Purchases People Made As Adults That They've Wanted Since Childhood
Reddit user zydollasiign asked: 'What did you purchase as an adult because you could never have it as a child?'
It's funny, because depending on our financial management, some of us get really "spend happy" once we have an adult job with adult money.
But others realize instead that they may not need to buy everything they can suddenly afford, but just that one thing they've wanted since childhood.
Curious about others' wish list items, Redditor zydollasiign asked:
"What did you purchase as an adult because you could never have it as a child?"
A Metal Detector
"A metal detector. I always wanted one as a kid, but my dad said I'd use it a handful of times, and then it would sit and collect dust forever."
"I bought myself one, and it turns out that my dad was right."
- AlmostSane67
Just Desserts
"Desserts at restaurants."
- TenderPhoenix
"Yes! And appetizers and a soda. I was only ever allowed to get one thing; I could choose an appetizer, a main dish, OR a dessert. But getting all three and a drink makes me feel so bougie."
- Fun_Acanthisitta1101
Options at the Book Fair
"It's not about what I buy myself but I make sure my kid has plenty of money for the book fair."
- EnvironmentSmart4698
"The parent I dream to be… you’re awesome."
- lmwk4gcc
The Big Pack
"The gigantic pack of Crayola crayons!! Just took me 65 years… lol (laughing out loud)... and I love them!"
- MyCat_SaysThis
"I don’t share my 120-pack, either. I got the variety pack of Sharpie and Flair, too!"
- littlescreechyowl
Proper Clothes
"Clothes that fit."
- dark-medicine
"Ugh, my mother was absolutely DELUSIONAL about what size clothing I wore. I was 18-20 before I realized that you weren't SUPPOSED to buy clothes you could just barely squeeze yourself into, clothes that dug deep red marks into you all day, clothes that caused you physical pain to wear. It was incredible the first time I bought myself a pair of pants that actually fit."
- SharMarali
"Opposite for me. My mom was paranoid about me "growing out" of stuff and it was so embarrassing and uncomfortable. Having so much extra fabric is so uncomfortable and makes it so hard to just function like a normal human."
"Having clothes that were the correct size was life-changing."
- pm_me_your_shaved_ice
"I work somewhere that sells a specialty clothing item for a youth activity (think something like sports jerseys). I frequently have to talk moms out of buying several sizes too big for their teenagers!"
"Yes, when the kid is eight and wearing a medium, I tell mom to get a large or even an XL so it fits for more than six months. But it is shocking to me how many moms want to buy a 2XL for their 15-year-olds who wear a small!"
"They’re not going to keep growing that much! Let them get the one they’ll be comfortable in. It’s like they have no idea when a kid will stop growing, even when the kid is taller than them."
- TheWishingStar
Therapy
"Therapy."
- HeresDave
"I can relate to this so hard, it hurts."
- candid84asoulm8bled
A Gaming System
"All the current gaming consoles. Feels good, man!"
- ImInJeopardy
"And never have time to play anything! My PS5 might as well be a $600 paperweight."
- Agreeable_Pizzy93
"Feel you here. I’m able to buy any game I want now. Have about 300 quality games in my library. Super juiced computer. If I am able to play for a few hours on a Friday night, it’s a win. Adulting is a paradox."
- ask_me_about_my_band
Ice Cream Cake
"Ice Cream Cake."
"My sister was a spring baby. She got ice cream cakes. I never got ice cream cakes because it was hot for my birthday and my mother said they'd melt too quickly."
"Now I get my own d**n ice cream cakes. I don't care if they melt."
- RumandDiabetes
"Growing up, I never got a birthday cake in the flavor that I liked because my mom hated those flavors. Now I don't have to dread having to eat my own birthday cake anymore."
- yodelingllama
High-Speed Internet
"The fastest Internet I could buy in my area."
- Cic3ro
"Same, grew up on Dial-up. It was torture."
- DukeOfJokes
A Comfortable Mattress
"As a teen, I started sleeping on the floor because my childhood mattress was so bad. I remember buying my first new one as an adult. It was one of those memory foam ones that came in a box."
