January 27, 2020 | Samuel Ira

Nostalgic People Share The Childish Things They Still Do As Adults


We may grow older, but we never really stop being kids. Some say the secret to life is staying a kid at heart, and that's true in many ways. Adulthood is can be sad and depressing—life becomes all about work, making money to survive, and tending to responsibilities we never had to worry about as children. Doing childish things bring back memories of the good old days when all we really had to worry about was making sure our toys got along with each other and waking up early enough to catch the Saturday cartoons. Nostalgic people took to the internet to share the childish things they still do as adults, and their stories are absolutely adorable. They'll make you realize you're not the only one who craves to go on the swings or snuggle with a teddy bear at night.

Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!

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#1 Find The Quarter

My wife and I took our first trip without our kids in over a decade. For the first day, I did what a normal adult would do and jumped in the pool, swam around a bit, then sat on the deck chairs. By day two, I got bored with this. I bought a pair of goggles, grabbed a quarter, and played that game where you throw the quarter into the pool and then swim underwater to find it. Just as fun as I remember it being when I was a kid.

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 #2 A Good Luck Tradition

Growing up, my mom shared a good luck tradition she had of swiping her foot through an oil slick after the rain (to make that pretty rainbow thing). After my dad passed, she started taking a lot of walks and transitioned to thinking of extra crunchy leaves as happy thoughts being sent from him. She's coping like a champ. During autumn, I now go out of my way to shuffle through piles of leaves when I'm walking.

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#3 A Different Kind Of Joyride

I still run and hop onto the shopping cart through the aisles and parking lot. I'm 6'2 and I wait for when it's at least partially full so I don't end up on my butt again. The ride through the lot is downhill and a blast. And before anyone comes for me, yes, I make sure to put the shopping cart back to the cart return before I leave the lot.

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#4 Intentional Screeching

I still sometimes make tire screeching sounds when I go around corners. They're better out loud, but not so loud as to startle someone. Just loud enough to make them question: "Is that guy making engine and tire noises for his sneakers?" Unless it's filmed for the Internet, then it's better to be loud... if that makes any sense at all.

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#5 Sock Slides

The other night, my boyfriend and I had a contest in our kitchen and living room to see who could slide the furthest in our socks. We grabbed multiple different pairs to test which slid the best and used tape to mark our furthest distance. We are both 32. I highly recommend it. It's a great way to bond and maintain a healthy competitive drive between you and your partner.

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#6 Dust-Free Floors

When my husband and I were first married, we had no money to go out. We had an apartment with all wood floors, so one night we put on sweatpants and hoodies and took turns pulling each other around on the floor. It was a great time. We made sure to laundry our clothes afterward, though. At least our floors were dust-free at the end of it!

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#7 Superhero Roleplay

My wife and I lived in a three-bedroom apartment with two other people when we first started dating. In a rare occurrence, there was one night where we were going to be the only people in the apartment. We had the apartment to ourselves. A dream come true. What did we do you ask?  I found soundtracks for my wife to run down the hallway with, while she had a blanket tied around her neck.

She'd burst into the living room at full sprint and then immediately strike a superhero pose. You haven't lived until you see the love of your life running full-book with a star wars blanket for a cape down a hallway to the sounds of Flash by Queen. She is the defender of the Universe. I love that woman.

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#8 No Chairs Necessary

Sitting on the floor. If I stay too long, it becomes hard to get up and I have to stretch or risk a cramp. But there's something comforting to me about sitting on the floor. My wife's the same way—I'll sometimes see my wife on the floor in the kitchen just browsing through the internet and eating random stuff like a huge bowl of mashed potatoes. She's so cute sometimes.

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#9 Too Many Horror Movies

I run up my basement stairs still afraid of something coming to get me! It doesn’t matter whose house it is... Everyone has a bad person or monster in their basement waiting to grab me when I go upstairs. But he'll stop chasing me as soon as I get to the top of the steps and close the door. And for some reason, he's not there while the light is on.

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#10 A Shark Named Meatball

I just bought a giant stuffed shark from IKEA and named it Meatball. I fall asleep cuddling it often. My boyfriend goes to work before I get up and will hand it to me before kissing me bye. When I first saw them, I hunted for the cutest one and then jokingly stuck it in the child seat in the cart. I walked around with it like that for a while intending to put it back, but I fell in love with it.

#11 Pennywise In Your Mirror

Drawing on a steamed-up window or mirror. My husband drew a clown's face on the bathroom mirror shortly after I had gone to see It. That dang thing stayed there for months, despite multiple cleanings! I finally got rid of it, but I'm still afraid it's going to show up on some other reflective surface someday.

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#12 Widowmaker Pillow

I slept holding a teddy bear as a kid... like, for a LONG time. It just felt comfortable to cuddle with something in my arm. I don't have a teddy bear anymore, but I still do it with a pillow. Body pillows are amazing. My girlfriend made fun of me when she found out I sleep with two. One for both sides! She even bought me a Widowmaker body pillow cover...

