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Original poster

Could you float down the stairs as a child?

370 replies

EbbyEbs · 09/09/2022 19:46

Light hearted

Do you have a memory of floating down the stairs as a child? Someone mentioned it to me earlier and I have the same memory! anyone know what I’m on about?

OP posts:
LangClegsInSpace · 09/09/2022 21:36

pinok · 09/09/2022 20:48

Thing is, I can remember certain dreams I had as a child and know they were dreams/remember experiencing them as dreams, including other ‘common’ childhood dreams.

The flying is the only one that definitely feels like a memory and something that ‘happened’. So intriguing to me that many others are saying the exact same thing!

Yes this. I had lots of swimming in air and levitation dreams too, but they had a different quality. They always felt like dreams.

Even now (I am over 50), floating down the stairs still feels like a memory, not a dream. I know it's irrational bobbins but part of me still thinks I just didn't do it right that time age 3 when I fell downstairs, and if only I could remember the knack I could still do it now 😂

I'm sure it's some kind of mix up between dreams, fantasies, memories of being carried and reality, and young children's brains are going through such rapid change that in itself, this is unremarkable.

What I find interesting is that this one particular mix up - knowing you could float down the stairs - is so common. 71% say YANBU.

Chouetted · 09/09/2022 21:37

I used to fly round the school playground and couldn't understand why the teachers weren't impressed Sad

GremlinDolphin4 · 09/09/2022 21:37

Yes I did this but went down head first like flying a couple of feet off the stairs. The memory is so strong of actually doing it and what it felt like but it must have been dreams!

I used to have lots of flying dreams, flying very fast about 3ft of the ground or having to escape something and go straight up high. Wish I could have these dreams now!

SettingsO · 09/09/2022 21:39

Oh my god - I read the thread title and thought - yes, I would sort of skid down the stairs with just the backs of my heels brushing the steps. It’s only reading everyone else’s replies is making me think maybe it was a dream Confused

user764329056 · 09/09/2022 21:42

Have recurring flying dreams, wonder if they have a meaning …….

QueenTaTe · 09/09/2022 21:43

I read someone’s opinion on this and why we all have the same memory. She said it being one of the earliest memories you have and it’s from a parent carrying you down the stairs as a baby.

Mummyoflittledragon · 09/09/2022 21:43

O11 · 09/09/2022 20:41

That's exactly what everybody is describing. I think we must lose the ability as we get older

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I do wonder this as well. I used to dream I could hover on the ceiling, if I cycled my legs I could fly high in the air and a couple of times, I got inside a wardrobe and got out the other side of the top cupboard of a different wardrobe in a completely different country. And no it wasn’t Narnia. 🙈 And I’m not Mr Ben either.

LuluBlakey1 · 09/09/2022 21:44

Yes, not just float but fly and not just on the stairs. Really strong memories.

Mummyoflittledragon · 09/09/2022 21:45

I still dream about hovering btw. When I was a kid I thought it was real. I still get confused if I have a dream.

Siepie · 09/09/2022 21:45

CurrentHun · 09/09/2022 20:03

Yes absolutely this. Also doing tumble turns on the walls in rooms and swimming around through the air in various rooms. Not a young childhood dream because I wasn’t taught any swimming until secondary school.

Yes, me too! Although I was younger when I started swimming. I can still "remember" exactly how it felt

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 09/09/2022 21:46

Omg, I’ve just opened this thread, I honestly thought I was unique in this and have never spoken about it.

Goldenbrowns · 09/09/2022 21:47

I had the flying dream quite a few times when I was younger-each time the same-I would ‘remember’ I could bend my knees and push off with my feet and off I’d go. Such a vivid feeling.
I haven’t had it for years now

HopeSpringsInfernal · 09/09/2022 21:47

Yes - quite often when I was a child! I'd just lift my foot up and drift down very gently.

Pawpatrolwereonaroll · 09/09/2022 21:47

TruffleShuffles · 09/09/2022 19:49

I know exactly what you are on about, I would imagine propelling myself off the handrail and then float to the bottom. I still dream about it now.

Yes, this

Chouetted · 09/09/2022 21:47

SettingsO · 09/09/2022 21:39

Oh my god - I read the thread title and thought - yes, I would sort of skid down the stairs with just the backs of my heels brushing the steps. It’s only reading everyone else’s replies is making me think maybe it was a dream Confused

No, I definitely did that too, frequently, and until I was 10 or so.

My parents hadn't bothered to nail the stair carpet down, so it was an excellent slide Grin

toobusytothink · 09/09/2022 21:48

Yes! As pp said - I had my hand on the balcony and took a jump and kind of glided all the way down to the bottom. I know it’s impossible but I’m convinced I could do it!!!

BrutusMcDogface · 09/09/2022 21:49

Oh my goodness!! I used to run down the stairs so fast that I’d take off and skip a few- floating above them!! I was such a cautious child (wuss) that I would never have really been so kamikaze as to fling myself down them- unless I was floating! How bizarre!

Suzi888 · 09/09/2022 21:50

I know what you mean. Also whilst running, covering more land than you possibly ever could have…. If that makes any sense! I think it’s because we were lighter, physically and mentally.

AdoraBell · 09/09/2022 21:50

Floating? No, but I do remember creeping down the stairs for midnight snacks.

ChangePlease · 09/09/2022 21:51

I still have flying dreams and used to have the same one all the time as a child, dreaming (it feels so real though!) about flying around the garden

LangClegsInSpace · 09/09/2022 21:53

PomPomSugar · 09/09/2022 20:53

I do recall this. But I also recall waking up to the shouts of ‘supper‘ after falling asleep after school. I got to the top of the stairs and thought ‘ah I’ll just fly down this time’. Crash landed at the bottom of the stairs with a broken collar bone.

They should include it as a category in the accident statistics - 'child believed they could fly downstairs.'

I'd be interested to know how common this is.

ALongHardWinter · 09/09/2022 21:53

I don't remember'floating' down the stairs,but I do recall jumping down them. I was copying my 2 older brothers,and on one occasion that I can just about remember,I jumped down the bottom 3 steps and bit my tongue so hard as I landed that I nearly bit it right off! 🤢 I had to have 7 stitches in it.

Echobelly · 09/09/2022 21:53

I definitely dreamed about this as a child, but I have no sense of it actually having happened.

Mummyoflittledragon · 09/09/2022 21:54

Winceybincey · 09/09/2022 21:05

It’s astral projection. Some think it’s a load of bollox but there’s many people who do it on a regular basis. Takes practise as an adult though. There’s a sub on Reddit where loads of people give there experiences. Also look up Robert Monroe. He’s an experienced projector and has a training institute. The CIA sent military for training there in the 60’s and 70’s so they could remote view. It worked. Apparently the consciousness of a child is so pure and not yet conditioned so they can do it easily without trying. Fascinating stuff.

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I’ll make a note of that. Thanks. Interesting.

KittyEmK · 09/09/2022 21:56

Yes?! I thought it was an out of body experience!