"I ordered it online and paid $600. I felt like I was rich being able to do that. And it was the best mattress I had ever slept on."
- BartenderNichole
A Cat
"A cat."
- kittengoesrawr
"Same here. My mom kept saying she was allergic, but suddenly, now that I'm on my own, she has no issues taking care of him when I leave town. Make it make sense."
- anny_elle17
Comfortable Shoes
"Comfortable shoes! Growing up with flat feet and parents who didn’t want to shell out a lot of money for shoes meant that I wore uncomfortable tennis shoes for years. That’s why as soon as it was warm enough and sometimes not, I would wear flip-flops because they didn’t hurt my feet."
"My husband makes sure my shoes fit comfortably because when we met, my one 'comfortable' pair was falling apart because I was so broke, I couldn’t afford shoes. He took me shoe shopping as a date and bought me comfortable shoes."
- coffeeandjesus1986
"(Crying emoji), what a keeper."
- alley_underland
"Protect that man at all cost."
- No-Panda-8606
Playing Doctor
"I grew up in a home where my parents practiced a religion that said you can’t seek medical help or go to doctors. I always wanted the Operation game and a pretend doctor’s bag like my friends had."
"When I became a parent, my child received a play doctor’s kit and the Operation game for Christmas one year."
- MadMomma85
Basic Privacy
"Privacy."
- Puzzled_Cheetah8390
"Raising my glass to FINALLY knowing 100% no one will rifle through my things and then confront me because they didn’t like what they found and then blame god for telling them to do it."
"No, Mom, no one told you to snoop. You went through my stuff hoping to find something shocking, and got mad because all you learned was that I left my laundry in the dryer without folding it on purpose just to annoy you and that Dad let me have half a beer one night while we watched 'Bubba HoTep' on USA UP All night."
- 5hrs4hrs3hrs2hrs1mor
"Same! My mom used to go through my things and read my journal. I never understood it, I was a nerd with a small group of friends who didn't drink, smoke, or do drugs, or have a boyfriend for that matter."
"I caught her so many times that she banned me from using the word 'snoop.'"
"Anyway, I understand now, it wasn't about being worried about me, it was about having control over me and me knowing I didn't have a safe space."
"Congrats to all the kids that finally reclaimed their safe place."
- RebelRigantona
Backups
"Aww man. I could name multitudes. I have been very blessed since I got married."
"But the main thing I do now is buy multiples of various grocery items we buy regularly to just keep the house stocked. When we open the last one, I go out and buy two or three more."
"Something about just knowing you have it available is comforting. Growing up we never bought anything unless we were OUT of it."
- No_Property1875
This conversation went from wholesome to anticlimactic to heartbreaking and back again.
There were some basic wants, like privacy, properly-fitting clothing, and appropriate shoes, that everyone should just be able to have. They should be a right rather than a privilege.
But fortunately, there were enjoyable things here, too, like more money for the Book Fair, fuzzy companions, and ice cream cake, that are wonderful to give to ourselves when our parents were unwilling or unable.
Adult money needs to be put toward bills and basic expenses, yes, but it should be put toward joy, too.
People Explain Which Things From Their Childhood No Longer Exist Today
Reddit user lil-gatorwrangler asked: 'What is something from your childhood that no longer exists now?'
When I was a little girl, I adored the American Girl books. These were books about girls in different historical periods of time in America. They weren't just books, however. There was a lot of American Girl merchandise, including dolls.
I adored the doll I had of Felicity Merriman, my favorite American Girl. A few years ago, I started reading the American Girl books to my cousin. She had her own favorite character, Samantha, and I decided it would be nice to get her a Samantha doll for her birthday. I went to order one only to find out they had archived the dolls of the four original American Girls, including Felicity and Samantha.
Eventually, new versions of the dolls were re-released, but they looked completely different from the characters from the books, which the original dolls captured. These dolls are just one thing that existed in my childhood that no longer exists.
I'm not the only one who has experienced these. Redditors have identified plenty of things from their childhood that no longer exist and are eager to share.
