As A Kid, What Were You Like?

[Marc Chevalier]

.


Shy or outgoing?

Active or a couch potato?

What was your favorite toy?

What sports, if any, did you like to play?

Were you small, regular, or large for your age group?

.

 

[pretty faythe]

Basically the same as I am now.
Shy, quite, nose in a book. Always had a click of my own though.

When summer came, you'd always find me in the apartment complex pool, usually by myself. I've always been a strong swimmer. (wish I had more time for it now

As a toddler my favorite toy was a stuffed Super Grover doll from Seasame Street. Darn parents "misplaced it" when we moved from east coast to the west. (yeah, I know what "misplaced' means). From my older child years to teens it was the pool!

Sports, well that would be swimming.lol (see a trend?)

I was one of the short ones, hit a bit of a growth sport in high school, not much. I am 5'5, yes short, but taller than my sis who is 5 years older and taller than my mom.

 

[Paisley]

Serious and taciturn. I liked to read, draw and play with stuffed animals, tinker toys, dolls, toy appliances and toy cars. I liked gymnastics, too. I looked forward to having my own house and even drew up plans for one.

I also liked period clothes and stories, and old movies and music.

In many ways, I haven't changed much.

 

[CharlieH.]

Oh boy....
I used to be the awkward boisterous sort of fella who tended to get over-excited over the slightest idea, yet ultimately did nothing about it and squandered his time in front of the television set. I also believd everything I was told, which naturally got me in a jam or two. My favourite toys were my trains, I liked to play baseball (but loathed to watch games) and according to my parents my favourite hobby was eating. Mother tells me that I was also very rude and prone to throwing hissy fits (among other things), and extremely vulnerable. That's all I can remember for the moment...

 

[mysterygal]

For the longest time, I was the second smallest kid in my class.
Huge tomboy,the only time I could be seen in a dress was class picture day, which even then, I would have an extra set of pants to put on after the pictures were taken. LOVED playing in the dirt, riding my dirt bike with the local boys, playing war-out in a field by my house with our plastic machine guns (which was REALLY fun when the grass grew over our heads since we could ambush )
I was quiet, and most considered me shy except for the few who knew me well. I was a bit contradictory; I was little miss perfect, but when the mood got me, I loved to shock people (like pulling out a cigarette in the girls bathroom in 7th grade)
I adored books and music-these were my favorites in my spare time.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Shy or outgoing? ~ Neither,or both?,...ambivert.

Active or a couch potato? Active for the most part, except on Saturday mornings during cartoons.

What was your favorite toy? ~ Anything that I could build or create with.

What sports, if any, did you like to play? ~ Baseball, football.

Were you small, regular, or large for your age group?~ Just a regular guy.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Most of the time I was quiet and painfully shy. I had one or two close friends in the neighborhood and at school, but I was never the outgoing sort, and I was certainly never "popular." I'd try to fit in, try to play games in the street with the other kids, but I was never the sort who was the first to be picked for teams.

I was very bright -- I'd taught myself to read at the age of three from billboards and package labels, matching them up against commercials I saw on TV. My mother didn't know what to do with me, and strongly discouraged me from reading for fear it would ruin my eyes. (Which I guess it did.)

When I got into grammar school, I would get chosen by teachers to go up front and give demonstrations or do readings, and this did not endear me to other kids in the class. One of the things I strongly remember was hiding underneath the fire escape at the back of the school during recess so they couldn't find me and bother me.

I enjoyed Girl Scouts very much though -- because it was someplace where I could be judged solely on the basis of what I could do rather than what other people thought I was. I stuck with that till I was 13, long past the time where it was considered hopelessly out-of-it by most of the other kids I knew.

Like all the kids in my neighborhood, girls and boys alike, I loved the Red Sox. This was like religion where I grew up -- you were born and baptized a Sox fan, and that's just how life was. The enduring soundtrack of my childhood is Ned Martin calling play by play on the radio -- which was always on in the background, no matter what, and listening to those broadcasts was the most important factor in kindling my own interest in radio.

We were very poor, living in a poor neighborhood, so there wasn't a lot of toys or luxuries. All the kids I knew were in the same boat, and we all had to make our own fun -- so I learned early on how to improvise, how to use my imagination, and how to make do with whatever I could find. Those are habits which are still a very important part of who I am.

