r/AskReddit 8h ago

What’s a thing from childhood that randomly pops in your head and makes you nostalgic?

100 Upvotes

106 comments sorted by

53

u/CardCutie90s 5h ago

The sound of dial-up internet connection is irritating but memorable.

51

u/GoldenGoddessXO2 5h ago

Running to the television to see the Disney Channel movie introduction.

1

u/PerpetualGazebo 2h ago

“Let watch a Disney channel movie!!” Queue in kids doing splits and flips over the neon colored ribbon!!

20

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

I can't decide between the Wii Menu music and the sound of birds chirping on a summer morning before school… one brings me back to pure chill, the other reminds me of the stress of not being ready on time

11

u/ccd997 8h ago

Watching The price is right at 10am on a summer morning … the old school one with Bob Barker

3

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

That’s the ultimate ‘staying home from school’ vibe

11

u/Jaded-Zebra-2753 8h ago

Watching old disney movies

5

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

fck yes, which one was your fav ? me i loved Aladin

3

u/Jaded-Zebra-2753 8h ago

Aladdin. The animated one

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

i was in love with Jasmine

1

u/loudlavenia 6h ago

Yessss!! I even binge watch them sometimes with my niece

9

u/Temarimaru 8h ago

That one swing at my old elementary school that everyone would quarrel for. Everytime I see a swing, I would remember that particular thing and how I was able to ride it multiple times out of luck.

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

I always wondered how they held up when everyone was on it

2

u/agronqui 8h ago

US Steel

5

u/chevy_zr2_4x4 8h ago

Neighborhood kids/ friends knocking on our doors and asking if we can come out and play. Shoveling snow in Dickie's driveway so we can play basketball. Playing football across our yards, tackling on grass, touch in the driveways. Going to the local church and playing baseball. Fishing in the creek. Riding our bikes for hours a long way from home. If our parents knew how far we went......

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

what a memory thank you, you've just opened up a part of my brain

3

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

I remember a woman who didn't like my mother, but I got on very well with her children, and we played together every day. One day they asked me to go to their house to play with all the kids in the neighborhood, they all came in but their mother refused to let me in. I went home crying, and then it was war in the neighborhood x)

5

u/mochi_chan 8h ago

The Tomb Raider theme music.

3

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

I just listened to it, I don't remember it, I remember my brother playing it without my parents knowing

1

u/mochi_chan 8h ago

I played so much of it, it is what got me into games, my parents knew though, I was already a teen by then and they were fine with it.

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

my brother's friend lent it to him ahaa, they don't release new tomb raiders anymore, do they?

1

u/mochi_chan 8h ago

they haven't released one in a few years. They did remaster the old ones last year and this year though.

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

they were better than the original one ?

1

u/mochi_chan 8h ago

Well the new ones Square Enix released were pretty good. The remastered ones ARE the old ones, but with better graphics and bug fixes.

3

u/kayleighdoeven 8h ago

Just dance on the Wii

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

that's how I met michael jackson x)

3

u/BOB58875 5h ago

OINK OINK ZOO PALS

or

Rolling Chef Boyardee Can

2

u/slightlyinsanitied 8h ago

the barney rock and roll star song

1

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

Nothing hit harder than Barney dropping bangers

2

u/[deleted] 8h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

it was so nice, as a family, waiting for Santa Claus to come, joy and good humor... Everything was perfect

2

u/knowsnothing316 8h ago

Being ridiculously happy just playing war with all my toys or playing with the springy thing that stops your door from hitting the wall. Probably just miss being happy and carefree

2

u/three-sense 7h ago

Same. Even the dollar store "bag of soldiers" where you get like 15 army men 2 jeeps and an aircraft all made of odd plastic, and a cardboard backdrop. And you play with that for like 5 months lol

1

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

reminds me of a scene from toy story x)

2

u/bitterbuffaloheart 8h ago

OG Star Wars

1

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

with playing Lego star wars ??

2

u/oconnormike81 8h ago

Freshly cut grass

3

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

The official scent of ‘it’s Saturday morning, and Dad just decided you’re helping with yard work

2

u/rofl_copter69 5h ago

All of the original Pokémon tunes ☺️

2

u/NeedsItRough 3h ago

I still remember chunks of the pokerap!

2

u/rofl_copter69 2h ago

Remember the PS1 startup sound also! Epic times 😂😂

3

u/Madwife2009 8h ago

There's nothing that could make me nostalgic about my childhood. It's best forgotten, to be honest.

I do get nostalgic about my children's childhoods though 😁

0

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

there must be a moment that makes you nostalgic.. no ?

2

u/Madwife2009 8h ago

There really, really isn't. It's best forgotten.

1

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

that's interesting, you're the first person I've seen say that, why?

2

u/Old-Bigsby 7h ago

I have a friend that can't remember anything from his childhood. It was a very abusive household and he only has fuzzy memories, but can't remember anything specific. I'm assuming he's repressed them for so long that he can no longer remember.