It all started when Redditor lil-gatorwrangler asked:
"What is something from your childhood that no longer exists now?"
Breakfast Gifts
"Cool spoons from cereal boxes!!! i miss the color changing and straw ones."
– pompomcinnamon
"Nothing like only buying a box of cereal because of the cool lil gift inside. 🥹"
– lil-gatorwrangler
"This reminds me I haven't seen my Taz spoon in a while. It makes Taz noises when you dip it in milk."
– TransformerTanooki
Family Phones
"Yelling “SOMEBODY GET THE PHONE.”
– Jfonzy
"Adjacent: “Get off the internet! I have to make a phone call!”"
– cold_dry_hands
"The ring tone was......the phone."
– DEADFLY6
Slime!
"Nickelodeon game shows. I miss Legends of the Hidden Temple and Guts."
– ShawshankException
"Every time I have to take a headrest out and put it back in my car seat, I pretend I am completing a mission from LotHT."
– ReineDePlatine
Ah, The Book Fairs
"Do you remember filling out book orders when it was time for your school's book fair? :'("
– sn0wballa
"Omg yes!!! And just say dreaming about all the books I could have, if I could afford it lol."
– FlannelPajamas123
"Oh my god the happiest days of my school year."
– clover219
Cell Phone Plans
"I remember when cell phones were newish and scheduling your calls to after 7 on weekdays and anytime on weekends because nights and weekends were free and didn't count toward your monthly allotment of minutes. You also only had a limited amount of texts per month included in your plan."
–cartertucker
The Old Food Options
"Wendy's salad bar."
– SirBlack_
"Wendy’s 4 for $4. Rip 🥲"
– lil-gatorwrangler
Toy Stores
"KB toys."
– AcademicSavings634
"It always felt so cramped and jam packed full of stuff that every time you went you felt like an explorer."
– MrMojoFomo
"I worked at KB Toys throughout college. Can confirm that cramming stuff in there was a corporate policy, maybe for exactly this reason."
"Had to be careful going exploring though— more than once I found a dirty diaper someone had hidden behind a bunch of Barbies. I feel like everyone should work retail for at least a little while, so they can get a taste for what monsters people really are."
– Engelbettie
"Toys-R-Us. I miss that place. I remember my dad taking me and I’d just wonder through the aisles amazed at all the toys. I got one of my childhood favorite Barbie dream houses there."
– FrostQueen05
A Thousand Words
"Photo Albums. My mother has been cataloging some of the old photos she never got around to putting in albums recently. It is a different experience than looking through someone's phone at curated pictures. You would get the pictures back and 90% of them would go in the album. No editing, no my hair looks like crap. You would find photos of yourself years later that you never knew existed. When your grandparents die and you start looking through albums for their memorial and can reminisce. It is so nice."
– HighFiveYourFace
Christmas Was Never The Same
"I recall hearing about a concept mentioned in movies known as a 'Christmas bonus.'"
– mockhouse
"I actually worked at a place where I got to see the idea of a Christmas bonus die."
"They had, for years, given out a Christmas bonus the 2nd week of December that was a cash bonus equivalent to about 1 week's pay. It wasn't huge but it was just that little extra for people already living paycheck to paycheck to have something to buy the wife and kids some Christmas presents."
"Then one year some dude in management came up with this really awesome idea: Instead of giving each employee a couple hundred dollars in cash we should totally give them a frozen turkey."
"It will be great! everyone needs a frozen turkey for Christmas dinner and we can order a whole semi truck trailer full of of them for a great bulk discount so they only cost like $20 each... employees win and we save money!"
"So that is what the company did."
"Only they did't tell anyone that was what was going to happen until the truck backed into the loading dock and happy managers started handing out frozen chunks of discount birds to people who had been budgeting their entire Christmas shopping on getting the cash instead."
"Christmas morning the owner of the company woke up to find hundreds of rotting turkeys on their front lawn."
"We never got a Christmas bonus again at that company - cash or cold turkey."
– varthalon
MY Personal Info
"Privacy. Mostly in the sense that we didn’t have big Meta mining our data/location/listening."
