People Are Sharing What They Miss Most About Childhood, And It Might Just Make You Feel Nostalgic

"Now? Fun takes effort and planning, friends, some money, and a whole lot of time. But hey, that’s life."

Being a kid can be a lot of fun — and when you get older, sometimes you think back on what childhood was like and you go, "Well, that was nice."

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U/MellyNova recently asked the people of Reddit, "Which childhood feeling do you remember and/or miss the most?" Pull up a chair and let's take one big stroll down memory lane:

1. "Being genuinely excited for something, without any thoughts of all the shit I need to do to make it happen."

—u/normalmeatbasedhuman

2. "Summer. It was a release of literally every stress) in my life. The only things I 'had' to do were get up early for swim team during the week, and whatever chores my dad would make us do on the weekends. Other than that, the whole summer was doing basically whatever I wanted: Going to the pool every afternoon, running around the neighborhood with my friends, front yard baseball with metal bats and a tennis ball, touch football, bike rides, capture the flag, flashlight tag at night. I’ll always be grateful to my parents for that period of my life. I never had to worry about anything. Summer was just pure bliss. It’s a shame that so many children have to worry about things like getting fed, angry parents at home, and violence in their communities. Even if you get rich as an adult and don’t have to work, you’ll never be able to attain that level of literally being carefree again."

—u/ShitfacedGrizzlyBear

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3. "Being healthy and my body being able to do things. I was so oblivious to how lucky I was."

—u/onesmilematters

4. "Hugging my mom. I miss the feeling of hugging my mom and just feeling this total relaxation, like everything will be okay."

—u/Quarantined4you

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5. "Waking up on a Saturday morning with a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and laying on the living room carpet with my pillow to watch Saturday morning cartoons."

—u/UncleGrako

6. "How easy it was to have fun. Having fun was so easy as a kid. Everything felt fun. Throwing and catching a ball was fun. Mediocre TV shows were fun. Repetitive grind-y video games were fun. Now? Fun takes effort and planning, friends, some money, and a whole lot of time. But hey, that’s life."

—u/Ignoth

7. "Having school cancelled for snow and coming back inside to a warm house from a long day of sled riding and snowball fights for a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket."

—u/UncleGrako

Francesca Russell / Getty Images/Cavan Images RF

8. "I miss playing mermaids with my younger sister and having this multi-year plot with lore and characters. We played every summer when we'd get the pool back up, and we'd continue pretending to be mermaids."

—u/tea_leaftea

9. "Having true free time. It is likely the only time of my life I will likely have true freedom. No job, no emails, no projects, no bills, no one depending on me. I have a great life and wouldn’t trade it for the world, but sometimes it is exhilarating to even imagine that level of freedom."

—u/Coffeearing

10. "Ugh, Christmas magic. I always feel a little sad on Christmas now."

—u/ChGaTyler

Iurii Krasilnikov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

11. "Genuinely believing the future would be better."

—u/pinniped1

12. "Falling in love for the first time, before you have emotional scarring. When love pours over your clean slate and all the gaps in your life are filled with love, attention, and kindness. I miss the feeling of being whole, and being loved for being yourself."

—u/Padmei

13. "The complete lack of social media."

—u/OwlsNSpace

14. "Going to Blockbuster to rent a video game."

—u/DopeyParrot

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15. "Finding everything so funny and random. I never laugh uncontrollably the way I used to."

—u/Vippeh

16. "Being well-rested and energized. Even in retirement I haven't felt that."

—u/wheelie423

Maskot . / Getty Images/Maskot

17. "Not needing glasses yet and not having eye damage. Waking up and just being able to see right away was amazing."

—u/Eternal_Bagel

18. "The feeling in the air during fall afternoons. I remember getting home from school and just smelling the temperature dropping, seeing holiday decorations going up, and being so excited for everything that was to come — specifically, the feeling of getting out of school on Halloween. The chill air, the excitement of getting your costume on and meeting up with friends, the fun night ahead, all of it. I still love the fall and try to recreate that childhood joy as much as possible. When the air first starts to change, I still feel a hint of that childhood feeling. There’s just something about autumn."

—u/barbie_tree

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19. "That first crush. Eyes wide, flustered, the world on mute even though it's crowded with noise. The rejection afterward, but the comfort knowing you found the right person at the wrong time."

—u/wave2earl

20. "The first day of school was always fun. After that, not so much."

—u/scotthia

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Agree? Disagree? Have your own additions? See you in the comments!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.