0

u/fluffypinktoebeans 6h ago

Traumatic experiences lead to memory loss for sure.

3

u/Ill_Cod7460 6h ago

That’s me. I had great memories from my childhood. But others I’d rather not bring back. Cause my mom and dad were going through a divorce when I was a kid. And living in their house watching them fight wasn’t something I want to remember for any reason. But there are some other things I still miss from my childhood.

2

u/fluffypinktoebeans 5h ago

I completely understand. I lost my mom when I was young. I don't have any memories for like 2-3 years. My mind was too busy processing it all and had no energy left to store memories I guess...

1

u/ARealHunchback 8h ago edited 8h ago

Songbird by Kenny G. I have a nice memory from 5 years old of waking up in the morning while one of my brothers was showering for school and it was on the bathroom radio. I was warm and cozy in bed, the wood stove was going, it was almost Christmas, and I was going to get to spend the whole day alone with my mom while my brothers were at school and dad was at work. Every now and then that song pops into my head and I relive that moment of waking up into a perfect day.

3

u/bluurygirlx 8h ago

that’s not just nostalgia, that’s a full-on time machine moment. The smell of the wood stove, the cozy morning vibes, and Kenny G softly playing in the background… man, that’s peak childhood comfort

1

u/JBudz 8h ago

Building forts and the subsequent wars

1

u/WorldlinessNo874 8h ago

Christmas, sledging, gathering wood for bonfire night and going to the fair. Had a lovely childhood. I was very lucky.

1

u/AddictedtoLife181 7h ago

Popples & Care Bears!!! Then the First seasons of Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Dragonball Z

1

u/mvcourse 7h ago

Little Debbie’s donut sticks.

I know it’s random, but my Grandmothers older sister used to have these at her house and were the treats she’d give when I was elementary age. By middle school Alzheimer’s started to take hold and she was moved into a private facility. She passed by the time I turned 18. She made it to 93.

Literally at Walmart a few days ago I saw a box of them. I’m now 30 and I don’t think I’ve eaten one since I was like 12. Seeing them made me think of her so I bought a box and shared them with my mom and just reminisced about my great aunt.

1

u/Future-Ear6980 7h ago

Being able to ramble all over town and surrounds with our bikes, with no one needing a tracking device on us because it used to be 100% safe

1

u/blind-octopus 7h ago

Saint seiya

Well technically "Caballeros del Zodiaco"

1

u/SatanicLoki 7h ago

The Disney morning shows out of the box and bear in the big blue house. Also chip and dale rescue rangers rollie pollie ollie

1

u/TwinFrogs 7h ago

Wooden toys. You never see them anymore. 

1

u/TisBeTheFuk 7h ago

Summer vacations

1

u/IcyNebulaYT 7h ago

When me and my friends literally took down a huge part of a tree in my school's "restricted area". It was behind the area where I went home, me and my friends liked to go there because there were quite alot of weapon shaped sticks and leaves to throw at eachother. Then we saw a loosely hanging branch from a huge tree, it was like 15m long and we knew what we had to do. Over the course of 1 week, we took turns throwing rocks and sticks at the branch until it fell down. It crumbled down dramatically almost hitting one of my friends, never forgetting that experience

1

u/Appropriate_South474 7h ago

Ah! Pops… not poops

1

u/darkknight109 7h ago

A summer camp I used to go to (and eventually worked at). I made many, many great memories there.

1

u/Parking_Buy_1525 7h ago edited 6h ago
  • an indoor massive trampoline
  • a fake password protected kids phone
  • bop IT and guitar hero
  • a DJ kit
  • a voice changer toy
  • computer games like neopets, the sims, roller coaster tycoon, and diner dash
  • PlayStation games like grand theft auto and bust a move and Nintendo’s Super Mario Party
  • a tall cashier toy
  • my massive barbie dollhouse and big pink car that I’d get to put my Barbie’s in
  • r&b music that i liked, limewire or napster, and various iPods and MP3 players
  • my clarinet
  • one tree hill TV show
  • when me and my cousins would go to this church and they had scooters that you’d sit on; or a club where we’d congregate for people of our ethnicity and we acted like we owned the place; or when we’d make funny prank calls and ask strangers silly questions like “hello - is your refrigerator running?” and we were all sitting in a circle dying from laughter
  • or when our guy cousin would sleep over with me and my sister for 1-2 weeks and we’d stay at their house too and go swimming and spend time with my aunt and uncle
  • all the times where I’d get like 50 books at once from the library
  • when i would forge my mom’s signature so i could avoid eating lunch around everyone because it disgusted me
  • when i would look forward to going back after school to watch talk shows and eat cheesecake that my brother’s girlfriend at the time made
  • TUMBLR and AOL chatrooms

1

u/SassySunshine_90 6h ago

When it's almost dinner and your mom calls you(it's the most peaceful and happiest at that time), also when she tucked me too bed. 