 

[Viola]

Personality-wise, I was outgoing. I was very bossy with my siblings (I'm the oldest) but managed to ratchet it down to acceptable levels with the other kids in the neighborhood. Both my brother and my sister thought I was much cooler than I actually ever was. My sister was shy, and I did all her talking for a lot of people while she hid behind me.

I was VERY small for my age, usually looking two years younger than I was.

Sports? Karate was the only one I was good at. I enjoyed the dance-class costumes more than the dancing. Karate made my younger siblings' lives more difficult than they needed to be, though. I was a very small, kinda roundish kid, so I wasn't exactly anyone's dream-pick for regular team sports. I read a tremendous amount, and the other kids sometimes thought that was weird.

My favorite toys were Barbies and My Little Ponies. I took very good care of them, and my brother was polite to them as well, because he was, uh, afraid. lol

-Viola

 

[SpitfireXIV]

i was active: kids' soccer league. spent every summer swimming at the local pond.

i was creative, and yet pretty much kept to myself in a book whenever possible. to make matters worse, i was the 2nd tallest kid by 4th grade; there was a boy taller than me (he's now 6'6"!). lucky i'm not even 6'.

my favourite toy back then still is my favourite. i still have the first SNOOPY i ever got back in 1971. his head had to be sewn back on (used to drag him everywhere by his collar), and he had to be re-stuffed, but i still have him. of course, i have Belle, and a Snoopy with a Blackhawks uniform too, but my old pal is right at my bedside.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Like LizzieMaine, I learned how to read early. My nose was always in a book.

I was often shy, especially around strangers.

I felt more comfortable with adults than with kids my own age.

I was artistic and could draw well.

I was awful in math and still am.

Hiking, biking, swimming and fencing were my sports.

I had three close friends, and that's it.

I was slightly chubby and of regular height.

My three favorite toys were Legos, G.I. Joe, and Hot Wheels.


.

 

[Viola]

to make matters worse, i was the 2nd tallest kid by 4th grade; there was a boy taller than me (he's now 6'6"!). lucky i'm not even 6'.

I would have done ANYTHING to be the 2nd tallest kid in anything! I always had to be in the front of lines and in the very first row of pictures and haaaated it. lol

My sister was two and half years younger than I was (which is a lot when you're a kid) but we spent our whole childhoods being the same heights. Now she's 5'7" and I'm 5'1"

-Viola

 

[Joie DeVive]

I was a tomboy.

In my red overalls and ponytails I was hanging out of trees, digging in the dirt. chasing and catching almost anything that creeped or crawled. I was painfully shy with people I didn't know, but I had a joyfulness of life as a youngster that I couldn't quite hold onto. Maybe I lost it when I learned people could be truly mean. I dunno.

I can remember how imaginative I was. I could entertain myself for hours with my "cut-outs" or pictures cut from various sources that I used to make up and tell stories with. Those were some of my favorite toys. I know, weird.

I was small. Second or third smallest in the class forever, and unfortunately clumsy. I was bright, but wasn't exceptional in school. I didn't care for reading or math. I much prefered art, science and active things.

I think if I were going through school today, they would dose me with medication. I actually remember a week or so in third grade when I actually sat under my desk. My third grade teacher figured as long as I was working she didn't care where I was. She was a saint.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

.


Shy or outgoing?

Active or a couch potato?

What was your favorite toy?

What sports, if any, did you like to play?

Were you small, regular, or large for your age group?

.

Shy but sporty so active. I played soccer and rugby. My favourite toy was a plush whale. I was regular sized for my age group until 15 when i stopped growing.

bk

 

[Elaina]

Shy or outgoing? Both in their own way in in their own place.

Active or a couch potato? I don't recall spending any time indoors until my dad broke his back and we got a Nintendo. Then I'd go to work at the farm I talked my way into, work from 4-10 am and come home and make sure my dad was ok.

What was your favorite toy? I had Baby, a yellow baby with a zippered compartment and Potsy, one of the phones. Then I had Honey B. Bear, a large teddy with a belly button. I used to make "shows" starring Honey, and recorded them on tape, which eventually became the basis for some children's stories I penned for my son.

What sports, if any, did you like to play? I was my dad's son. I played soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball and briefly, Lacrosse.

Were you small, regular, or large for your age group? Extremely small. I was always the smallest one in my class.

