I still have my baby blanket and it’s just as important to me as ever.
I remember in kindergarten there was this one book we were being read about how at some point you were supposed to give up wanting to take it with you everywhere. In the book the parents cut the blanket up into small tissues so the child could use those when they feel sad.
I swear I’m not making this book up, it terrified a younger me since I didn’t want my blanket to get destroyed like that. Straight up gave younger me nightmares because I could never imagine life without my baby blanket.
Anyways, younger me would be proud to know I don’t just have my baby blanket. But also that I still keep it close to me every night. They would also be happy to know it never got cut up like it that one book.
I watched the life cycle of a green lynx spider. It started as a tiny thing that was missing two legs, she grew from catching aphids to honeybees, a male came around, she ate him, she laid two egg sacs which I was able to record video of her spinning one. I watched as one of her egg sacs hatched, she disappeared, her babies grew and left the nest. Her second sac unfortunately never hatched.
5 years old me would have been so stoked with that whole process. 40ish year old me was totally stoked with that whole process.
I work in publishing, I got many awesome novels to their readers, and I wrote books that got published and sold well. Kid me would be awed.
That’s incredible well done!
This is such a heartwarming post with heartwarming answers!! Awww y’all I’m so proud of all of you. Our little selves would be so happy!
Mine’s pretty simple - I grew up in a more rural area and always, always dreamed of living in a big city. Visited New York and fell in love. And I did it in my twenties, the real deal living in a bustling metropolis where I could walk to anything I needed! I felt so grown up haha
I am new to this place but I’m loving how positive and encouraging this community is. Oh! And congrats on the city dwelling years, I hope it was what you wsnted it to be
Thank you :3
I really enjoy this community for those reasons as well. Such a respite and no politics allowed! Women supporting women is the bee’s knees
I am now the proud owner of my very own art studio♥️ Little me would be so proud!
I’m proud of you, too! Super impressive
Tysm! It was a big change for me to accept that good things could also happen to me.
Super glad you’ve accepted it! Hopefully you’re not like me in my 20s where I got some success (lots of luck and a decent amount of talent) and let it completely go to my head. When the money ran dry it was a huge (and much needed) wake-up call.
When I was five, a friend would lend me her dresses to wear at school. I kept it going for almost the whole year, but the bullying was so bad that I had to give that up. So my five-year-old self would be happy I ended up transitioning even though there were setbacks.
Happier accomplishment: I was always an independent person, and my parents told me when I was five, “When you’re 18 and out of the house, you’re the boss.” And I was able to move into an apartment and find a job at 18 while going to college.
I’m bilingual!
Great! I speak the oldest Indo-European still spoken language + another 2 well and another 2 a bit 😅🤣
Omg congratulations I’m lesbian
I send my sapphic regards
Can you teach me that, PLEASE!
Learned to fly a plane.
Haven’t done shit with that skill, but 5-year-old-me was one of those kids that excitedly pointed out an airplane every time I saw one.
I think young-me would be blown away by my crafting skills, too. Goes to show what a lifetime of practice can do.
Oh, and solving a Rubik’s cube. That seemed like sorcery to me as a kid.
That’s not even getting into the fact that using my imagination (to embed teaching skills into play time) is part of my job. If there’s anything I’m proud of, it’s becoming the adult/teacher that I wished I had when I was a kid. I don’t think my 5-year-old self would’ve appreciated what that means, but she would’ve been happy to know that being adult doesn’t mean letting go of being playful.
I think my twelve year old self had no idea that I could transition. I did not have any trans role models. I saw lesbian representation in media and it felt like a goal that I was ‘not allowed’ to achieve. I wanted to love women the way that women love women.
I think that my twelve year old self would have been really impressed to see that I am loved. <3
If the modern representation of trans individuals were around when I was little, I probably would’ve wanted to transition. I grew up with boys, got along better playing with boys, and as a result always felt a little weird that I wasn’t one of them.
It was fine until puberty, when suddenly all the boys forgot that “friendship” exists and started seeing me as someone to date. It was as if the concept of platonic friendship was no longer an option. Quite a few years went by where I didn’t do anything different, but suddenly I was called “a tease” and told I was “leading them on.” Meanwhile, I still saw them the same as I always did. If I had been male, things could’ve continued the way they always had. The way people treat you differently once you start to grow boobs is bullshit.*
As an adult, I don’t care either way about gender (I consider myself agendered.) It’s still a shame that so many guys can’t tolerate platonic friendship with a woman.
*Except for my AMAB sisters. I imagine that experience was/is/will be freeing. It probably helps that you don’t have to experience it at the same time that all the boys around you are experiencing their own sexual awakening, making many of them see you (their one and only female friend) as their default love interest when you have yet to develop any such desires yourself. It’s not as fun as it sounds, y’all dodged a (barrage of) bullet(s).
I don’t really feel like I dodged bullets, but it does sound like we both had separate struggles during that time. I’m sorry you had to deal with that when you just wanted to stay friends with your guy friends. It’s worst when guys use terms like “friendzoning” and ascribe blame for not having feelings back.
I’m sure there were plenty of other bullets, and I have no intention of minimizing that. I can only imagine the horror of going through male puberty when you don’t feel male. That must be a hell unto itself.
“friendzoning”
Ugh, I hate that term with a burning passion.
I have a horse and two donkeys, and they consider me a friend. I moved out of the city to a nice and quiet spot. I use all kinds of dangerous tools and equipment. I’m not scared of everything anymore.
Big win! Horses and donkeys are sooo smart
Got here 😤. I made it, damn it.
I repaired (read: performed maintenance on) my fridge. It was making noise for months and getting gradually louder and louder, but my landlord wouldn’t fix it. I looked up the inner workings of my fridge and took it apart, tightened everything up, and put it back together. It was quiet and cooled better afterwards.
I’ve done more objectively impressive things, but that would definitely impress five year old me most.
i got to program rockets. im transitioning. i rode in a helicopter. i had a girlfriend. i moved far away from my parents and didnt have to go back. i became kind of ok at math. i adopted cats. i was a wildland firefighter for a summer.
I visited Russia with my high school band 2 years before the wall came down, and went to pushkin square to get a cool authentic Russian music on vinyl and inadvertantly bought a Jethro Tull album because i don’t speak Russian. I mean, it was a cool looking guy with a flute on the cover! I had only heard their hits on the radio at that time and hadnt ever seen their album covers 😂
I have it on good authority that was a load bearing album and that is why the wall fell 2 years later. Lack of Tull.
Thank you for your service, you, Tull and the Psilocybe (a similar theory states the wall went down after little semilanceata crossed the border). Now let’s do the same with all those empires losing their marbles these days.
Your vinyl story is hilarious, I love it!
Working outdoors during floods, tornados, and hurricanes.
The adrenaline rush I felt while getting out of a museum during an earthquake almost put me out lol I can’t fathom to be willing to work outside during natural events.Mad props to you!
