after reading this thread “Do you miss your childhood?” , i’ve finally got an inkling after all this time as to why the girl in tom hanks’ ‘Big’ said something to the effect of “no, i’ve been there and i wouldn’t want to go through that again…”
i’m not sure if i want to hijack that thread, as it’s about reminiscing. so i’ll post the question here - if lord voltar (or whatever) gave you a chance to return to your childhood literally, would you? if no, why not? is childhood really so bad it’s not worth the second try in life?
Assuming I keep my current knowledge and personality (otherwise, what’s the point?), I expect that my childhood would be considerably improved this time… except for having to go through the 70’s again.
Even aside from the money-making opportunities, being able to view the situations of childhood with the knowledge and maturity I have now would take most of the sting out of the bad stuff.
There are several decisions I’d greatly benefit from making differently, although most of those didn’t come about until I was a teenager. I don’t see anything in my childhood so bad that I would pass up the chance to fix those things… not to mention getting years more “no responsibilities” time!
I was always a pretty poor excuse for a child, having the mind of a 40 year old depressive in a kid’s body. I’m probably less mature now I was then, in that I don’t take everything so seriously anymore. In conculsion, I was a total oddball, I was tormented mercilessly for it, so there’s NO WAY I’d go through again.
Most kids, from the perspective of childhood, think their life sucks. Now, from the vantage point of a 40-something woman, I know my life sucked! Do it again? Hell, no!! Not even if Lord Voltar offered to pay me!
I’m pretty happy now. I have a good marriage, 3 healthy (relatively so) kids, and, best of all, a home that feels safe to me. Why would I want to give all this up to go back to my sucky childhood?
My childhood was so bad that I would not go back willingly.
My parents should not have been allowed to breed. My father is evil and my mother is spineless. The combination is horrific.
You could argue that I would know more the second time and might be able to get myself out of the situation. Where would I have gone and who would I have told? I had no relatives and my mother knew what was happening in her house and didn’t care. The foster system was a joke… people didn’t take the kids word as gospel like they do today when abuse is alleged. And simply the thought of reliving having this smelly sweaty nasty man visiting me almost every night for years for the sexual favors my mother would not give is enough to make me want to vomit right now.
I’ve got a wonderful husband and my own safe home and a beautiful little girl with a little boy on the way. I wouldn’t give this up for anything… certainly not to go back to that… I survived once but I don’t know if I could do so again.
My life now is still affected by the things I remember in my childhood that for the life of me I can’t seem to just let go of.
The problem is that in reliving it I would still be in situations in which I had no power. Being at the mercy of people who really don’t have your best interests in mind is not pleasent.
I only pray my daughter doesn’t grow up to look back on her childhood the way I do.
You couldn’t pay me enough to be a kid again. I didn’t have a terrible childhood or anything - I had a great home life - but I was an insecure dork who got his ass kicked on a semi-regular basis and never understood why all the other kids were so different from me. I always related better to an adults than kids, but I could never be taken seriously by adults or do cool adult things (like driving) as a kid. I spent most of my childhood wanting to be an adult, and now that I’ve reached that stage, I’d never want it any other way.
No, no, and no. If I went back to being a child, which would be okay, I’d then have to deal with middle school again, and if I were put back into an environment like THAT again I think I’d kill myself just to get out.
Note that I am not suicidal, but the $%*# that kids are expected to put up with because they’re kids and kids are like that is unreal. I’m a bit surprised I WASN’T suicidal at the time.
If I knew then what I know now, and if I could be assured of being in the same place I am now at my age (I hope that makes sense), then maybe. If I had to risk, say, not being married to the person I am married to–then no way.
When I was a kid, I got through all the crap by telling myself that it wouldn’t last forever, that I would have a decent life someday. I was right–more than right–but it would have been nice to know that for sure, rather than just planning/hoping. Plus it would be nice to redo some things that I didn’t do the right way the first time around.
I always thought it would be neat to relive childhood so I could go back to my old childhood places and relive memories. But if I had the mind that I have now, it would be pretty awkward. I wouldn’t get along with any of my friends because they would still be little kids while I would be a mature adult. I wouldn’t get along with anyone, and of course adults wouldn’t take me seriously. That is, until I show them that as a little kid I can do calculus and have an adult vocabulary, not to mention tell the future. Then I’ll truly be an outcast, but at least I’ll be famous!
Are you saying magically jump back into your child self with the knowledge of the life you’ve already lived? Or asking if we would like to rewind back that far and start again.
The first, yes, for the extra years of being alive if nothing else.
Though I was much like Jennyrosity’s if I could keep my current knowledge and wisdom I would. But I sure as hell wouldn’t want to experience it all again in the same way as before.
I would maybe go back for one day, that would be fine and I would probably enjoy not having any responsibilities. But truth be told, I wasn’t very good at being a kid the first time around. I remember a sense of being perpetually frustrated that adults made all the good decisions.
I even remember that when I was around 4 or so, I somehow got the idea that when you were old enough to go to school, you were old enough to get your own apartment. I was so excited! I finally mentioned this to my mom, wondering when I should start packing my stuff, and was dismayed to learn that there was no Dream House in my near future.
Yea! What whiterabbite said! I had a happy childhood. I’d do that again. But be a teenager again? No way. It’s not the my teenage years were any worse than those of most other people. I just happen to think that being a teenager sucks!
Is anyone happy between the ages of 13 and 21? I sure wasn’t. I was insecure, going through a growth spurt, full of hormonal over-emotionalism, and I thought I knew everything (which wouldn’t have been such a problem except that my “truth” frequently was in opposition to other people’s “truth”–and they were old enough to make the rules).
I might, but the temptation to be a bully would be too great. I was picked on a lot when I was a kid, and still carry a lot of resentment about letting people jerk me around. I think if I had the chance to do it again, I’d overcompensate and fly off the handle when someone so much as touches me.
Though, it would be nice to go through it aware that when kids bashed me on my talents and hobbies, I would have the knowlege that they were terribly jealous of me, but made my talents feel worthless to me by belittling me about it.
It depends. Are you talking about reliving one’s childhood exactly as it was, or are you talking about having another, better childhood? I’d do it only if I could have a better childhood than I had. I would have liked to go to a different elementary school, junior high, and high school. Also, I would only do it if I could avoid the “kindly children’s dentist” who molested me from ages seven through nine.