I do have to qualify here, I stuttered, badly. I also had a terrible childhood with a mother that was terrified we'd be fluffy like her (and so created eating disorders in both my sister and I),and suffered from the worst depression, partly due to her own awful childhood. I was also the youngest of by 8 and 9 years with the siblings at home, and so there isn't a lot of closeness there. My dad was gone alot due to his job as a trucker. I was one of these that would have probably been uttely feminine, save for the fact my dad wanted a tom boy, and so I became one to please him. I wanted to quit school after 3 weeks of Kindergarten because they didn't teach me to read, and my mother did teach me in one weekend. That was it, I've read vocariously ever since. I was the kid that tried to be everything to everyone to make it all go smoother, until I hit 12 and my mom went back to college and my dad (both of them really) went through a mid life crisis and got tired of raising kids. By the time I was 15, I had a job, and moved out (and this should tell you something: neither parent knew I didn't come home.) My dad used to give me 50 bucks a week to not get pregnant (when I wasn't active anyway. 2 jobs, school and keeping under the radar tends to make one a recluse.)

So, I was fairly normal, albeit a little too eager to please until I hit 12, then I turned pretty much into what I am now.

 

[Quigley Brown]

I was a nerd...taped glasses, audio/visual club, the works. I grew up on an isolated farm and in the summer I'd fill a backpack up with my camera and food, carry my BB gun and head off into the woods for the day to play explorer and bring back treasure (there was an old junkyard complete with a couple of rusting Model-As). I made an adventure out of everything. I had two brothers, but I did most everything by myself. I had an old telescope and during the day would lug that thing up to an old cemetery on a hill and watch everything from that high point. I don't think I'm any different today...still sort of a loner and still find an adventure in about anything.

 

[Senator Jack]

Surprise, surprise, I was a born cynic. I used to wear a black trenchcoat to elementary school way back in the 70s, daydreamed about punching Billy Joel in the jaw (still do), and took lunch alone at the hamburger joint around the corner from the school (I had a paper route and I was living high on the hog).
Whatever the other kids liked, I hated. My favorite toy was called Zoomers, I think, which were robots on a track system. You could buy ones that were firemen, boxers, cops, etc. I googled this but came up with nothing. If anyone can recall the actual name, I'd be obliged.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[flat-top]

Shy or outgoing?~~extremely shy

Active or a couch potato?~~a little of both

What was your favorite toy?~~action figures! Star Wars and GI Joe mostly!

What sports, if any, did you like to play?~~ I used to play punch ball with my friends, but I would have rather been inside alone.

Were you small, regular, or large for your age group?~~ I grew to the height I am now (6ft) in the summer between 7th and 8th grade.
Most people who've known me my entire life would say I haven't changed one bit.

 

[52Styleline]

This is an interesting thread

Shy or outgoing? Reserved but not shy

Active or a couch potato? Active. In the summer I spent every day roaming the hills and streams around the logging camp. I would usually come dragging in after dark. soaked from fording streams, bug bit, and worn out.

What was your favorite toy? I had a few toys, but I don't think I had a favorite.

What sports, if any, did you like to play? We didn't really have organized sports because there were so few kids in the community. We pretty much made up our own games. Later on, in High School, I enjoyed football.

Were you small, regular, or large for your age group? Average

 

[Rosie]

As a child, I was pretty much as I am now. Shy at first until I felt comfortable. I wasn't much of a couch potato, in addition to playing, I was in African and Modern dance and believe it or not, I ran track (albeit quite badly) for a few years. I also attempted on many. many ocassions much to my parent's dismay to climb things, the banister, trees, my dad's outdoor toolshed, fences, you name it I tried to get myself over it.

I don't know off the top of my head what my favorite toy was though I did have a Holly Hobby doll that my mother patched up time and time again because I dragged her around the house with me from the time I could walk until I was about 7 when her head popped right off.

I didn't play any sports, my brother played basketball and so I would sometimes play with him but nothing official.

I have always been big. I was big for my age, tall and cute fat girl.

 

[thebadmamajama]

Shy or outgoing? Definitely shy.

Active or a couch potato? Well, I was a total bookworm. So active imagination but not necessarily in body.

Favorite toy? Barbie. I gave her weddings women could only dream of.

Sports? Basketball. I was always the tall one they planted in center.

Size? I was always (and remain) really tall. Started out as a fatty baby, skinny kid, overweight adolescent, then discovered health, fitness, and dancing and got rid of that junk.


In the end, creative artist bookworm. I wouldn't go anywhere without markers and a good book. Come to think of it, I still don't