Maybe nostalgia just blinds us, but child-hood really isn’t the best part of life in my opinion.
It’s far harder to make money.
You aren’t clear on your goals and motivations that much.
You aren’t all that aware as a child than you as an adult.
Sure you don’t have bills to pay, but that still doesn’t outweigh all the benefits of being an adult.
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I had a terrible childhood and I wake up every day happy to be an adult with full control of my life.
I’m an adult and literally my only goal is to make sure I have enough money to pay bills.
life is good when money, got it 👍
Everyones life is different..
My child hood was incredible
Someone has had an easy life devoid of real tragedy.
My childhood was not great but I’d still go back to it just to not know what I know and to have not seen what I have seen.
Upvote for you, definitely unpopular.
I completely disregard agree. I had abusive parents. Everything that you can think of outside of physical abuse. I was even super invoked in athletics and excelled. Even those burnt me out by the time I reached adulthood. Couldn’t pay me to go back. I spent my entire childhood fantasizing about being grown up.
By the time I reached my teen years bet your ass I had financial responsibilities. That’s how I got all the expensive extra circulars, paid for my clothes, my food, field trips and even laundry.
The point in childhood where you’re just in the moment without being self conscious is what most people are referring to. The onset of puberty is the time when most of us become hyper aware of how the world sees us and innocence begins to die. Of course this only applies to childhoods free of trauma.
I agree. Life is much better when you have more autonomy.
What’s special about childhood is that everything is still so new and exciting. The older you get the less new experiences there are. That’s not to say that life isn’t still enjoyable, but the longer that you live the more difficult it becomes to hold onto that childlike wonder and excitement for life
That’s totally true
My childhood was the worse, I love being an adult even if I have to work and pay bills and do adult things
It most definitely can be.
My childhood was filled with fun times with my sisters, holidays, having both my parents at home, time with my friends, relatively decent health, etc. Crying over stupid things like being grounded.
My adulthood (actually from early teen years) has been filled with depression, loss, poverty, loss of friends, etc. Endless crying over the loss of family, pets, anticipatory grief over various family members, job insecurity, infertility, etc. There are good times, most definitely, but I definitely don’t have the same degree of happiness I did as a child.
Everyone has different lives, there are so many variables to life, you can’t say that childhood is the best part of not.
I didn’t have the best childhood. I was told my high school years would be the best years of my life – far from it. What gets me through all those bad memories that still creep up on me sometimes are the memories of cartoons, music, old friends, and so on. I enjoy the nostalgia, but I don’t mistake it as being the best part of life.
I feel like every point you made is exactly why childhood was better than adulthood. I get to run around without a care in the world besides being home by the time the streetlights come on? Perfect. The only goals and motivation I need was to pass my spelling test and eat ice cream after dinner.
Every single thing you listed is literally why childhood is so good lol
Hard agree lack of responsibility in childhood does not outweigh the lack of agency and vulnerability.
yeah no, you dont need goals as a child. you just enjoy the moment.
i stopped enjoying a lot of things as an adult cause my brain constantly questions if im wasting time instead of doing something “productive” that i hate.
Ah yes, the benefits of being an adult: having to work.
I can agree that, depending on your parents, childhood might not be the best time of your life, and that you feel too constrainted, but still…
(tbh i would put “best part of my life” at college: old enough to have fun and do my own things, but not having to work)
True – best part of my life was all my life
Tell that to my 3 and 6 year old.
Gonna go through your points:
Who cares about making money, you’re a kid. What do you have to pay for, taxes? Unless you grew up in a poorer family, your parents were your bank account.
The goal is to have fun and just learn stuff. Learn stuff from your mistakes, experiences, social interactions, etc. it’s literally the only time in life where the goal is to learn without having to worry much about major consequences.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “ignorance is bliss”?
This is an L take and for that I’ll give you an upvote
Hard disagree, but I also prefer being under the influence rather than sober, which is kind of what childhood is like.
My childhood was amazing, growing up in the 90s as a kid in a small rural town. Riding bikes with friends, having a grand old time.
Having money didn’t matter in an age where finding or obtaining $20 meant something. Goals? Goals were meeting up with your friends, and to go goof off from sun up to sun down, maybe play some Nintendo a little in between shenanigans.