– ilike2makemoney
Weekend Mornings
"Saturday morning cartoons. Nothing beat the joy of waking up early in Saturday morning to watch five hours of your favorite cartoons, most of which were only on at that time on that day."
– nijaxi4567
"I know what you mean. There are cartoons on Saturday morning but with cable and YouTube and streaming and because those run 24-7, it isn’t an event."
"Few things beat running downstairs, pouring yourself a huge bowl of sugary cereal, and flipping on a full hour of Ninja Turtles, Garfield, Ghostbusters, and topping it off with Saved By the Bell all while your parents slept in."
– vmikey
Movie Night
"Blockbuster movie rental."
– lordharliquin
"Oh. My favorite thing we used to do is we would go to the video store and blindfold one of us and pick out a movie and just watch something random. It was so fun fun!"
– darforce
"I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS!! Those are some of the best memories from my childhood! So much better than Netflix!"
– betaflc
No Streaming
"Yelling "IT'S OOOOOOOON" as your siblings hurtled themselves back into the living room and across the couch after the ad break. That 'will I make it' few minutes of just not knowing if you had time to both pee and ALSO get kitchen snacks, were andrenaline-inducing."
– wildgoats2345
That was me and my brother as we watched Avatar: The Last Airbender. Sometimes, I really miss those days!
People Confess How They Thought Babies Were Made When They Were Little
In the United States, it's no secret that sex education for minors is inconsistent at best.
But some people learned very unexpected stories about how babies were made, and those stories had a way of making a lasting impression.
Curious about other's stories, Redditor ILoveYourCat asked:
"How did you think babies were made when you were little?"
One Time's the Charm
"I knew babies came from sex as a fairly young child. My parents never sugar-coated that. But for some reason, as a kid, I thought you only had to have sex once to have multiple pregnancies. I seriously didn't fix that misunderstanding until early middle school."
- Crazey1988
"At some point, when I finally accepted that you had to have sex to have a baby, I thought the only time people have sex was to make a baby, and it only took one time to get the job done."
"Then when I figured out teenagers were having sex, I thought you had to be married and have sex to make a baby, but then when my unmarried cousin got pregnant, I was just confused."
"But I was sure my parents only had sex four times, and then when my mom got pregnant with number five, I thought, 'Wow, they did it again.'"
- Raw_Combination_438
Stealing Storks
"A stork delivered them, of course. What the f**k, lol (laughing out loud)."
- Dells51
"Storks... I thought people trained them to steal babies from a factory and you would leave special treats on your doorstep as payment and encouragement for the stork to steal one for you."
"I was scared to death of birds for the longest time and would have a tantrum at the zoo when I saw a flamingo."
- No_Finish_3144
Young Conspiracy Theorist
"The government. I used to think that we lived in a totalitarian society and that the government was in complete control of everything."
- bebotak**t
"I thought the President sent people their babies when asked by mail."
- GustavoAlex7789
Scheduled Baby Delivery
"The women in my family explained to me at the age of six that a doctor calls you sometime after reaching adulthood at the age of 18 to schedule a baby delivery date."
"The husband either pays to schedule the appointment or the government does after verifying that you have been married and financially stable for quite some time."
- Lokikat00
Marital Kissing
"When two people kissed."
- Short-Reality7353
"I thought the same thing, but I understood that when my mom gave me a kiss, there was no risk. Being someone raised in a very Christian background, I assumed that when you got married, God made kissing a reproductive act."
"Since I made this assumption, I remember questioning why teenage pregnancy could possibly be an issue."
- meuserj
The Ultimate Christmas Gift
"I thought Santa was bringing them."
- NorskoTheScorpion
"He was. I mean, Christmas comes but once a year..."
- Nouveauuuu
"I MAY NEVER ENJOY CHRISTMAS AGAIN."
- NorskoTheScorpion
A New Meaning to 'Forest Friends'
"When I used to ask my dad where I came from, he'd say he found me under a rock in the forest. Of course, I would go look for babies under rocks, too, but all I ever saw was dirt and those rolly-polly pill bug thingies."
