What were you like as a child, indoors and out?

As a kid LOVED being outside and either dirt biking , or hunting, fishing,or just target shooting.

I was an incurable tree climber. I loved baking, sewing, and reading, but when I was outdoors, I burned all the energy I could. I loved nature, and always will.

I didn’t have to do any chores except keep my room clean and I wasn’t great at that, but not terrible. By age 14–15ish and after I really cared about my room and kept it very nice.

The things I liked to do most was watch TV and play outside. Outside I climbed monkey bars, rode my bike, swings, merry-go-round, and see saw. All the park things. I also played things like 4 square and always liked to go swimming. Moreover, I took gymnastics when I was very young and ballet from ages 3–11. I played tennis from about age 9–12.

TV I could watch for hours. Thoroughly enjoyed TV time with my family.

I almost never read (past and present) books unless required to.

Inside I was fairly calm and played quieter games usually. If there was a lot of space I would flip my little sister around. Swinging her in circles and turning her upside down. I did it outside too. One set of our friends for a few years lived in a house where the lower floor was a huge family room and it was a cement floor. Her parents let her roller skate in it. I loved visiting them at that house and others. The quiet games were cards or board games. Playing with toys and pretending.

At my grandparents house I usually drew something, my grandfather was an artist. They had all sorts of nice art supplies.

I liked girly things like make-up and also being active. Although, I was never into team sports.

I was often up a tree – with a book. I had one perch in the crook of an old oak tree that was a perfect spot for reading.

In a tree, on an iceberg – some things don’t change much.

I was a studious child. I loved to read, draw, listen to music. When I was very young (up to seven), I remember playing outside with other children a lot but this was curtailed by my stepmother after that time so I don’t know if my being inside was a preference or a requirement.

I had to do chores around the house. I remember washing dishes and vacuuming the floors, going to the local shop, weeding the garden (infrequently) and keeping my own room tidy.

I was either out in the cattails building a fort, climbing up the big old maple in the side yard, hiking through the olive and walnut orchards with my dog, fishing for crawdads in the creek using baloney, having pollywog wars with my brothers, playing catch with brothers and neighbors, biking for hours into the Sierra foothills along the American River, exploring caves in the cliffs, poking stinking, dead salmon with sticks after the Autumn run, shooting our BB guns. We had chores like slopping our pigs (my older brother and I each had one), feeding and milking the cow, feeding the dogs, cats and chickens, and gathering eggs. But we soon went back to killing black widows in the barn loft, daring the neighbourhood bully to piss on the electric barbed wire cow fence, trying to pick the lock on my older sister’s diary, riding the horse next door bareback without halter or permission, riding the hogs next door without permission, picking apples, cherries, apricots, raspberries and blueberries out in the orchard for mom – with permission. Picking wildflowers for the house to get back in the good graces of whichever of the three females in it that I offended that day…

The only time I remember being inside is sometimes in the afternoon, my mom and I would watch an old movie together on TV. I was the only one of her seven kids that could sit quietly enough to do this, evidently. It was quality time that I was lucky to get with my very busy mother and I’ve never forgotten that.

Barefoot and running around in the summer in Los Angeles suburb, shirt was optional. That was the early 1950’s. I remember riding my bike with a couple friends for a 38 mile round trip in the seventh grade.

Sighs, I suspect my inner child would rather have been like @Espiritus_Corvus or @Tropical_Willie. I’m sure I’d always have been studious (since I still am) but I do love nature.

Wild and hyperactive until the age of about 8 or 9 when I became the opposite! I made my parents’ life so exhausting that even the thought of having another child made their toes curl ! My sibling came ten years later! A blessed kid who gave the parents a break!

My parents were strict.
I loved Television.
Outside, I enjoyed talking, and role playing games. I was a boy scout, and was considered a goody goody because I didn’t smoke or cuss.
I got a paper route when I was around 11.

At first I was very rambunctious. I loved running around. I remember I’d love to run around the hall in my house naked. Apparently, I also ran around my school’s halls (not naked—so I was told). I would get in trouble a lot both at home and at school. I had no filter. It was about 2nd grade when I turned my feelings inward, and I became a pretty quiet, disciplined person through most of high school. The exception is with my family. I still got in trouble at home and fought with my brother, but never anywhere else. I got decent grades. I think I did demand a lot of attention from my parents.
I didn’t read much, and I can see the effects of that today as my comprehension is not that good. I watched a good amount of TV up until about high school, and played minimal video games.
I had practically no social life. I went to school in Providence through middle school, then high school in Mass (Providence suburbs, but far enough to lose connections). I rarely hung out with people anyway. I wished we could’ve at least stayed in Providence because it was more of a community with people my age and more places to go/things to do.
I had the typical chores—clean the kitchen, my room, the bathroom, etc. I never got paid for doing them; they were my responsibilities.
Were my parents strict? Yes and no. I can’t describe it. They were too busy to keep a constant eye on me but still kept to many traditional values that go with being strict. I definitely drove my parents crazy. I was born a few years after my brother. He was an angel, so they thought “hey we can do this again!” and then I came out and crushed their spirits.

