What do you miss the most

@dorannmwin (36392)
United States
June 7, 2010 12:26pm CST
from when you were a child? Today was my daughter's first day of her first summer on the swim team at one of our local pools. I'm very excited for her, but also jealous to a certain extent as well. When I was growing up I was on the swim team at a different pool for seven years and it really is one of the things that I miss the most from being a child. I broke my ankle when I was eight years old and so for most intents and purposes, my athletic career was over. But, my doctor recommended swimming and that is the reason that I joined a swim team for the first time. I really, really loved it and in addition to swimming on the community team during the summers, I also swam on the high school team from the time that I was in 7th grade until I graduated from high school. I look forward to hearing about the things that you miss the most from being a child.
2 people like this
22 responses
@dawnald (85129)
• Shingle Springs, California
8 Jun 10
I don't miss being small and powerless. I do miss not having to work, not having to make hard decisions, not having to be strong for other people. As for fun things I miss, family vacations (as the child), hide and seek, riding my bike, swinging, just doing nothing for hours on end...
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85129)
• Shingle Springs, California
9 Jun 10
I don't miss that either. And my kids don't even know what they're missing!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
True, there are definitely benefits to being an adult as well as there are things that we do miss.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I definitely don't miss being told that children were expected to be seen and not heard. I didn't even think about this one until I read what you had to say about what you don't miss.
1 person likes this
• China
9 Jun 10
I miss the time when i was a child having those weekends with all freedom.I was born in a small village. Those days seemed always sunny after school. Sometimes i followed my cousin to go fishing, and most of time i got nothing on my hook, but it was also quite interesting that maybe i just like fishing but fish. I still remember the surface of the resveroir glittered likd silver; the sun was hot; the breeze in the summer was full of sweet smell of various plants. Sometimes we would climb the hills in our village. If it was summer, we would drill into the woods to find wildfruit, flowers or some other adventrures. If winter, we would follow the footprints of pheasants, hares or others in the snowfield. Althouth never get anything, we still felt pretty excited. I also played games with neighbour's child. Urusrally we pretended as fairies with shawls under plums which bloomed like heavy snow, and the petals under the moonlight sent out the fragrance making us revel in joy, that feeling was amazing as you are real a fairy. Those days have gone so fast that we can only aftertaste this when we feel alone and tired to find something make us smiling as a child. Anyway life wont be that easy any more... think so much but poor english...hope you can understand~~~~
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I certainly can understand. You've painted such a vivid image with your words that I didn't even notice that English is not your primary language.
• China
10 Jun 10
Thank you dorannmwin, you take me back to my hometown, like a short trip of dreams.
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
8 Jun 10
dorannmwin, I basically grew up in food paradise and I miss those traditional dishes and desserts. Nowadays, they just do not make them like they used to when I was a child. One of them is ice shaving balls. It is basically a dessert where it is made up of ice shavings with sweet red beans fillings in the center, colored with sweet syrups of various colors and sweetened condensed milk. It costs $0.05 each and we will be holding it with our bare hands licking and munching into the sweetened shavings whilst trying to get into the sweet red bean fillings. On any day I would finish 4 at one go and it is really finger licking good. Due to the demands of an improved hygiene standard this dessert was no longer permitted and hence disappeared when I was 8 years old.
• Singapore
9 Jun 10
dorannmwin, I am sure if your authorities could allow this form of dessert, it would be a confirm sellout. It is really delightful, fun and tasty!! Reminds me of snowball in winter but where I am from we do not have winters much less, snow. So, this is actually very refreshing as well. Just holding it in our hands can simply make one forget about the humid heat of the tropics.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
That sounds like it would have been a wonderful treat to have enjoyed. I don't think I've ever seen anything similar in my life, but I wish that I would because it would be wonderful (especially with the weather we've been having).
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
You are probably right. I really like your comparing it to a snowball in the winter. This makes it much more real to me.
@Yori88 (1465)
• Philippines
9 Jun 10
What I miss the most during my childhood are the days that my great grandmother brings me to the market place. She does not always do that but do to my insistent demand, she just obey my wish. She loves me so much and I was her favorite of all her grand children and great grand children. I can still recall those days wherein we buy a lot of stuff because we had a mini store in the province. Those were years 1992-1998. Those six years were my grade school years. Because when I went high school I can already go on my own to the market at age 12 by that time. I really miss her so much. I miss those foods I asked her to buy and the toys as well. I miss those times she brought me comics and coloring books. She was the one who forced me to memorize a book when I was 5 years old. So I never entered kindergarten, prep or even nursery. After a month of turning 6 years old I was already in grade one. Anyway my great grandmother passed away in May 2002. I just miss her. And now I have my own family, I live here in the city and left the province after her burial, same month May 2002.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I was blessed enough to have known one of my sets of great-grandparents and I consider myself blessed for that. However, I'm not so lucky as to have wonderful memories that I shared with my great-grandparents.