"It was so gross thinking babies were just found THERE that I was actually relieved to find out how they were actually made!"
- melodie-artist
Pregnant By Proximity
"I thought women got pregnant by just being around a man, and I was always confused about what would happen if a woman still lived with her parents or dad after she’s an adult."
- ILoveYourCat
Coming of Age Story
"I thought it was a 'just happens once you reach a certain age' sorta thing. As a woman, I was terrified because pregnancy sounds like the most awful thing, lol (laughing out loud)."
"(I know the end result is worth it but even as a 31-year-old, I'm like, nope.)"
- BansheeShriek
Sounds Plant-Based
"I thought they grew like a seed inside the mother's belly."
- maclaglen
"Technically, that’s true."
- ManagementFresh4960
"Watermelon seeds."
- bravovice
"Well, not like that."
- ManagementFresh4960
The Power of Marriage
"My mum told me you couldn't have a baby if you weren't married. Note that she said 'couldn't', not 'shouldn't'."
"When my unmarried cousin was sleeping a lot my mum told my aunt 'she's having a baby'. I thought 'she can't be having a baby, she isn't married.'"
"A couple of weeks later she had an engagement party, quickly followed by a registry office wedding. She had a baby a few months later."
- MolassesInevitable53
Baby Trees
"I thought they grew on trees. True story."
- 8inchsalvatorre
"Baby trees, lol (laughing out loud)."
- ILoveYourCat
"I was surprised when I learned how it really happened, lol. I was like, 'You mean there are no trees?' And Mom just shook her head."
- 8inchsalvatorre
They Were Just There
"I don't recall a time where I gave the matter any thought without knowing the reality of it."
"Like, literally, until the day I was first introduced to the concept of birth, I don't think I cared where babies came from."
- N_Who
"Right, the little guys just EXISTED."
- Mizar97
Educated Is Best
"I asked my mom and she told me the truth."
"Educate your kids, folks. They can handle it."
- Bite_Me_23
Spontaneous Babies
"I didn’t... They just showed up, honestly."
- badguywindow
"That’s what I thought. I was terrified as a little kid that I’d wind up being a teenage mother because I thought it just happened spontaneously."
- dinosore
"Exactly what I thought would happen. Like one day you were just, boom, six months pregnant."
- badguywindow
While these responses might be funny, it's an important reminder of an area in the educational system that's often lacking.
But in the meantime, while the system's curriculum is getting sorted out, at least we can take comfort in the fact that we weren't alone in believing these tall tales.
When we were kids, we could not wait to grow up. We had big dreams about what we were going to do and who we were going to be, and we could not wait to get started.
But there were some things we were expecting that were totally off the mark, too.
Redditor Caseated_Omentum asked:
"What's the biggest misconception you had about adulthood?"
Staying Up Late
"I thought that I could stay up as late as I wanted. I envisioned myself adventuring all over town until the wee hours, meeting interesting people and experiencing life."
"Turns out 'as late as I wanted' is about 8:00 PM after a quiet night in with my girlfriend and a cup of tea."
- Calm-Ad6493
Going By Too Fast
"Time. It turns out adulthood is stuck on fast forward."
- VegetableTears
"Boy! Is this ever true! A week used to crawl by and now you blink your eyes and it's, 'Is it (choose a day) again already?'"
"Summers were almost never ending and now they are over in a blink of the eye!"
- miffsc
Lots of Guesswork Included
"I always thought that adults knew what they were doing."
- sorengray
"We're all winging it. Most of us are competent at certain s**t and can function day to day. I've been in my field for nearly five years now and work with people in my field that have been in it for nearly forty years. I'm not bad at what I do and they're great at it."
"We still end up scratching our heads, wondering what the h**l we should do next on a project, because that s**t's just weird."
- thewaterglizzy
Forever High School
"I thought graduating high school meant I'd be out of high school. It turns out that all of life is high school. I'm still dealing with the exact same problems except even fewer people care."