Oldest of five do I always had a lot of responsibility. I made d cent grades in school but I was not very outgoing, I was kind of shy.

I loved reading even as a child. A few times in study hall I would be so into my book that the teacher would have to tell me that the bell rang and class was over.

At home reading would block out a lot of arguing between my parents. To this day I would take a book over people.

Ran around outside until I got tired (several hours,) then came in the house and sit by the heating / cooling vent and read. Come in hot, sweaty, drink about 20 oz of water in one long gulp and sit over that cool cool air and read The Black Stallion series and everything.
Winter time, same thing, only that warm air felt delicious on my frozen body parts!

Sometimes I’d take a book up on the roof of the house and read there. Sometimes I read a book while lying on my horse. I would read at night, with a flashlight, when I was supposed to be in bed. I read in the bath tub.

All of the above, except that I did chores but did not get paid. It was seen as our responsibilities.
I also didn’t need much parental interaction. I had 4 other siblings to play with.

I didn’t get in trouble a lot because I was good at avoiding getting caught.

But I did on occasion get in trouble. Not quite as much as my brothers but they would do really stupid things that would mean getting caught.

I can’t take all the blame for driving my parents crazy. My 3 brothers did a bang up job in that department.

My mom was very busy all the time. She had a part time job and a full time job with us, so she never had a lot of free time. My dad would spend his days off with us and take care of us during the day if we were home sick. He went to work from 2:30 pm to 11 every night. He would leave in time for my mom to be back from work. My mom and dad didn’t trust leaving us with other people.

I was an extremely curious child. I loved to explore. But I wasn’t very active though. I didn’t run around, I explored by reading and watching and observing. I was bought a lot of books but I was always hungry for more. I remember searching through my dad’s newspaper stack for something interesting. As a result I got access to a lot of adult’s stuff from very young age (though I didn’t understand all of them :p). And I was always surprised that sometimes my jokes about the adult stuff fell flat (because the kids just didn’t read my kind of things).

I have had a fashion for drawing and telling story since I was about four. I still remember drawing comics at that age. All of the comics were wordless and each panel was as big as a notebook’s page. Only I could understand what I drew. I had to admit that hobby contributed to my inactive lifestyle.

I also seemed to have some behavior problems. I was often scolded by adults and given strange look by kids for doing inapproprate things. But I was the only one who couldn’t realize the problems. I didn’t have many friends because of that. But I was totally OK with it since I was too occupied with building my knowledge and creating stories. I was too inactive for all the children’s games anyway.

I was the baby of six. I was forgotten, but at the same time spoiled. I was quiet and often on my own to entertain myself.

When I was inside I watched television, read, played Atari or listened to music. I also spent time on the phone with friends or wrote letters. I spent an equal amount of time outside with my friends. We swam, rode bikes or walked around the neighborhood.

My parents were not strict and I rarely got in trouble. I think my father spanked me twice when I was five but he never raised his voice or yelled at me. He was a very calm man. My mother issued the punishment and my father was told asked to take over.

I was the youngest. We had chores. Never done well enough but i got away with more because i knew when to keep my mouth shut.

I never did homework. I played outside on my bike or hide in the alders as much as i could. When stuck indoors i read everything i could get my hands on. No tv limited movies. My grandma was crafty and gardeny we picked up some of that through her. I had no real dolls but i loved this big stuffed raggedy ann and andy set. When i was really young. We went to church being the pastors kids 3 times a week.

I was ostracized because of my parents strictness their fundamental beliefs and rules and because we were all white.

My parents spent most of the time fighting which i either tried to listen to to understand if they took the time to send us to our rooms. Or trying to not listen to through the vents doors and walls. When they weren’t fighting the tension was so thick the eggshells we were walking on felt tangible.

My parents believed in corporal punishment so i never went down the road of self harm. I didn’t want any more hurt. I became very sneaky stoic bitter and cynical a survivor. I would disassociate a lot and create tons of narratives. I determined that emotions were the root of all problems. I was determined to be a self reliant island. I trained myself not to cry or confide in any one no one cared any way… i learned to laugh when i was hurting the hardest it disturbed people. i thought heroes were for chumps and they just let you down.

I would stay up late so i wouldnt have nightmares. Eventually i loved it there was finally peace at the end of the day. O would hide under the covers and read or stare out the window listening to the wind or rain. Wishing the river and the midnight sun were more concrete and lasted longer.

I would always be tired because mother insisted on us not sleeping in.

This was between the ages of memory and 9.

@Unbroken Wow. That for me is another vote against corporal punishment and against strict parenting.

My parents fought and screamed constantly. My sister and I used to wish they would get divorced. I think it affected her much more than me. I look back in my childhood as overall being ok and I remember a lot if happy times. For her it is utter misery in her mind.

My parents weren’t strict and I felt safe and they were reliable for things like picking me up when expected, and I felt like they were very honest people.

Everything in moderation @JLeslie. @jonsblond was spanked twice, when she was five. Obviously her parents “believed in” corporal punishment, with no ill effects. However, hers was a far different experience than @Unbroken had. @Unbroken‘s whole world was out of control, and even if her parents didn’t “believe in” corporal punishment, it wouldn’t have made much difference.