• India
8 Jun 10
i miss my school time ,my school friends.those moments of enjoyment...those days of freedom..playing..roaming ...enjoymen of life without any responsibilities and without any fear...i miss my days with my paa and maa..with my sister and brother...i really miss my all those beautiful days i had spent with my family and friends
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
That does remind me of another thing that I miss from my childhood. When I was a little girl we used to go to my grandparent's house at least one weekend a month and I would get to see all of my cousins. Now that we are grown, it is odd that I have the opportunity to see them and I honestly miss them.
@karen1969 (1779)
8 Jun 10
Oh, I can definitely relate!! I was a competitive gymnast when I was younger and I still love the sport, though I am now too old and overweight to do much gymnastics myself anymore. I miss being slim, fit, able to do all those moves and skills myself. My favourite move was a free cartwheel which is a cartwheel without putting your hands on the floor, a bit like a side somersault. I loved doing them, it felt like flying and I miss that so much. I still dream about being able to do them and what it feels like.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I never had the opportunity to be a gymnast (perhaps that is the reason that it is so important for me to give that opportunity to my children). However, for me the feeling of the starting block under my feet and the feeling of flying when diving into the pool is something that I really, really miss.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
That is a great point. Never thought about it that way.
@karen1969 (1779)
9 Jun 10
So both of us could fly, one way or another!
@VotreAmie (3028)
• United States
8 Jun 10
I miss the time I was at school with a lot of friends. Life used to be fun and we had a lot of good time. I am not saying that I can not have fun anymore but it was so easier back then, I could laugh at any joke, now it really needs to be super funny to make me smile. Those days, I also had much more time to myself, in the week ends I slept until 10 am, not anymore ! Life is more serious now. Take care.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
You are right, we still have the potential of being able to have fun, but there is nothing that is nearly as simple as it was back in those days.
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
13 Jun 10
I miss being able to wake up every day during the summer and ride my bicycle every day with my friends. I also miss having my family living at home together.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
14 Jun 10
As an adult I lived with my mother and siblings for a time and it wasn't anything the same like it was when I was a child. Now if I could live with them and go back to the simpler times, then I would be happy.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
8 Jun 10
hi dorannmwin this may sound silly but I miss real home grown fresh veggies and fruits, I miss not going down to our large farm garden and eating a ripe sun warmed tomato. I miss not being able to pick up a ripe canteloupe and cut it open and eat ripe fruit,not almost ripe but really ripe fruit. no pesticides we grew our food all organic. I miss picking fresh strawberries in the dewy morning and helping pick water melons in the hot afteroon. the quiet simple life on a farm where the only sounds were birds singing, cattle mooing and someones tractors; here now there ar car sound, overhead planes , people talking,but it was the fresh peas, the fresh green beans and cucumbers and zuccini and just all the good home grown food, no preservatives no added chemicals just ripe good fresh food.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
You two are making me more and more jealous that I've never had this opportunity.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I've never been able to enjoy most of the pleasures that you've mentioned. However, I do know that when I was a little girl there was a neighbor that had strawberries and myself and their granddaughter would pick all of the strawberries and eat them right off the vine. I've tried to recreate that memory with my children, but it just isn't the same.
• China
9 Jun 10
hi Hatley, we have similiar experience. even i can feel the warmth of the sun in these days, and the air is mixed with the sweet smell of flowers and ripe fruits. how happy they were...
• Boston, Massachusetts
12 Jun 10
Hi Dorann, Since i have four brothers...it's the basketball sport that i truly miss playing with them. my first ever played sport is basketball. thanks to my brothers for exposing me to this sport and they are patient enough in coaching me. how i wish we can play basketball one of these days with our respective kids.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
14 Jun 10
Basketball was one of the few ball sports that I was able to play when I was a child. I will eventually be able to play with my children, but right now they are still too young.
@monkeylong (3139)
• Guangzhou, China
8 Jun 10
As far as I am concerned, I think the most thing that I missed in my children days may be that a wonderful bike of my own. For me, when I was so young, I just had a very poor bike which seemed that was so worse compared with my friends'. When we were riding together, I usually rode in the end of our trip. Though I was trying my best to catch up with my little follows.The bike was really so slow, that I can not ride faster any more. So I was dreaming , missing the wonderful bike all the time at that period. For now, It was the past, I never dream the bike , it is a car now.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
Cars are nice, don't get me wrong about that. However, there is something that is so empowering about the wind in your face when you are riding a bike. I just got a new bike last year for my birthday and I love getting it out and riding it.
@setsuna26 (2751)
• Philippines
8 Jun 10
I really miss those times that im with my dad. When i was small im always with my dad in almost everywhere he goes im there with him always his sidekick. We are so close that if he goes without me specially if its his off from work i will be screaming so loud that not even my mom can make me stop lol. Hahaha my dad passed away when i was 10... since then theres not a day that came that i didnt miss him, sometimes im still waiting for him to come home and hug me and give me those old boxing lessons that hes teaching me.A great dad my best friend, thats what im missing the most, when i have my own family i will make sure that i will be spending lots of quality time with my kids too just like my dad did. Have a great day my friend
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I was fourteen when my dad passed away, but I know what you mean about there not being a day that passes that you don't think about your father. It is good to know that you have great memories of your father.
