When you were young, you might have done things like drank grape juice from a wine glass to make you feel like an adult. When you found out that the gum you swallowed won’t break down for seven years, you might have cried. Most people did or saw these things when they were kids, but they never talked about them when they got older. Let’s take a trip down this cringe-worthy memory lane with memes that perfectly capture the strange things we did as kids.
“Run, or the Darkness Monster will get you.”
Even though you had been playing in the basement for hours without worrying that a demon would attack you, as soon as you turned off the lights, you thought something was going to grab you. When you turned off the lights and ran up the stairs, you would suddenly be as fast as Usain Bolt. Everyone had to run faster than they ever had before.
“Look I’m Smoking!”
When it got cold enough outside that you could see your breath, we thought it was funny to act like we were smoking because it was cool. Most of the time, the cigarette or cigar was a pretzel stick. Even if you weren’t trying to look like a smoker, you were probably trying to look like a dragon that was breathing fire. At least, that’s what we did.
Trying so hard to do something that couldn’t be done
If you were lucky enough to have one of these pens, you probably tried to push all the colours down at once so you could write in a rainbow. When you couldn’t figure out how to push all the colours down, you spent the rest of the day clicking the pen to annoy everyone around you.
Why? Well, why?
No one knows what made them do it, but they drew on or poked holes in every eraser. Who knows? Maybe he was bored or trying to find ways to break the tip of his pencil. You could sometimes use a pen to draw on the eraser, turning it into a stamp. Have you ever broken your eraser and then felt bad about it because it was dirty and out of shape?
The smooth feel of the forces that push back
As a child, did you ever try to break the rules of physics by getting two magnets with the same poles to touch each other? A child told the magnets, “You will bend to my will.” No matter how hard you tried, it would never work. But when they pushed back, it was almost satisfying.
Clip lips
One of the best things in the world was putting these big clips over your mouth. It wasn’t painful at all, but it felt strange. It was the first version of having “duck lips” or acting like you had lip injections. There were times when the only reason to do this was because it felt good.
Praiseworthy Pillow Forts
It took work and time to make a good pillow fort, but it was usually worth it in the end. Pillow forts are fun even when you’re an adult. The best part about pillow forts was getting to sleep in them at least once before they had to be torn down. Sleepovers in pillow forts were the best.
Those were the days
When you and your friends wanted to go to someone’s house, you would all ride your bikes there and meet. When you saw your friends’ bikes all over the lawn, you knew they were there. Before there was social media, life was much easier. We only had to worry about where to meet and how long the bike ride would be.
So Refreshing and So Painful
The most refreshing things to eat in the summer were the freeze-pops that Costco sold. The best flavours were definitely blue raspberry and watermelon, but these pops have a problem. The popsicles came in a plastic tube that would cut the sides of your mouth so badly. All of the pain was worth how sweet and cold it was.
It took a long time, but it was worth it.
Did your parents ever wonder why it took you so long to eat your small bowl of mac and cheese? You probably spent most of your meal trying to get one noodle on each prong of the fork. Getting four noodles to fit on your fork in a straight line was so satisfying.
“Don’t tell Mom, Please!”
Growing up with siblings was like playing a game to see how much you could get away with before they found out. Also, if you hit them by accident, you had to beg them not to say anything. It was like negotiating with hostages.
Talking into the fan for an hour
Before Kanye used auto-tune in all of his songs, kids would sing into a fan to make auto-tuned hits. Your voice sounded like Darth Vader because of the fan, which could keep anyone busy for hours. Also, it was fun to act like an alien and say, “Hello, earthlings.” When you couldn’t think of anything else to do, this was a fun thing to do.
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire
!Before you really knew what shots were, you would pretend to take shots of soda out of the cap because it was more fun than drinking normally. These shots were much easier to drink than shots with alcohol. Can we take soda shots again instead of vodka?
Scaring strangers who were out shopping and doing nothing wrong
The only way to have fun while shopping with my parents was to hide in the clothing racks. Yes, you may have scared some strangers who weren’t doing anything wrong, but it was mostly worth it. Your mom might have also thought you ran away and been worried, then yelled at you when you came back. If you had really bad luck, a store worker might have yelled at you for hiding.