- Individual_Speech_10
"That was the biggest disappointment of my life. As a kid growing up, I absolutely hated most other kids for all the bulls**t mind games, bullying, playing favorites, etc. I couldn't wait to be an adult where that all stopped, life was fair, and bad people were brought to justice."
"Holy f**k was I ever wrong. As you said, adults are just kids in grown-up bodies as nothing else has changed."
- ZiggerTheNaut
Full-Circle Moment
"I was always a little salty that my dad was kind of a goofball. He'd play pranks and s**t and you couldn't confide anything seriously in him like you had a crush on a girl or something, because he'd make fun of you."
"I wanted a dad like in the movies where they put you up on their lap and say, 'Now listen here sport...+ and go into some kind of sage-like monologue on how to handle life's problems."
"Then I got to be an adult and I'm EXACTLY like my dad. And so is every other adult male I know."
- SweetCosmicPope
So Much Free Time!
"You could do anything you wanted, whenever you wanted."
"I never have the time between working full time and being exhausted the rest of the time, lol (laughing out loud)."
- ravynmaxx
Owning a Home
"Homeownership apparently, lol (laughing out loud)."
- Gentleman_T-Bone
"I came here to say this! Embarrassing, I even thought I'd have like a beach house as well. I was so dumb."
- PumpkinPieIsGreat
"Growing up, I was told I may inherit my parent's house one day. I was grateful but wasn't that excited because it was a small house on a small property and I always wanted a nice piece of land."
"Now home prices in that area are creeping into the high six-figure range and I'd be over the moon to have it."
- slinkocat
Hard Work Means Success
"If you work hard and give everything you got, then you’ll succeed and get what you worked so hard for."
- Useful_Dane_319
"As someone who works in finance, the most valuable lesson I've learned is that money doesn't come from hard work, it comes from the presence of existing money."
"Wall Street bros who make seven figures don't work any harder than your average teacher or public servant busting their butt making 50 thousand a year at best."
- AdmiralPlant
A Living Wage
"I thought that most jobs actually paid a living wage. When I was a pre-teen, I thought that all you had to do was show up to basically any job clean, polite (and don't be a total id**t obviously, but you don't have to be Einstein either), and work 40 hours a week, and you would have everything you need."
- True-Sound-9240
Easier After Graduation
"I was under the false impression that having a job would be less stressful than going through school."
- Friendly_Neighbor12
"Well, it depends. Until I was 14, I used to go to school from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM with an hour to get lunch. When I got home, I still had to do homework or study for tests. Now I work the same amount of hours but when I finish working, I'm free to do whatever I want. So I would say at least in my case that school was way more stressful."
- CollapseIntoNow
Happily Ever After
"I thought you'd always have a relationship and money and you lived happily ever after."
- llcucf80
Chronic Illness
"I thought that your body would remain healthy. I got chronically sick in my late 20s (27+). I'm 33 now, and I hate it. Docs still don’t know what’s up. SMH (Shaking my head)."
- xAdrtxx
Natural Obstacles
"I believed quicksand would be a real concern."
- Euclid_Interloper
"I thought being on fire would be a more common occurrence, what with how often we were taught about stop, drop, and roll."
- anonymousbach
Professionally Independent
"I used to think adults had autonomy in their jobs. Like, as a professional who went to college, your expertise and knowledge would be sought after and people would treat you with respect. But no, we're just capitalist pawns."
- Majestic_Heart_9271
Actually Much Better Than Expected
"That it would be zero fun and all bills."
"This is way better and more carefree than childhood! No one controls me and I don’t have to babysit anyone if I don’t want to! No one yells at me and I can 'talk back' if I want to!"
"I can just… be. I don’t have to beg and plead to leave the house and see friends."
- Dom-Franson
"I think this ALL the time. I'll be having the time of my life just... I don't know, WEARING SHORTS IN PUBLIC, or HANGING OUT WITH SOMEONE THAT ISN'T A FAMILY MEMBER, or something absolutely crazy like that, at almost 30 years old, and think, 'Wait, why were all the adults in my life when I was little telling me adulthood would suck so much because I would have to figure everything out for myself?'"
"That's the part I love the most about adulthood. No controlling, narcissistic, emotionally abusive a**holes around to dictate my every move and tell me I'm a worthless female. H**l, I don't even have to speak to them as an adult!"
- thatonespicegirl
For most, adulthood fell far short of what their childhood dreams called for.
But a few loved the independence that came with adulthood after having traumatic childhoods.
This is one of those concepts that is all about perspective, and all we can really do is try to make the best of it.
Stuffies, plushies, stuffed animals, or plush toys; whatever you might call them, we likely all can remember a fluffy friend we had in our childhood.
But some adults might have carried their childhood friend into adulthood, or even made others along the way, and they might even still go to sleep with them at night, too.
Redditor Old-Horse1185 asked:
"34 percent of adults sleep with a stuffed animal or other sentimental objects."
"Are you one of these people? What do you sleep with?"
The Twin Bond
"My twin sister died when I was 18. Ten years later, I still sleep with her unicorn pillow pet, she gets a nice spot on the bed, and I'd never be with someone who made me feel bad about having it. Only my girlfriend is trusted enough to give pillow pet a bath."
- insomniacinsanity
"My twin brother died when we were seven, and I used to have a specific stuffie that was given to him by an American lady who worked in the hospital he was in, but it got damaged in a house move when I was a teenager and was unsalvageable."
"It was a limited-run stuffie that you could only get in a specific American store in the 90s, so it was basically irreplaceable. My husband, 10+ years later and without letting on, tracked one down and paid a silly amount of money to have it shipped to the UK and gave it to me for Christmas a couple of years ago."
"I sleep with it every d**n night. I'm mid-30s, and I'll never stop."
- beesandsids
Keeping Them Close
"My partner passed away a few weeks ago, and I now cuddle his shirts that still have his scent. When my son spends the night with his grandparents, I also cuddle w his blanket or the pillow he sleeps on."
- anonmomanonnin
Cuddles and Fidgets
"My grandma made me a pillow when I was born. She sewed the pillow together and the pillow case, which had kittens all over it."
"I’m 33 years now she passed when I was 31, and I sleep with the same pillow in my arms every night."
"The pillow case is worn to bits because I guess I use it as a fidget thing I rub in between my fingers. Yes, I’m weird."
- Valuable_Panda_4228
From the Beyond
"I bought my wife a big stuffed seal for our first Valentine's Day. This seal has a slight green tint to it, so we named him Sealo Green. She had Sealo for a couple of years before she passed away."
"I hug Seal-o every night and pray to my wife, tell her about my day, things coming up, etc. I'll start using her perfume on Sealo soon, so I can smell her while I pray to her. My heart can't take it right now."
- Cubbycupcake-Uther
A Gift from Grandma
"I am one. My grandma gave all the grandkids a cat plush. A cat food brand had a promotion, if you bought enough cat food you'd get a free plushie. With 14 grandkids, a lot of food was bought to get there. Her cats didn't complain though, lol (laughing out loud)."
"I still sleep with it, it's a feeling of comfort, safety, and home."
- DavyJonesLocker2
An Evolving Friendship
"Stuffed dog I've had since my mom was squeezing him while giving birth to me. That dog has seen some s**t."
"He's a 'Sad Sam,' and his eyes used to break my heart when I was a kid, so I buried him under other stuffed animals or made him face the wall so I wouldn't have to look at him."
"Then I felt really guilty because I didn't want him to feel punished when all he wanted was to be loved. So I've been sleeping with him for almost 40 years now."
"I recently bought an original one off eBay to see the comparison and man, I have loved the daylights out of that dog!"
- dumdadumdumAHHH
A Special Bond
"I now sleep with my girlfriend's stuffed bunny she has had since birth. He’s my best friend now! I love you, Bootstin!!"
- silversauce
"Aww, that's awesome. My partner is the only person I've ever been with who didn't make me feel like crap for still having my blanket. When I travel, I leave it with them, and I think they probably cuddle up with it as much as I do after a rough day."
- the_Ozz
Keeping a Partner Close
"Sometimes when I take a nap and my wife doesn't, I'll take her pillow to sleep with because I like the smell."