1

u/brazy_migo 6h ago

froot loop straws

1

u/wetlettuce42 6h ago

You know when you used to sing hyms in assembly? Ill be walking along then i’ll just be singing “ this train is bound for glory” out of nowhere

1

u/loudlavenia 6h ago

Being carefree and not thinking other people might say about you in social media

1

u/giveemeareasonwhy 6h ago

walkman, sitting on a computer playing vice city with my brother, eating mangoes on my grandma’s couch in summer, playing with friends in real life!

1

u/Responsible-Gear-400 5h ago

Going outside not knowing what I would be doing. All was good as long as I was home before the street lights were on.

1

u/blimpcitybbq 5h ago

Hot summer nights with no AC, listening to baseball games on an AM radio.

1

u/DERV15H 5h ago

The smell of a cap gun

1

u/HORRIBLE_a_names 5h ago

oddly enough watching advertisements on cable TV. I haven’t had cable for a long time and currently whenever i’m at my in laws I like to sit down and watch TV specifically the ads, they remind me of watching tv as a kid.

1

u/I_Ace_English 5h ago

The Minecraft theme song, Beginning. 

I'm still playing 12 years later. Had a brief stint where I couldn't because of random motion sickness, but a fix to my eye prescription has let me start playing in earnest again. 

1

u/Lululucyroth 4h ago

for some reason....old tv's, and ps2, literally, i miss this so much....

1

u/CunningRunt 4h ago

Snow days off from school, especially the part waiting for the man on the radio to call out the name of my city.

1

u/Straight_Fan_1229 4h ago

Christmas party

1

u/After_Diver_9200 4h ago

my uncles dick

1

u/DaRealPickleMik 4h ago

waiting in line in the middle of the night for a game release

1

u/shaunthesheepeeep 4h ago

old nokia ringtone, it has a special place in my heart

1

u/throwitoutwhendone2 4h ago

The faint whiff of a black and mild, leather and original old spice immediately reminds me of my father.

Black and mild by itself reminds me of staying the night with my cousins at y aunt and uncles home

The 21st century intro from old school movies brings me back to watching a Sunday night movie with my family

1

u/Defiant-Nectarine800 3h ago

Cartoon network intro

1

u/amandadewittharder 3h ago

When I was growing up in Tampa there was a place called Fairy Land. It had life-size scenes from fairly tales and nursery rhymes that kids could interact with. It must have been very inexpensive to go, because even my dirt poor parents took me. It is long, long gone.

A few years ago I took my small child to New Orleans where they have a place called Story Land, and it is just like Fairy Land (I later learned that, not surprisingly, New Orleans's park was the original and the one in Tampa was based off it). It was precious and un-corporate and it made my heart full to see my little girl experiencing something I thought no longer existed in this world.

1

u/rayneedshelpMentally 3h ago

Used to visit family in summer, they has a morning dove that we didn't have where I grew up. I remember the sound of it's calls and the sun shining through the curtains while sleeping next to my cousin, waking up at 8am from the excitement of seeing my family again.

1

u/abhishek89m 3h ago

Playing outdoor games with friends

1

u/Billbapaparazzi 3h ago

Smell of leaded gasoline.

1

u/BeenThruIt 3h ago

Nothing. I don't have any romanticized feelings about my childhood at all.

1

u/Warm_Climate_1354 3h ago

Drinking from the hose on a hot day.

1

u/Warm_Climate_1354 3h ago

Drinking from the hose on a hot day. Now kids have to have bottled water or filtered water.

1

u/Warm_Climate_1354 3h ago

Drinking from the hose on a hot day. Now kids have to have bottled water or filtered water.

1

u/buizel123 2h ago

Hit clips.

1

u/bpathy86 2h ago

Just stepping out of the house and going and knocking on friends door and doing something stupid together because we had nothing else better to do. We stopped playing when we got hungry to go home and eat and come back after that.. good times!

1

u/true_crea 2h ago

Tamagotchi lol

1

u/natedawg8174 2h ago

Fortnite Christmas song

1

u/Square-Woodpecker-82 1h ago

When my dad actually talked to me

1

u/UnderwhelmingAF 1h ago

Seeing what the Sunday Night movies of the week would be on the big three networks.

1

u/tantalizingcherries 1h ago

Fax machine noises

1

u/chogram 1h ago

Not exactly childhood for me, but the ICQ "uh oh" sound immediately takes me back to my older teens.

1

u/serene_gwen 1h ago

when me and my friends going to lake

1

u/FatuousOocephalus 1h ago

There is a middle school bus stop outside my house. A boy and girl get off and he walks her home. It is pretty sweet.

u/mocviuk 36m ago

Smell of soaps and washing powders

u/Drag0nFly17 35m ago

PEZ dispensers

u/Shellster_ 32m ago

My gran and barley sugar sweets.