I loved my childhood, and it actually pains me to think that people don’t have the same or similar ones. Would I go back now? No, but that’s from the mentality of an adult with experiences, responsibilities, etc
But, no, in the context of my childhood self. It was easily the best time in my life. If I could spend a couple of weeks in that mindset as a sort of vacation, I would do it in a heartbeat.
I didn’t need to make money as a child except to buy comic books. I think that may be why you didn’t enjoy your early years—child labor is no joke.
Also the quintessential essence of childhood is not worrying about goals and living in the moment with what will become lifelong friends.
No, you’re totally right. Childhood is (hopefully) easy, happy, and stress-free. But it’s not the best. I’ve found that my late 20s are shaping up to be the best because I’ve learned to channel my childlike joy and wonder while simultaneously maintaining my responsibilities as an adult. Nothing feels better than that. Nothing’s better than being an adult, with your ducks in a row, and being able to re-experience the joy and wonderment of childhood.
yeah. even though i am fully accountable and responsible for myself as an adult, my life got infinitely better since i no longer am controlled by overgrown toddlers who treated me like shit then tried to act all high and mighty for just *breeding*.
I love being an adult and choosing my own choices and future. i love having the choice of stepping away from those who hurt me.
I love the choices i get to make to move where i want, know who i want, and love who i want. as a kid, i was forced to try to get along with my bullies and abusers. fuck that. i’ll never talk to most of those people ever again. and my dad died with only a goodbye from me from his death bed after no contact for nearly 10 years.
even though financial burdens loom, i get to be a better person than any of them ever were and are. i choose to treat people with the same respect level they give me. i will match your energy and make you feel how you make me feel. and if you seem to be manipulative or dangerous, i will avoid you at all costs. I’m not here to hurt people. I am here to help make a community thrive. after finding my people, i have learned who i am. and that is beautiful. the freedom and understanding that i have as an adult to learn and teach as i wish. to step away when i want to during situations i do not agree with. turning down a job that treats me horribly for the sake of my own standards and self care. i am free to be as i need. your burdens shall only be mine when i get equal respect and care from you.
those who say childhood was great and the best part of life are people who forced themselves to take on responsibilities and situations as adults that were damaging to them due to unrealistic expectations held by themselves and others who also made the same horrible choices in life.
we can make this life better. the way to do that is to allow yourself to have empathy and care for those with less than you so you can walk together in equality. those who only want control and refuse to do the personal work to understand nuance will never gain the emotional growth it takes to let go of the control and work with people for the sake of people.
I feel like having goals and motivations are all about fixing things we have discovered are broken. Making money to pay bills, not because we want “toys and candy.” Having to workout like a hamster in a wheel because adulthood doesn’t promote a midday recess to play with your friends on a jungle gym. Realizing that candy and soda and junk food are all bad for your health. Feeling like being “physically attractive” is important, which would be straight up GROSS for a child to have to feel.
As a kid when my birthdays came with balloons and an ice cream cake my mom painstakingly shaped into a castle, with little Hershey’s pieces as windows, all because I was obsessed with Beauty and the Beast. Easter morning involved finding a basket made up with candy and then toys handpicked to either make me happy, or to complete an activity I could play with my brothers. If you have a good childhood, you likely have parents that made a proactive effort to make you happy and provide you with good experiences and memories.
My birthday was last Friday. I used a paid day off and I took myself out to lunch where I had two alcoholic beverages and then had an afternoon nap. I could make more of an effort to make myself happy, but it was a heck of a lot easier when I had parents bankrolling my whole life and planning everything for me, so all I had to focus on was recreation and complaining about things that weren’t recreation.
It really depends on the kind of life you had as a child compared to as an adult.
I think I had a nice childhood but I love the freedom I have as and adult. I also have a decent job and a wife I love.
I imagine if I had a job I hated, struggled to pay for basic things and was lonely I would think childhood was the best part of my life.
The point is depending on where you’re are now in life is how you think of your childhood. If you’re struggling you probably wish for the carefree days of your youth if you were lucky enough to have a nice childhood.
Lol,
Lmao even.
OP has a very unique look on life. What child is worried about making money? Besides one that lives in poverty?
When I was a teenager, I thought that was the best time of my life.
When I was in my 20’s, I laughed at my teenage self. What’s better than having autonomy?
When I was in my 30’s I laughed at my 20’s self. The “give a fuck” bucket really starts emptying.