@juggerogre (1653)
• Philippines
8 Jun 10
Sleeping during the day. I can only do that now everytime I have no work. But seriously I miss doing some backflips, sommersaults, cartwheels, etc. I can easily do those when I was a child. But now I won't even think of attempting to do those again. For sure I'm gonna break my back or neck.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
Sleeping in, now that is a good one. I'd love to be able to sleep until noon for a couple of days. Heck, even eight hours of sleep in one night would be very, very nice right about now.
@durgabala (1360)
• India
8 Jun 10
I miss my childhood a lot, since I could not accomplish then many things, which today's kids do. for example, my daughter got a chance to participate in the swimming competition and also stood first. Where as I never got a chance to participate, either it would be exam time or the venue will be far away from home. My father like my husband didn't take me to far off places for participating in competitions. I am happy that atleast my daughter is benefited.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I too am trying to give my own children opportunities that I didn't have when I was a child. Both my daughter and my son are involved in gymnastics and that is something that I never had the opportunity to do when I was a child. However, I think that allowing our children to have opportunites that we didn't have is one of the things that makes being a parent magical.
• Philippines
7 Jun 10
i miss the simplicity of life and not having to worry about anything..it doesn't matter if you don't have a job as long as you are studying well in school and getting acceptable grades..i miss the life that is not at all complicated..how i wish i can turn back time..i want to enjoy every minute of my childhood days..
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
The idea of being able to turn back time sounds absolutely heavenly. I would love to have the lazy days of summer where I didn't have anything that I needed to worry about.
@katsmeow1213 (28719)
• United States
7 Jun 10
Funny.. I was having a very similar conversation with my husband last night. I wasn't really discussing how much I missed my activities, but more or less how I never really realized until recently how athletic I actually am, even though I did participate in a few sports when younger. I was never really good at them, I don't have the proper coordination I guess.. but I'm finding now that I am really strong and am building a lot of endurance and doing things I never thought my body would be capable of, and it's getting easier and easier. Sure some of that is just getting my body used to doing it, but I believe there is a part of me that was built to be an athlete.. just not the type of athlete that needs coordination!! Too bad I can't quit smoking so that I could really reach my full potential.. if only I'd discovered my athleticism before I started smoking.. ugh!! In school I participated in track and cross country.. though I was never really good at it, but I did get a little better with time. I also played softball for a little while but quit when I realized how bad I stunk, and I played volleyball too, which I actually do miss. I wasn't great at volleyball, but I was okay, and it was fun. I never got much into swimming, I'm not really good at it. Even now I can only do 1 full lap before needing a short break.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I believe that I had athletic abilities that weren't tapped when I was a child as well. With breaking my ankle when I was eight years old, a lot of my sports opportunities went out the window. But now, I would like to train to do something, I'm starting small though with a 5K. Like you, I know that I would be able to do more if I didn't have that little problem with smoking.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
7 Jun 10
I miss the wonderful motor trips we made with my Dad. We went to many wonderful places, camped out, fished and just hung out in nature. He always had wonderful stories to tell us around the camp fire.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
That really sounds like it would have been a lot of fun. I never had the opportunity to make memories like this with my father.
@much2say (53552)
• Los Angeles, California
7 Jun 10
That's neat your daughter is on the swim team at her age and following her mom's footsteps in swimming! Even though there's so much more responsibility and such being a "grown up", I think I am much happier being an adult. Childhood was a hard time for me - I couldn't wait to grow up. Still, what I think I miss the most from when I was a child . . . riding my bike, or rollerskating, or skateboarding alone around the neighborhood and finding my own adventures. I had a lot of alone time as a kid . . . and although I used to yearn for more friends, now that alone time is the very thing I miss!!
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
Alone time is another of those things that I miss. I was pretty social when I was a young girl, but I did also have my times of solitary time and now that I've got the kids, this is something that I don't ever have.
@jamed28 (1903)
• Philippines
7 Jun 10
I miss my high school classmates. I'd finish my high-school in a school exclusively for boys. We came from all walks of life, from the four corner of the Philippines. So after graduation it was the last time I saw most of my classmates.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
I can definitely imagine that it would be tough to never see your classmates again. I know that there are people that I went to school with that I miss and I wish that I could see again as well.
• United States
7 Jun 10
I miss being in the high school band. We weren't a marching band, we are a high school symphony orchestra and we had rehearsals every Friday and Saturday. When we'd have a school production that year, we would spend extra hours after school rehearsing. I was asked to sing a song with the orchestra for a school concert and needless to say, I brought the house down :) I'd audition for parts in a school play but the choir director wouldn't let me audition because she knew I was part of the orchestra. She wouldn't even let me sing! Then when I sang for the orchestra in front of the whole campus, she pulled me out of the band and gave me a lead role! I'm still a performer, having done about 8 musicals in the last 4 years :)
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
9 Jun 10
That is awesome that you are still a performer to this day. I would have never had the nerve to have been able to perform in front of a crowd.