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#13 Jedi Antics

I open automatic doors with the force and a little Jedi wave. I walked past a restaurant employee on the sidewalk doing this with some automatic windows. When our eyes met, he smiled and said: "With great power comes great responsibility." I want to be just like him when I grow up.

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#14 Live A Little

When I take my nephew and niece to the playground, I don't stand and watch with the other parents, I jump in and play too. I do this and other parents just stare at me like I'm crazy lol. Live a little!

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#15 Mr. Horse

My wife and I just moved to a rural area from a big city and we always yell “Look! deer, cows, horses, goats!” I'm not sure if this is childish, but I feel like it’s a sense of wonderment that children have. We drove the Ring Road in Iceland and there was this permanently horse that was a landmark we passed every day. Called him Mr. Horse.

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#16 Leaf Go Crunch

SO MANY THINGS. I think what some consider "childish" are just things that give life tiny moments of happiness. Step on a really crunchy leaf next time you're on a walk. Did that actually contribute anything to your life? Probably not. But did it make you happy? Heck yeah. Leaf go crunch.

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#17 Children's Cereal

I still buy children's cereal. Also, have you ever eaten an entire box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Me neither... I... um... put the cereal and milk in a tall glass and eat it that way... because then I can just drink the sugar milk that is left behind. I shouldn't be ashamed of this, but I am...

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#18 The Futurama Rotation

I still need to watch Futurama or old Simpsons episodes to wind down before sleep. I can literally quote every line, but somehow my brain is still comforted with it playing in the background. My wife doesn't get how I sleep through all the yelling when I do my Futurama rotation. Now I have to wear headphones.

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#19 Teddy Bear Comfort

I sleep with a teddy bear. I'm 28 and don't see a point in stopping. Otherwise, I clench up my arms and they'll hurt the next day. So I use my bear, who's become a perfectly molded pillow over all the years. Luckily, my husband doesn't think it's weird, I guess.

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#20 Stuffed Rabbits

My fiance and I have matching stuffed rabbits. I'm 26, he's 27, we got them just before Easter five years ago. Originally we only got one for me, but then he was jealous and wanted one too. They travel with us, and when he has work trips I send my rabbit with him and snuggle his one instead. On the rare occasions that we have to be without them, I wake up with my arm wrapped around a huge chunk of a blanket and a cold and grumpy fiance.

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#21 On All Fours

Sometimes when I go up to my stairs, I do it on all fours like I did when I was a little kid. I'm an adult and I have been doing this my whole life, but I've NEVER seen another adult do it. It always has me concerned for my... maturity. But then the internet people are just like me and I feel okay again.

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#22 LOTR Fantasies

I eat spaghetti-os on a semi-regular occasion. They’re tasty and if you add cheese, hot sauce and other things to it, they taste darn good. Also, not really childish, but I've been doing it since I was younger—when the LOTR movies came out, I'd pretend I’m Aragorn whenever I'd come across wooden doors as if I'm entering helms deep. I'd lean forward and open them really dramatically.

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#23 "Teef"

My husband wrote a checklist on the whiteboard. One of the tasks was: "Brush the dog's teeth." I changed it to "Brush the dog's teef" and I laugh every time I think about it. I don't know why he puts up with me.

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#24 Symmetry OCD

If my left foot lands on a dark tile, then my right foot must too at some point. It sometimes leads to awkward maneuvers where I do small zig zags or take a really short step followed by a really long step to keep the balance and my sanity. The same goes for cracks or expansion gaps in the sidewalk. Fortunately, as I’ve grown up this has mellowed out.

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#25 Prank Wars

My coworkers and I prank each other. If someone's away from their work station, the others will hide something there then make subtly hints at it when that person comes back. I recently had something taped to my light and they kept saying things like, "Could you shine some light on this situation?" Then they'd smirk until I catch on and find out.

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#26 Less Square

I've actually picked up a lot more "childish" things as I've grown older because I was this weird religious kid growing up who didn't enjoy anything except video games and reading. I'm much less of a square now, but I still stick around at home all day when not at work. Nowadays I am easily amused by dumb jokes, and often make food that would be 200% comfort food by indulging my inner child.

I wrapped a burger with bacon the other day because I could, and then put cream cheese on it because it was delicious. I also sleep under like five fluffy blankets just because I love soft things and can tolerate being occasionally too warm at night. It's like all the things you want to do as a kid are more possible now that you're an adult, so why not do them?

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#27 Cartoon Aficionado

I watch cartoons all the time. I watch cartoons while I work. Right now, I'm on Zootopia, Yellow Submarine, and Spirited Away. The DVDs are sitting on the desk, ready to play when my break is over.

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#28 Ticket Collecting

I went to my childhood arcade a few months ago. I was back in the state for a visit and happened to walk by. I decided to blow $20 on skeeball and whatnot. I ended up with a nice pile of tickets. I went to the counter and realized I really didn't need any plastic toys or gum. I thought about it for a minute, and then turned around and handed them to a random kid that was counting theirs up. I told him to enjoy them, then I went home.

