How were you as a child?

Yes, it gives me something to reflect back on-the amazing curiosity, and confidence that gets lost along the way.

I was like an adult. I did adult stuff. not what you are thinking I cooked and helped around the house. It made me a great person now and I am responsible.

Geeky. Just like now.

Talkative, a tomboy, animal lover and wild.

I was really shy, and quiet.
Being the youngest of five it was hard to get a word in, so I just got used to not being able to talk. It was only about a year ago that I realized I CAN talk loud enough for people to hear me.

I was extremely shy and the youngest of six. By the time my parents had me they pretty much let me do whatever I wanted. I was a bit spoiled because of this.

I’m still shy, but not as bad as I was. I am a quiet person, but it runs on my father’s side of the family. The talkative people in this world need us quiet folk to listen to them. ;)

I was supposed to be a genius. I wasn’t. When my brother came along, he was sick and suddenly I got no more attention. After that, my parents never gave me much attention and never told me that anything I did was good. To this day I don’t believe that anything I do is good. I undervalue my work and I accept less pay for the work I do, and so on. Sometimes people tell me I’m a good writer. I don’t believe that, either.

There have been times lately, when I haven’t cared. But right now isn’t one of those times.

Right now I’m hurting fairly badly, and I just want to run away. Oh yeah. That’s the other thing I do. I run away. Psychologically speaking. I run away or push people away because it is too hard to wait for the ax to fall. The tension kills me. So I make people dump me before they would otherwise dump me. It hurts like hell, but at least I know when the pain is coming.

@wundayatta But, you’re an adult now (you were a child when you were judged). Why does it matter now? You should know that you’re good enough. I don’t get it.

Shy, overly-sensitive and basically terrible around most other children. I had no social skills and probably too mature for my own good. I handled stress poorly and couldn’t defend myself. As a result, I was teased often until I would eventually snap and break something. Couple times it was another kid (which landed me in trouble and them in the hospital).

I was much better with adults whom I spent most of my time with. I was exposed to all sorts of stuff as a kid (my dad and his pot smoking pals; my alcoholic, heroin addicted uncle; my melodramatic, secretive mother; and my mentally unstable, violent grandfather. My other grandfather was a bookie always looking for a card game. I was fascinated by these behaviors and (oddly) never scared by it.

I also started “working” around 10 or 12 when I would help in my family’s flower market or my aunt’s hair salon over the Summer. They paid me in cookies.

As an adult, I struggled for many years with poor stress management and anger issues. At almost 40, I’m much better but can still slip up from time to time.

I feel much older than I am, but can get along with folks from all walks of life. I also have a pretty solid work ethic and very little frightens me.

I think all these about me are a direct result of my childhood.

@Jude Well, maybe it’s just a story to explain why I am the way I feel. Maybe it’s a lie. Who can know? I don’t remember that far back. Maybe it’s just brain chemistry. Maybe I want to feel this way. Maybe I’m using some cheap trick to get some sympathy that I don’t deserve anyway. Maybe it’s depression. Maybe I need a story to explain other failures in my life? And if I’m good enough, why do I have nothing to show for it? No. Clearly I don’t have that which I want most because I’m not good enough. I wasn’t the one who was chosen.

I was very competitive and found ways to get the most done with the least effort which I look back and learned me to work quickly and efficiently and get stuff done that needed to get done. I played hard and had an adventurous childhood living every where from inner city to summer cabins in the north woods.

I feel all that gave me the confidence to do what I am doing and my successes so far in my life.

I was borderline out of control as a child. I often wonder if I might have had ADD or something. It cleared up and went away when I became a teenager.

Always the good child, playing by the rules.

I was always very shy. I had two older sisters who were outgoing and very talkative. Since they were always talking I never did. This hurt me in school because I was never able to communicate well with others. It wasn’t until highschool that I opened up and began talking. Now, I am still rather quiet around my family, but I am very outgoing towards my friends.

I was very outgoing and a bit fiesty as a young child, but later because of the environment I was in became really quite insular and withdrawn. I now have much, much more in common with that young child.

When I was little, I didn’t talk like I do today, much more quiet, but I wasn’t shy. I can’t think of anything that stands out though.
The only thing, is that I apparently had this habit when I was around four, to slap attractive women on their rears, then look up at them and say, “You’re a pretty lady.”
I haven’t a clue where I got that habit.

I’ve spent my life learning to hide the parts of me that I deemed negative, but basically, I’m the same as I was when I was a 4 year old. I’ve always had a big friendly smile and a huge curiosity about almost everything. Inside, I was very competitive. I felt I deserved all the attention. I insisted on my own way and pouted if I didn’t get it. Eventually, I stopped competing when I couldn’t win at everything. I learned to be more generous with others getting attention. And I can’t bother to pout. I’m much less overbearing and I’m not demanding. But the little kid that broke the garage window with a hatchet because she was mad about something is still there.
I just don’t let her out.

I was apparently a super-easy kid. Never a problem. I’m a pretty chill guy now, so I guess that’s something. I also liked playing outside, which I now do as a profession.

I was an utter nightmare for my parents, my teachers, and my friends’ parents, no one could get me to stop being terrible. If they tried, I may be docile for a while, but then I’d get them back and go straight back to the living nightmare. Today, I’m a fairly chill guy with a knack for pranks, jokes, and sarcasm (that do occasionally push or step over the limit).

I was overweight as a child, very overweight, with a double chin and big belly. I got teased a lot, and it hurt. I was also academically bright, but quiet and reserved, and had a lot of pets who were my friends, from dogs to cats to rabbits and fish! Lol.

All that changed in my teens. I lost all the weight, got into competitive swimming and weightlifting, and from then onwards I became very fit with a good muscular physique. I also made a lot of friends in high school and university, though when I graduated we have all parted ways. I still have a pet though. A big lovable Akita dog, one of the family.

A nerd. I was very skinny, clumsy, noticeably disabled, and apparently noticeably queer (everyone else knew but me). As a result I was bullied constantly all through school. It had a devastating effect on my self-esteem and led me to a chronic lifelong deprssion that took 40 years to escape from.

I was quite a bit shorter and lighter than I am now.

As a young child, I was extremely shy, withdrawn, empathetic, perceptive, intuitive and intelligent. I was thought to have autism for a few years. I barely said a word until 2nd grade. I was/am the middle child. I was very well-behaved. I was usually the shortest, and smallest, in my class in elementary school. I loved drawing (I still have teacher notes from kindergarten that often mentioned my drawings ..and knack for drawing). I did well in elementary school (got many awards for penmanship and art). I loved animals and nature. I was very tidy. I was a tomboy. I loved learning. I had friends from different cliques but never actually belonged to one myself. I was physically, sexually and psychologically abused often.

I was pretty much the same in my teens; although I talked more often (still below average though) and usually wore black clothing (I was not goth though). I ended up in young adult programs and drug rehab for all my emotional issues. I began dancing in my teens. I would spend hours working on one song (I’d use Michael Jackson style of dance and incorporate my own moves into it). I also began making my own music on piano and acoustic guitar. Dancing, drawing, music and writing helped me in ways I can not explain clearly. I never had classes for dancing, art and music; I just had a knack for them. I was never a liar, vandal or thief. Just a troubled teen who took out my emotional traumas on myself.

My childhood has effected me as an adult in almost every way. I am still quiet and shy. I am intelligent. I’m short and a tomboy. I still love dancing, music, drawing, animals and nature. I am incredibly empathetic, intuitive and perceptive. I am tidy and organized. I have friends of all colours, shapes and sizes. It’s been a rough journey but I’ve learned so much over the years. I’m always learning and progressing. Life is worth experiencing.

A bundle of happiness wrapped up in an energetic, sporty, cheeky package.
Not much has changed, aside from the great sex of course.

I was such an innocent pretty kid. I didn’t talk much… But with my family I was quite talkative. I was never a bad kid. I used to hangout with people younger than me and not my own ages. So I had hard time making good friendships with people my age during middle school. I was growing up, give me a break. Now I’m proud of who I am though. I wouldn’t change anything.

I was a nagging child all the time and yes it has effected my overall personality though…Well I try to be positive but at times I start feeling dumb and wants to nag for no reason.

I was outgoing and friendly an talkative. Always happy and smiling at everyone and trying to make them laugh. Changed when I turned 14. Got really introverted and shy and barely spoke in school. Everyone thought I was mean or mad until they got to know me.

In a word: survivor. Like @PluckyDog I was abused for my entire childhood, and just wanted to get out of it alive. As a teen, when I was finally out of danger, I came into my own and tried to live life to its fullest. I was afraid of nothing, and it showed (in both good and bad ways). As an adult, both of those times have certainly shaped me, but they have not defined me. I’m not really either of those people anymore.

One thing that has truly carried over from my youth is my infinite “patience” I can hold in anger, frustration, pain for a ridiculously long time and never show it until I see it to my advantage/pleasure to do so.