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

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"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

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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.

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