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#29 Pokemon Bonding

My coworkers make fun of me for playing Pokemon. Not Go. Pokemon. My son got into it in the last couple of years, and my husband has always played. Every year for New Year's, we do a tournament battle set and divvy up snacks for the winners. Beats the heck out of a bunch of tipsy, slobbering strangers.

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#30 Swinging Joy

Swings! I'm a 38-year-old woman, but anytime I see a swing set, I have to take at least five mins to swing on them. I feel so much joy when I do, I feel so wonderfully free...I don't even care who looks at me funny when I do either because I'm in my own little happy place when I swing. Once a kid, always a kid!

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#31 Blanket Fort Fun

About once per year, when the weather gets chilly, my fiancé and I build a chair-and-blanket fort in the TV room and pit in with movies. It's usually semi-permanent (it lasts around one month) and is complete with air mattress, white Christmas lights, etc. It makes cold evenings feel cozy as heck, and the cats love it!

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#32 Layer By Layer

I still break my food apart as kids do. I'll pull my Oreo apart, then lick it, and then dunk it. I'll eat things layer by layer or section by section. It makes me enjoy it longer, but I only do this when I'm alone and not when I'm supposed to be adulting.

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#33 Fart Noises

I still make fart noises when people bend over near me. I’ve developed a technique where I can make the most beautiful sound of flatulence between my finger and thumb; most people don’t know I do it. And yes, somehow I am employed.

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#34 Corduroy Influence

I still anthropomorphize toys. For example, the last time I went to Goodwill, I ended up buying a little stuffed chicken for a quarter and getting my mom to sew the hole in his back up. I felt bad for him because he was perfectly fine besides the hole, but I was worried that if I didn’t take him home, no one else would and he might get thrown out or something. I think it has something to do with the fact that I’ve always loved the book Corduroy.

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#35 Poptarts And Bubble Gum

I still eat the edges of my pop tart first, then I'll pull them apart and eat the bottom, then the top... and if the mood is right, every once and a while, I will buy a bunch of bubble gum, try to stuff as many in my mouth as possible, and then blow a bubble as big as my face.

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#36 Remembering Grandma

My grandma made me a baby blanket, which she then sewed into my kid blanket when it became too small. Then, when I graduated high school, she made me a quilt with the kid blanket inside. Now that she has gone, that blanket inside a quilt is a really comforting piece of my life that I sleep under every night.

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#37 Mama Kitty

I had to have eye surgery when I was six. They let me take Mama Kitty (my stuffed cat) with me. When the surgery was done and my parents were allowed to come in to see me, they had put a surgical cap on Mama Kitty’s head, and put her at the foot of my bed.

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#38 Cuddle Buddy

I was dumped a few months ago and I'm still pretty bummed about it. One of the first nights after, I found my favorite childhood stuffy (I've had since I was a few months old) and I'll admit I held it all night while crying myself to sleep. It's still in my bed, and when I'm feeling particularly sad, I'll cuddle it.

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#39 Christmas Tradition

I go to Santa’s Village in New Hampshire every year. It’s a small amusement park very much geared for small children, but my best friend and I go every year and participate in everything we can.

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#40 Serious Hot Chocolate

I live in Seattle and don't like coffee. Instead, I drink hot chocolate and ask for extra whipped cream. I take the lid off of the cup, "steal" the whipped cream and then slowly drink the rest of the hot chocolate. I don't really like hot chocolate either, just the whipped cream. I do this while meeting with important business partners. Surprisingly, none of them judged me for it or called me unprofessional. In fact, they found it endearing and told me to "never change."

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#41 Grandpa's Mix

I drink 7-Up and orange juice mixed. You have to use a spoon to drink it, it's the rules. Not only is it super good, but it was something that was special with my grandpa and my siblings. Now that I'm an adult, I realize it was a really good way to keep a seven and 9-year-old quiet and distracted. I miss him every day and still have it on his birthday every year.

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#42 The Best Way To Live

Like, 92% of the things I did as a child, I do now but with an adult mindset. I never let the kid in me die out and I still have a blast even when everybody else is looking at me like I'm stupid. I'm 25. I don't care. Life is funny this way.

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#43 Rainboots And Tiaras

I have yellow rain boots and enjoy puddle jumping. I wear a tiara while I'm cleaning so I feel better about it.

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#44 Sleep Requirements

When I was a kid, I had this really heavy patchwork blanket that was ugly but I loved it. My mom hated it because it was so ugly. Think brown, orange and green corduroy squares. One day, when I was at school, she threw it away and gave me a lighter pretty blanket. I never quite got over it. To this day, I NEED a very heavy blanket to sleep. My room just has to always be cold enough for it. I need that feeling of weight all around me or I can't sleep. I will usually sleep very highly wrapped up so I can barely move, ever since I was a kid.

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#45 Save The Worms

I "save worms" I see in puddles on the sidewalk after it rains, so they don't dry out and die when everything dries out. I toss them on the grass. I don't know if it helps them, but I try.

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