If you could be a child again, would you?

[imscaredpleasehelp]

YABU- I wouldn't
YANBU- in a heartbeat

I would. I miss running to the otherwise of the playground because walking was too slow. or walking along walls because the floor was too boring. Stuff like that. I read quite a lot of books written from a child's perspective. And listen to the hits from when I was about 5-8 whereas my DH listens to music from his teens and early twenties. My parents have said they would go back to being a young adult over a child.

I am in the midst of child rearing but when this is over I suppose I would long for these years and might forget about my own childhood.

This has made me realise just how lucky I was to have such a great childhood. My DM was a single parent to me and my brother, and we were quite poor, but we had the BEST times. Our house was full of so much love and laughter and I'm grateful for every second of it.

Yes, I often think that childhood was the best part of life, even though objectively there were aspects of my childhood that were traumatic and my home life was dysfunctional due to my dad's issues.

But on the whole being a child was great...it's just a whole different mindset to any other stage of life. The sense of wonder, the imagination, the ability to play, the freedom, the innocence, having your whole life ahead of you and the feeling that anything is possible. You're entertained by simple things and everything is fun.
You can't ever get that back, no matter how good life is as an adult.

Also, I grew up in another country and am very nostalgic for it, even though I don't necessarily want to live there now as an adult.
It was a very communal way of life - the whole neighbourhood sitting out on benches in the evenings, lots of playgrounds and hordes of children playing out from morning until darkness, watched over by the local grannies...long, hot summers, 3 1/2 months of summer holidays and lots of days when you completely lost track of time...climbing trees and picking fruit, going swimming in outdoor pools, eating watermelon and huge ripe tomatoes bought from roadside sellers. Everything was full of life and sunshine.
In winter there was sledging and skiing, and going to school, which I enjoyed because I liked learning and being with friends all day. Lots of get togethers with extended family, tables laden with food.
Then we emigrated and over the years my older relatives died and the younger ones are scattered around the world. Our old home in the lively neighbourhood is sold.
I have a nice life now but adult life involves lots of tedium and obligations, and I've never been able to re-capture the feeling of belonging and lightness that I had as a child.
I'd love to go back even just for a day and live in my old neighbourhood with all my family still there, and really appreciate it rather than taking it for granted.

Only if I could be adopted by a nice, normal family.

Hell no. All that crap about school days being the best years of your life. For me they were pretty hellish. Some aspects of my home life were good. Some not. Going to university was like getting out of prison. I much prefer the autonomy of being an adult, even with all its contingent responsibilities.

Not my childhood it was horrific and no control over what happened. Someone else's yes

@ShoebillStork

Oh yes, in a heartbeat! I'd be 8, 9 or 10 again, my mum would be alive and vibrant (she died when I was a teen). The 6 week holiday would be stretching ahead, going to the park with friends with the instruction to be home for tea. Spending hours reading. Being bored often and no one fussing

Ours was when the street lights came on. I remember rushing home after mot realising they had been on and wondering how late I was... expected a bollocking but my mom and dad weren't sat at the window watching for the street lights to change as I had thought

Definitely no.

If I could go back knowing what I know now - absolutely.

Last night I caught a few moments of an old film I had watched many years ago with my brother in our teens and ended up quite tearful because I remembered not only how we laughed at it but also the sense of freedom and no responsibilities and the promise life seemed to offer at that time.... I think it's also mixed up with a feeling of slight sadness because I don't see him that much and we shared a childhood that was quite difficult in places

I wouldn't mind the chance to spend one more summer with my lovely Dad. He's been dead for many years and I miss him every day.

I'd go back if I could have a normal childhood where I wasn't abused.

I can't imagine what that must be like.

No, not unless I could go back to different people and experiences.

Yes I would. I'm so sorry that there are so many people who had horrible childhoods

Not as a child, but id go back to when I turned 16 at a hotel, in Cornwall I think it was, I have a rough plan of how I'd redo events.

I would if I could rewrite the script and be in the hands of decent, trust worthy adults that listened and acknowledged.
I have a unrelenting inner child because of abuse, some sexual that I am now addressing with a very capable psychoanalyst.
I would no way endure the same of what I had though.
I feel the same as @felulageller

Nope. A young adult = yes definitely.

No way, I’d go back to being in my late teens/early 20s though.

I'd like to be a child, not so much 'again' as 'starting tomorrow'.

I think the world is going to be a fascinating place in the next hundred years or so. Yes - many problems to sort out, but also tremendous advances in medicine, technology, scientific knowledge, art.

People my age often say, "I feel sorry for the youngsters today." I don't. I envy them. And I have faith in them too.

And, okay, I don't expect this to be a widely-supported view here. Go ahead. Rip it up....

Nope. Hated my childhood & not particularly keen on adulthood either tbh..

@ShoebillStork Awh that's lovely.
I'd go back in time to hug my DM too hopefully with the knowledge of how much I love her now.
Luckily I was an adult.
Your post is sad but filled with love. ❤

Fuck no. No power, no control, at the mercy of fuckwits making decisions for you. Being a child is shit.

No.

Before the age of 7 my childhood was horrific.

Beyond it it was good.

With social media, accessible porn and the expectation that has brought on sex, and the lack of playing out/places to play I wouldn't be a kid now for anything, especially not a girl.

Aged 11, I was the first in my family to pass the 11 plus and the first to go to grammar school. I hated it. Pretty much downhill from there

Same. I shudder at the memory of the awful years I spent there.

[quote EmeraldShamrock]@ShoebillStork Awh that's lovely.
I'd go back in time to hug my DM too hopefully with the knowledge of how much I love her now.
Luckily I was an adult.
Your post is sad but filled with love. ❤[/quote]

No way, I’d go back to being in my late teens/early 20s though.

This, yes actually. Those years, uni and short-term projects overseas were great times.