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Original poster

Things that you used to do as a child repetitively and now think "WTF?!"

433 replies

ConfusedPixie · 18/09/2013 20:40

The hot chocolate thread got me thinking about this. For some reason, I used to tip a full glass of water onto the carpet, the same patch of carpet, every single day. No clue why. I was asked to stop, but I just did it anyway Confused

I ate chalk too, like the chalk kids draw with. Both of these things happened until high school age?!

Anything utterly random and repetitive you may have done?

OP posts:
KneesoftheBee · 18/09/2013 22:19

Put my tongue on the end of batteries Blush

Patosshades · 18/09/2013 22:18

I used to have a small screw that I would twist into the wooden window sill in my bedroom. It was covered in holes and I would collect the sawdust I produced. At the same time I would completely deny I was doing it Confused

I stopped completely when my parents had the windows and sills replaced probably under threat of murder from my mother

Original poster
ConfusedPixie · 18/09/2013 22:18

"I also, until very recently in fact, could only sleep when my duvet was fully wound under my toes, so that no spiders could creep up my toes at night and bite me in the leg a la Arachnaphobia!"

You are the only person I have ever heard of who does this too! I am beyond myself with excitement at that purely so I can tell DP "Up yours!" because he thinks I'm a blanket-stealing toe-wiggling paranoid muppet.

I have to have the blanket wraped under my feet and tucked in around me. I have only very recently started being able to wear socks to bed which has stopped me doing it so much under my feet but I still have it tucked in around my sides.

This stems from a childhood fear that snakes would get into my bed. For the same reason I would never have the window of my bedroom open until last year as a child at night.

I would be paranoid about spiders crawling into my mouth or ears as I slept so would cover my mouth and ears too.

OP posts:
Sharptic · 18/09/2013 22:17

This thread is hilarious!

I'm not sure if this counts but, I had this weird phobia of eating everything on my bed in my sleep. So if there we're any toys nearby or mum put my clothes on my bed for the next day,I'd go to sleep worrying that they'd be in my stomach when I woke up.

I was a greedy kid

BeckyBrandon · 18/09/2013 22:17

Used to lock myself in the bathroom and put some water in the sink, then add EVERYTHING i could find, shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, shower gel, tooth paste, mouth wash, and always lastly, talc... lots of it, to turn it all into a paste.

Then when my mum would come knocking asking what I was up to I used to shit myself trying to get it to all go down the plughole Grin

Last0rdersAtTheBra · 18/09/2013 22:17

I used to twirl my hair into knots, my parents gave me a really severe haircut in the end, which appeared to stop it. In fact, it just made me slightly more careful about really tying it in knots and I still twiddle it a lot now.

I was also a horse until I was about 12.

My sister and I used to play barbies by throwing them out the window, then making plaster casts out of loo roll (goes satisfyingly hard if you get it wet then let it dry), probably considered an early sign of serial killers (or nurses) in the making (we are neither). We also used random product names in our imaginary games, Timotei was a hero, Jojoba a total villain.

And I wonder why my kids seem a bit odd at times...

Queenofknickers · 18/09/2013 22:16

I used to paint my fingers with pva for the joy of peeling it off! I also used to lick keys..... My fingers all had genders/family roles etc as well - in my defence I was an only child.....Blush

EduCated · 18/09/2013 22:16

And I still bite skin off my lips and from round my fingernails.

Iwaswatchingthat · 18/09/2013 22:16

Sort my smarties into colours before eating them in rainbow order. Blush

MacaYoniandCheese · 18/09/2013 22:16

Oh...I have so many.

I used to do this weird, scissoring kind of motion with my hands on any type of fabric that felt cool between my fingers; bed-sheets, the table-cloth, blankets with satin edging or any kind of silky-ish fabric.

I was an undiagnosed narcoleptic and would fall asleep at any evening gathering, during films, at restaurants up until the age of about ten Blush.

Using felt-tip pens as pretend 'cigarettes'.

Pretending that my brother was a dog.

Pretending I was giving birth to Tiny-Tears.

Trying to make ballet shoes out of paper and then getting frustrated when they didn't work.

CleoBrown · 18/09/2013 22:16

Grin alltoomuch we ate dog biscuits, even the meaty ones

RoonilWazlibWuvsHermyown · 18/09/2013 22:15

Had to happen to me eventually I suppose Grin Mine was a bad habit too. I started doing it without thinking again recently (not collecting them though!) but dd starting to copy me has stopped that! I'm still Grin at the thought of collections being found. Did you tell him they were yours pixie?

EduCated · 18/09/2013 22:15

What is it with flannel sucking? I'd forgotten I ever I'd that! Can taste it now.

I used to wipe my nose on my rm, wait til it dried then pick it off Blush And I used to bite pine furniture. The wardrobe, chest of drawers, the dressing table and the bathroom stool at my parents all have little teeth marks in them.

alltoomuchrightnow · 18/09/2013 22:14

and it wasn't real chocolate

alltoomuchrightnow · 18/09/2013 22:13

eat my aunt's dogs chocolate drops. For years.

alltoomuchrightnow · 18/09/2013 22:13

ah yes the PVA glue!

alltoomuchrightnow · 18/09/2013 22:12

i ate soap. a lot. Confused My mum always knew, due to the teethmarks. I was very small , grew out of it

Original poster
ConfusedPixie · 18/09/2013 22:11

Aha! Love the name change fail, no shame here Roonil Wink

I was horrified when he found some! What's worse is that it was a very bad habit, and the habit of touching my nose has stayed with me and on occasion I find myself reaching to pick and have to stop myself and remind myself that I broke that habit as a child! Well, swapped it for nail biting. I finally managed to drop that habit a month ago!

Another I remember! I would use the nail clippers to clip a chunk of skin from the tops of my fingers, a rectangular chunk. I'd take off as much as I could without hurting myself and would usually chew the skin afterwards Hmm I gave myself bonus points if I managed to cut the skin through the middle but the short bits at the end were both still attached to the skin.

OP posts:
AnnieLobeseder · 18/09/2013 22:10

My DD, from tiny, used to pick fluff off toys, blankets, clothes, anything really, and stuff it up her nose. Her favourite soft toy, a lion, no longer has a mane and has a bald tail.

I dread to think what's in her lungs!

alltoomuchrightnow · 18/09/2013 22:10

yes to the biting and sucking of wet flannels! bro and I used to have tugs of war with our mouths, doing this! even though sometimes it nearly pulled our teeth out or the winner would hit head on the bathroom tiles Once as an adult i bit down on a sopping flannel and it was oddly comforting goes to find flannel

picnicbasketcase · 18/09/2013 22:09

That was to Early's record thing btw

neverputasockinatoaster · 18/09/2013 22:09

I used to eat raw bacon.

In art at school I used to paint my hands with the pva and then sit and peel it off joyously while the teacher read a story.

CleoBrown · 18/09/2013 22:08

Another flannel sucker and wannabe horse here too - I was a horse for hours around my estate, ignored all attempts from friends to try and play Blush

I also, until very recently in fact, could only sleep when my duvet was fully wound under my toes, so that no spiders could creep up my toes at night and bite me in the leg a la Arachnaphobia!

picnicbasketcase · 18/09/2013 22:08

That is brilliant Grin

ALadyHippo · 18/09/2013 22:08

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