In the eyes of babes

As I’ve grown older, I’ve sometimes remembered things about the way I saw the world as a child and had glimpses into how distorted my worldview sometimes was. Among them:

My father was an egregious criminal drinking his Mountain Dew as he drove on roadtrips… Laika and I were very ashamed seeing our father drink and drive.

It was, of course, helpful:
– Breaking staples apart (less work for the stapler)
– Chaining paperclips together (you could pick up one and get as many as you like)
– Breaking apart twisty ties (so you wouldn’t have to break them apart later)
(Oh, what helpful children Laika and I were!)

And my latest remembrance: There was an experiment on some highway that asked people to turn on their lights to see if it reduced accidents. I thought it was a good idea, but there would surely be a large spike in accidents at the beginning of the study area because people would be fumbling around for their lights and crash.

Do you recall any childhood perceptions you’ve since seen differently?

4 Responses to “In the eyes of babes”

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I think you definitely do not perceive things such as differences in finances between households — I remember that a childhood friend of mine that lived maybe a mile away had a very different house. Among other things, instead of any doors, they had blankets hanging (this was in a warm climate in Southern CA, granted). Looking back on it though I realize now they must have been very poor…

There are of course a lot of other things (wow, my old house was _that small_!?) but that’s one example that came to mind first. Then there are the scary times when it turns out you actually misremembered things… good thing we’ve got siblings to help with that!

teisha - November 16th, 2005 at 8:16 pm

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I’ve been meaning to reply on this post, but been busy with studying and work today.

I wish I had more childhood remembrances (or remembrances of any kind, for that matter)… I feel like I haven’t weeded the garden of my mind for far too long, and it’s hard to walk the paths to old memories. I’ve always had trouble with that– remembering things from books is easy compared to remembering the names of old friends or teachers.

There’s one thing I recall, though:
I grew up thinking East was South. The main street near my old home runs North-South right at my street, but then curves and runs west-east… But I never really noticed the curve. Even today, I get confused by maps of my home-town– everything that I remember being South of my house isn’t! I wonder if that’s part of the cause for my abysmal sense of direction. *ponders*

If I think of any more, I’ll add them on. 🙂

Paradoxdruid - November 17th, 2005 at 6:22 pm

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I remember our family vacation, my 4 brothers and me and my Mom and Dad, driving in our station wagon to Florida. I remember my Dad saying “do you want me to stop the car?” Or “please stop poking your brother”. Remember that invisible line separating your side of the seat from your brother’s?

Jim - November 20th, 2005 at 7:11 pm

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This I remembered from my elementary school years. School was very close to my home, about five-minute walk, and there are classmates who are my close neighbers, so I walked to school, just myself and no parents. (this is back when i was in Taiwan, by the way) The residential area was all apartments (five-story or such), the land in the city was too expensive for anyone to afford decent houses, but we can see the yard/garage part of the first floor if we really look, and there’s this family who has a dog–an English sheperd and kept it in a cage!! I loved dog so everyday morning and afternoon when we walked pass that place, we would try to stick our fingers into the cage and see if we could pat him (but still very afraid that he’s going to bite). We called the dog “Cola”, yes as in coca cola :p But now thinking back to it, it really is animal cruelty to keep a dog in cage all day, and especially a long-haired dog in all year round humid place like Taiwan :S

sleepysnoopy - November 20th, 2005 at 10:23 pm

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