I was a very responsible kid. Principled and stubborn from a young age, but shy in groups.

At home, I felt loved and well-cared for, though my dad was away a lot. When I was about nine, I decided that my parents were witches. I thought they were trying to get rid of me. Roald Dahl’s book “The Witches” played a part, there. It was a very real fear, and I battled with that for over two years.

Because I was shy in groups, making friends was never easy for me. I met my best friends when we were toddlers, and got together with them about twice a week throughout most of my childhood and teenage years. We spent a lot of time outside.

In school, I was quiet. A good kid. I always did my homework, and was liked by most teachers. I didn’t enjoy school from age 13 to age 16. Felt very much like an outsider during those years.

I played with stuffed animals a lot, but I also spent hours curled up with a book. Sometimes sitting in a tree. I took books everywhere, got a lot of my reading done in school or while walking home.

I did chores, but did not get paid. However, I also always got pocket money. My chores varied over the years. When I was thirteen, I got my own dog. From that age on, I went for a two-hour walk every day after school, which was an added responsibility.

I probably did drive my parents crazy. I really was very stubborn. For example, I was only five years old when I decided I wanted to be a vegetarian. People would tell my parents “That’s just a phase.”, and they’d grin and explain that this “phase” had been going on for a while.

I’m glad my parents didn’t try to change me. There were no punishments in my childhood, and most of their parenting could be described as setting a good example. I could have done without the occasional threats of punishments. It doesn’t feel good to know you have more power than your parents, as a small child.

Then again, I was probably quite a challenge – to my mum, especially. My mum and I are polar opposites in lots of ways, and she still always tried to understand me. I’m grateful for that.

@Dutchess_III I wasn’t referring to @jonsblond. It doesn’t seem to me she grew up with the threat of corporal punishment or serious repercussions for misbehaving. For that matter, not very strict rules.

I was spanned twice when I was very little and my dad decided it was ridiculous. Even though I was spanked I don’t feel like I grew up with the threat of corporal punishment, because that was no longer a reality pretty quickly. Plus, the household wasn’t very strict in general and I was allowed to voice my opinion and ask questions. I think a lot of things matter, not just one.

I liked to turn indoors into outside, I achieved this by utilising two very simple tools, a match & a gas appliance, an oven worked best.

I know you weren’t referring to @jonsblond, @JLeslie. My point is, she got spanked at least twice. Many people don’t differentiate between being spanked a handful of times as a kid, and living in constant fear, like @Unbroken. To them, hitting is hitting, period. And there is no excuse ever, for hitting, period. “It just makes the child terrified that the parent is going to attack them.”

And I totally agree. It’s a LOT of things coming into play, not just the one.

I’m against hitting children, but I’m not so freaked out about it that I think one away on the butt traumatizes a child for life. Although, some children seem more likely to react extremely negatively.

@JLeslie I am absolutely a believer in positive affirmation. But everyone responds differently as you pointed out with your example of you and your sister. As much as I hate to admit it we all respond differently in same situation. So as much as I hate to admit it @Dutchess_III has a point. I don’t believe in children being out of control and if you have tried everything else. Well you have to do something. But there should be guidelines. My situation was a little more abusive i.e. paddles, breaking things, throwing dogs, random unexpected attacks a lot of verbal put downs etc. I don’t have the worst story out there by far. But there were some scars. Everything in moderation I suppose.

However I am going to say that overall my sister and I did eventually turn out all right.

I was very awkward socially and picked on a lot. Therefore, I did not spend much time at the neighborhood park, where I’d be an easy target. Meanwhile, school was far too easy, but with good grades and busy, self-involved parents, I was left alone a lot (from age ten, on).

As such, I did a lot of exploring alone. I’d ride my bike everywhere. Into neighboring cities, on the train (MBTA) or freight trains — hop off at some random stop and just explore.

To clarify, my sister was never hit. She is younger, and by then my parents had discounted that idea.

I like your question.
As a child I was more of an outdoor guy. I used to play cricket, marbles, kite flying, swimming in the sea, catching fish and crabs (I was living near the Sea, currently middle of Desert), Hide and seek, Bike ride, Chess (Not playing at home), stealing mangoes from other’s trees and the list goes on.
My parents were strict and I almost everyday beaten by my Mom….
If I do any household chores my labor charges were fixed. If I go out for groceries or any other stuff then you forget about the change… :)
Fighting with siblings were great fun hahahaah. Fighting for remote control, taking bigger piece of the fruits or snacks, bullying sister for her long hair etc.
Childhood was fun, I hate current me….. ;(

I have very few good memories of my childhood. My mom was always sick and in pain. I was an only child. She spent a lot of time going to doctors who always told her that she had mental problems, and that was the source of her pain. Then one day she had a diagnosis and was “miraculously” cured of mental illness, but it did nothing for the pain.

As a child, there were no kids in the neighborhood my age, so I spent a lot of time alone. In school I was bullied a lot. I loved to read, ski, and walk my dogs.

ME

^^ Nice ears.