The Ground Is On Fire
The game The Floor Is Lava was fun and creative. One minute you’re sitting on the couch with your friends, and the next someone yells, “The floor is lava!” and you jump all over the couch. In this game, you had to think of different ways to get from one piece of furniture to the next without getting hurt.
Which Drop of Rain Will Win?
When it was raining, did you ever look out the car window to see which raindrop would hit the edge of the window first? As the raindrops went back and forth about who was in the lead, you might have made mental comments about the race.
There were a lot of options.
As a child, you could do a lot of different things with the cardboard tube inside paper towels or gift wrap. Your mind would be full of ideas, from a sword to a telescope. You could also paint them to make them look more like what you had in mind. As a child, there were so many simple things you could do to pass the time that wouldn’t be fun today.
Running up the stairs while pretending to be your pet dog
It was way more fun to run up the stairs on all fours than to walk up them like a normal person. You could act like the family pet, which was much more fun than walking on two legs.
Fun was had for hours on this carpet
The car city carpet was fun for hours. It was so much fun to make your dolls or toy cars walk and drive around the city. People had these at home and in school, and nothing brings back more memories than this carpet.
“Thanks, Aunt Karen, for the gift for my birthday.”
Even as an adult, it’s hard to talk to people on the phone, but nothing was worse than when your mom made you call a relative to thank them for a gift. There was always that one relative who wanted to talk much longer than you expected, and you didn’t know how to politely end the conversation.
“Should I get up and go?”
When you went to your friend’s house and their parents yelled at them in front of you, it was the most uncomfortable thing you had ever done. You didn’t know what to do, so you had to just stand there and wait for the yelling to stop. Sometimes your friends got yelled at because of something you did, which made things even worse.
“Do you remember who I am?”
When your parents introduce you to someone who knew you when you were a baby and expect you to act like you remember them, it’s the most annoying thing they can do. “How am I going to remember you, Mary, if I was a baby? Since 1998, we haven’t seen each other.”
“Free Yourself, Little Leaf”
It was so much fun to watch these “helicopter” leaves fall. As they fell to the ground, they would spin around and around. As a child, you didn’t know what they were until you were older, but you thought they were cool toys.
The Place Where Pain Happens
The metal slide burned your skin, and the plastic slide gave you an electric shock like no other. The monkey bars made you feel like your fingers were broken, and the roundabout made it hard for you to see for a while. Even though it hurt, you kept going back to the playground every day, even though it was like a death trap.
“Haha, Sucker!”
In hide-and-seek, you’re lucky if the finder walks by you and doesn’t see you. You can finally breathe a sigh of relief as soon as they keep walking past your spot. The better your hiding spot, the prouder you can feel because it took them longer to find you.
Willing To Do Anything
Putting your feet on the edge of the pool and holding on to it was the best way to be ready to swim away at any time. You felt like a superhero getting ready for their big moment. It was also nice to feel like you were going against gravity and had no weight at all.
When the supermarket becomes the Indy 500
When you got to push the shopping cart, it was a big deal, and you could finally act like you were driving a race car. It was fun to go fast through the aisles and stand on the back of the cart like you were flying.
“In your stomach, a watermelon is going to grow.”
Did your older siblings ever tell you that if you ate a watermelon seed, a watermelon would grow in your stomach? Everyone thought it was true for a while and that a watermelon would grow. Every time you ate a seed, there was a small fear that fruits or vegetables would grow in your stomach.
“MOM! She’s Back at It!”
It’s a great way to annoy your siblings to act like them. When your brother or sister won’t stop copying you, it’s the most annoying thing in the world. Even if you try to tell your mom, they won’t stop because, like a superpower, they can keep going on and on.
Everything goes smoothly until you hit a lump of cement
This was the most fun thing to do between the cinderblocks as you walked through the school halls. It only hurt when your finger hit an uneven part of the wall. As you walked and talked with your friends between classes, it felt like your finger had to follow this exact path.