Now that I’m in my 40’s I laughed at my 30’s self, and I think I’m now self aware to realize I will likely do this every decade until I die.
The only people who say this are people who had bad childhoods and are currently living great adult lives(making good money, happy relationships, freedom, good health, etc). Pretty much everyone I know hates being an adult and would be a kid again in a heartbeat. Adulthood is garbage. Take my upvote
People are generalising. Nobody thinks every bodies child lives were better than their adulthoods, they understand nuance.
But in a general sense, a relatively responsibility free, carefree time when you get to run about and play is generally going to be amazing for most people. Adult life comes with stress and many responsibilites where if you fuck up have many more consequences that you didn’t have to deal with as a child. You surely can understand that for those without specific experiences, would find it a really great time.
Is this really unpopular? Adulthood is way better than childhood, I have more money, freedom, and ability to do cooler things.
I think everyone is susceptible to idea the ‘life was simpler’ during the decades when they where a child/teenager.
It’s one of the reasons boomers often seem nostalgic for the 50’s and 60’s and my generation are nostalgic for the 90’s and early 2000’s. Myself occasionally included.
It’s not true that life in general was simpler and happier during those times, it’s just that your life was simpler and happier in that time , precisely because your where a kid/teenager with no real responsibilities and your whole life ahead of you.
I haven’t been happy since childhood. I was always in such a hurry to grow up, but being an adult fucking blows. I’d rather be a kid again any day. At least then I could get a hug from my parents.
Adulthood isn’t much better. More stresses, more responsibility being a slave to system work just for a couple of days off. Being aware at how messed up the world is and policies keeps you stuck in this cycle of accepting the bs that you’re given because theirs no other way out of it. The innocence of hanging at the beach with friends and laughing, biking around town and joking at the stupidest of things, and being unaware of the worlds problems. Some of childhood wasn’t good but for the most part it’s going to be some of better times of people’s lifes if it’s a semi normal one. My family was split no one was rich. But it was still one of the better times of my life. Most of my dreams are the middle school version of myself. I miss it a lot
Extremely popular opinion. Late twenties to thirties is where life really begins
Everyone’s life is different. I made a good chunk of change between ages 13-18.
My motivation and goals were very clear at the time. Now? Not as much.
Sorry you had a rough childhood. My three year old did a circus workshop with me today en I’m taking her to her favorite sushi place. She likes to pay but does so with my card….. I don’t think she misses a job or life goals 🤷♀️
It really depends. If you grew up in bad conditions, had abusive/neglectful parents, got bullied in school, etc., then yeah, childhood sucks. If you grow up around good people and your parents provide for all your needs, then it’s way easier to be a child. I don’t know if I’d choose to go back, but I do miss that carefree life sometimes.
To add to that, for most millennials, the overall economic and social conditions we grew up with were better than the current ones. So in some cases, the nostalgia is less about childhood itself and more about the time period as a whole.
Money didn’t matter when I was a child. I played outside with sticks and climbed trees. I road busted up four wheelers and had sleep overs, I waded in the creeks and climbed powerlines. pro wrestling matches on the trampoline or swimming at the lake with friends. I played ps2 games that cost 3 dollars used, I could find a dollar every now and then to walk to the McDonalds to get a double cheeseburger with my friends.
I had no worries 99%, and I didn’t even have the best childhood. because the bads were also very bad and caused lifelong trauma. I’m not blind to the bad. I was bullied in school so bad that I purposely failed to avoid the bullies. I came home with an A and dad would tell me “Doesn’t matter, you’re gonna fail anyways”. He whooped my ass for losing a fight, and mom broke my arm with a stool because my sister started an argument with me.
I would go back and relive that part of my life 100 times over because I was Nieve, partly innocent, and just fucking loved living. Now, not so much.
I agree. You have no control your stuck with your “family”. A group of people your forced to be around. Even if they are toxic your still stuck to be around them. Have not talked to my sister in years. She’s the most toxic person I know and I am so happy to be away from it all.
Childhood was rough. Abusive family of addicts. Left home at about 15-16, at least the shittier parts of adulthood have only been things I brought on myself or directly caused. Best part of adulting? I have a cat now and he’s the coolest. Could’ve never been financially stable or allowed to get one as a kid. So that wins out for me right there lol. Although I do miss the hardest struggle being long division sometimes.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss