuck to the ceiling of his room. I was always jealous of them and I think it would be the coolest thing to have my own little galaxy in my room now."

- acecayde

"I'm 39 and have my walls covered in glow in the dark stars. They make me happy and I don't care what anyone else thinks."

- moonbunnychan

"I have a canopy bed because I always wanted one as a kid, but it's a really modern looking steel tube one that looks pretty chic. I have a mesh canopy over the top with plastic glow stars scattered on it. They tend to gather in the middle after a few weeks so I smack the mesh to scatter them randomly again."

"I also put glow stars in the glass dome under my kitchen light. When I shut off the light the stars are all charged up and glow for a while!"

- bondagenurse

"Anything glow in the dark is still super exciting to me. I've got a glow in the dark phone case at the moment (actually helps me find it at night), silly putty, nail polish, a Tshirt and a little glowy tree spirit from Princess Monoke that sits on my nightstand. In the past I've had glow in the dark stars, stickers, tempera paint and a glow in the dark moon calendar."

‐ lightbulbfragment

*pew* *pew*

"A full laser tag set with at least four guns."

- DrByNight

"…and a fog machine!"

- TexBlack

"Plus strobe lights and black lights and a stick stereo system to pump some techno beats to shoot lasers to."

- SobiTheRobot

Giphy

Lava Fun

"I would love a new Lava Lamp."

"Decades ago I lost mine in a natural disaster which is me doing what I usually do which is drop my lava lamp onto the ground."

"By far the most difficult clean up I’ve ever encountered."

- Billsonite66

Nerf Herders

"Nerf guns. Not gonna lie, I’m probably to old for this stuff, but I love screwing around with my friends and just having a great time flinging foam."

- Save-The-Defaults

"Nerf guns or just some toys in general now that i’m older newer toys have come out and weren’t around when i was a kid they honestly look fun sometimes."

- SelectionQuick9153

Wet and Wild Fun

"A Super Soaker with the LATEST Super Soaker technology!"

"My birthday is in August, northern hemisphere, so I would put it to use straight away."

- hangriest

"I'd much rather have a fight with dope-a** water guns than with Nerf guns because there is no clean up with water guns and finding all the darts after a nerf battle really f'king sucks."

- Jordaneer

Giphy

Is there a reason we need to stop enjoying certain things when we get older?

There isn't, really, so do the things you love no matter what other people think.

Want to "know" more?

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People Divulge The Scariest Thing They Learned About Someone From Their Childhood

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Life is all about learning new things, including learning new things about the people in your life. Sometimes, the things you learn are shocking, disgusting, or even scary.

I was the new kid in town when I was in fifth grade and my first friend was this quiet (and cute) boy in my class. He and I remained friends through middle school, and even though we drifted apart in high school, our interactions when we ran into each other in the halls or the cafeteria were really nice.

All throughout school and even beyond, he remained quiet, polite, and reserved. Just a few years ago, I read a news article written about him. He had apparently fatally wounded his father after an argument.

I had to reread the article several times to make sure it was really about my old friend. I think about it a lot, and still can't believe it!

I'm not the only one that has a shocking story like that. A lot of Redditors learned shocking or scary things about people from their childhood, and are ready to share.

It all started when Redditor ValuableHovercraft90 asked:

"What's the scariest thing you have found out about someone from your childhood (old friends, teachers, etc)?"

So Creepy

"That the boy who lived across the street and moved when I was 6 is still obsessed with me and my sister 30+ years later and posts ramblings on Facebook with our names and that he's going to be with us. Pretty terrifying honestly."

– mrscrawfish

The Worst List

"A neighbour died when he was 30. Police searched a trailer he owned and found weapons, bombs and a list of people he wanted to kill. My uncle was on that list."

– Flashy_Somewhere_648

"I'm glad this ended the way it did."

– CreepyCandidate4449

Terrifying

"One of my best friends (and locker partner) from high school was kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq. After a nightmare of 6+ months, all went silent. We buried an empty casket in his memory 10 years later."

– francois_du_nord

"This is horrifying. How incredibly sad for family to never get any closure. Very sad to read this. :("

– fizzycherryseltzer

"About 15 years ago my dad received a very good offer for work in Iraq, as a construction specialist. He was considering going, since at the same time the financial crisis started in Europe, but then one of his friends, a civil engineer, was kidnapped. Never returned back either."

– 19lgkrn70

"Same thing for my dad old coworker told him how great the money was. Dude got sniped working on a radio tower or something. My dad luckily was like, "I got a wife and family that would kill me for doing something so dangerous.""

– tristanjones

End Of The Friendship

"One of my dad's good friends, and my "uncle", just stopped coming around one day. I was told he was always busy with work, away, etc."

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"What's scary, is that we were over at his house for a weekend BBQ with a bunch of people earlier in the day of the night he did it, and it happened at his house."

– pnwking509

School Friends

"Don't know if it was scary, but I grew up with a kid whose birthday was the day before mine so we almost always shared birthdays in elementary school. We were friends, even spent the night at his house growing up. Later on in our teens, he started getting into some really dark stuff. I recognize that now as his being a sociopath, but like most everybody else at the time, figured it was just him going through some kind of emo phase. Over the years, we lost touch but I would occasionally run into him around town and our meetings were cordial, if not friendly."

"Last year, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing a man back in 1993, roughly 3 years after we got out of High School. Apparently he, his sister and another man lured this guy out to the boonies and killed him to steal money he had gotten in an insurance settlement."

"The only reason they were caught is the other guy got religion, felt remorse and went on the local TV station and aired a confession before turning himself in (He got 25 to life)."

– 530_Oldschoolgeek

"A girl I went to school with did the same thing. She was the nicest girl, got good grades & was kind of a dork. Mixed with the wrong people after graduation. She and two others lured an old man into an abandoned building, stabbed him and robbed him. He later died from his wounds."

– HereF0rTheSnacks

The Worst Afternoon

"I had a friend in grade school who was being raised by her single dad. She had a unique name and pretty face. She never talked about her mom, and she was super outgoing, so all us kids just made friends with her quickly. It was weird her dad never brought her to our birthday parties, even though she was always invited, but we didn’t think much of it. A couple times, she was allowed to ride the bus home with me after school, and we played and had fun until her dad came to pick her up. Later in the school year, she invited me to ride the bus to her house, and my mom agreed. I was 10. It was the scariest afternoon of my young life. I cannot articulate the extreme tension in her home. We weren’t allowed to make any noise, and we mostly stayed outside, me desperate for my mom to arrive."

"Her dad screamed at us for opening the door, and I was too nervous to go into the house to use the restroom. I knew she was embarrassed that there were no snacks or comforting interactions, like at my house. I didn’t really tell anyone how uncomfortable the experience was. After that day, I didn’t hang out with her a lot. We were in different classes, drifted apart, and decades later, when my own daughter asked to go to a friend’s house, I thought about that girl."

"As an adult, I figured out her dad probably worked a night shift and tried to sleep during the day…or he was an alcoholic who was really angry. Maybe both? I looked her up on social media, and thanks to her unique name and face, I recognized her immediately. She’s a perfectly well-adjusted woman with a beautiful family. She even had pictures of her kids with her dad and tributes to him as the greatest father and grandpa. Her whole page made me wonder what the hell I experienced that afternoon in the 4th grade?"

– OlderAndTired

School Is Supposed To Be Safe!

"In our school, we had something called "de halte." In English, it means "the halt" literally translated. Basically time out. BIf you had a meltdown in class or you were just a little sh*thead, you were sent there for 15 minutes or so to cool off.

The de hatle teacher got fired and jailed for breaking 4 different wrists of 4 different students by bending them the wrong way..."

– Ok_Win7358

*Skin Crawling*

​"There was this classmate a grade below me but all grades shared the same drama class. She was weird and kind of "off." I tried to befriend her at one point and was rebuffed. It later came out that she was actually an almost 30-year-old woman who would show up in a new area claiming to be a 15-year-old runaway. Kind of freaked me out."

– jackfaire

It turns out it was a good thing that the friendship didn't work out!

scary secrets