"It smells like baby powder, vanilla, and her."
- TrailerParkPrepper
Very Considerate
"Huge jellycat bears. I don’t even wanna, but I’m just afraid I’ll hurt their feelings if I don’t."
- CommonAd9606
"As a kid, I routinely slept with a zillion stuffed animals on the bed because I didn’t want any of them to feel left out."
- PumaGranite
"As a kid? I'm 26 and still have to hug them all as I go to sleep or they'll feel left out!"
- Scymber
Lower Back Pain
"I sleep with a body pillow (plain cover). Doctor recommended it a few years ago to help with my lower back pain and it really does help."
- HappyTimeHollis
"I sleep with a body pillow but it's an alligator. My grandparents gave it to me when I was 11 years old. It has a huge open mouth you can put your arm through or use to prop your phone. Had it 24 years. Love it to death."
- smoretank
Full Body Support
"Squishmallows. I have sciatica and they're great for when I go to bed. I put one between my knees at night (side sleeper) and I snuggle up with one."
- Raging_Utahn
Happy Kitty, Sleepy Kitty
"I'm not one to sleep with plushies, but my cat likes to snuggle up to me and sleep with his fluffy little head on my shoulder."
- imaybeacatIRL
"Cats have to count. My previous cat actually slept as the little spoon, snuggled in my arms."
- disapprovingfox
The Long-Distance Relationship
"I am a guy, I recently got to sleep with a stuffed animal for a week, I won't go into the details as to why or how, just know that I lovvveeeed it. I would get called a weirdo if I confess to this to the world, so I have kept this to myself and my bestie only."
"The stuffed animal was a large teddy bear, since then it has been taken away and now it is placed in the living room, my bedroom has one small stuffed toy that I sleep with, it's not super large and not as comfortable as the teddy but it works."
"It makes me feel good and less alone, the closest person in the world to me is 700km away, what I'm about to say is weird but hugging the teddy and pretending it's her makes me calm and makes me want to sleep."
- uninformed-but-smart
Build a Friend... with IKEA
"Ikea Hippo, Ikea Elephant. The Ikea bigs are the superior sleep companion. I also have the shark, but he is not right for my shoulder when cuddling so he guards."
- pm-me-neckbeards
"I also keep my Ikea shark on guard at night! The Ikea octopus is the guard when I sleep at my boyfriend’s house."
- jeff-buckleys-teeth
A Comfort Become Real
"When I was a toddler, I got a stuffed animal as a present from my uncle. It was a light brown rabbit with button eyes and ears with rainbow stripes on the inside. I'm unsure of when I got it, but I was either one to two years old or four years old."
"I don't know how or why, but it had a distinct scent, not particularly noticeable unless you shoved your face in its fur, like I did, haha. As I grew up, I needed to have this rabbit with me or I would not be able to sleep. I remember this one time when I couldn't find it in time for bed, and I was so distressed trying to fall asleep that I started hallucinating."
"Over time she lost an eye, her ears became frayed, her fur fell out in patches, and she looks like a well-loved creature (because she is) or hot garbage, depending on who you ask."
" Even in my rebellious teen years, I couldn't pretend to dislike her because the scent and texture of her fur gave me a feeling of comfort and safety, even when it felt like everyone was against me."
"I live by myself now at age 34 and you better believe I still keep her in my bed. The scent is gone but sometimes I can trick my brain into thinking it's still there, and when I touch the texture of her fur, I will still get a wave of comfort and reassurance the same way I did as a child."
"It's amazing not only how humans will bond with anything, but also the effect these things will have on a person."
"This got sappy, my apologies."
"PS: Her name is Ninni."
- Mwuuh
"'Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'"
"I'm reminded of this quote from 'The Velveteen Rabbit.'"
- tinycole2971
While everyone might feel a little silly about their sleeping arrangements, most of those who still sleep with a cuddly friend have spent a great deal of their life with their companion already.
From sentimental reasons to physical needs, everyone needs comforted from time to time, and there's nothing quite like the unconditional love of a favorite stuffie friend.