"What happened in your childhood?"

[InkyMilk]

Perhaps this is a common occurrence, perhaps it isn't. Don't get me wrong, my friends are very loving and accepting, and this comment was made mostly in jest...jest. But the other day when my friend and I were at the mall, I wanted to hit up Target real quick in hopes of finding a few last blind bags. While my friend humored me, she did off-handedly laugh and ask what had happened that made me want to relive my childhood.

I know she meant it in jest, though it had been bothering me and making me question my future pony purchases. For example, Target is having a sale on their larger castle sets and I was very tempted as I really would like Luna and accessories and the extra pony would make a nice gift for my cousin who has taken to playing with my collection. But I stopped myself as I've never bought anything so large before that was pony related and it made me feel kind of bad. If I wanted to get my cousin a pony I should have just grabbed any random pony they had on clearance, she wouldn't care, not dish out for the entire set. I'm a grown lady, aren't I?

I've never really felt embarrassed about my hobbies before, but now I'm wondering if I'm taking it too far (and I'm collection isn't even that big, 9 G4 ponies and a small shoebox to hold my Blind Bags and McD ponies). It's odd because it certainly doesn't bother me when other adults collect toys, but since I know no one else in RL who does, I'm starting to fear my family thinks the same thing...why do I have to be weird and not collect or be interested in normal things (my other hobbies include dolls and Lolita)?

[ShortyBoo]

I know I'm reliving my childhood in a way by collecting toys, but I'm fine with that. Growing up I had an abusive (alcoholic & pedophile) father that pretty much ruined my childhood and when my mom finally took us and left, he burnt all mine and my brothers' toys in a bonfire before we could come back for them, then went on to shoot our dog and attempt suicide. I was nine then and had way more responsibility at that point because my mom had to work so I had to take care of the house and my brothers. It also didn't help that we were in a pretty bad neighborhood and I got involved with some pretty bad people and ended up pretty messed up by the time I was a teen. But even with my messed up childhood, toys were always a good memory for me because they were an escape from real life. When I was playing with my ponies, I would forget temporarily about the bad things and really those times are the only real positive memories of childhood I have. So if I want to collect toys now to relive those few happy moments whenever I want, that's my choice. My mom knows this, which is why she doesn't really say anything about my collecting.

[InkyMilk]

Wow, that's really terrible, I'm sorry to hear that My own childhood was really quite normal and happy, I don't feel I have any excuse for not adjusting the way most average adults do.

[Sonata]

Honestly, who cares? You're okay with it, aren't you? Life it way too short for you to be bothered by what others think THAT much. Sure, you might feel weird sometimes because you don't know anyone who does the same thing, and that's normal. But everyone has reasons to collect ponies - most of us want to have more of the objects we loved when children, others just find ponies to be cute. If you really like ponies and want to have more, why not do just that?

[BrightSide]

Oh, I get that. Never fails to give a beaming smile and say 'ohhh, it never ended!' or if someone's being really obnoxious, I tell them truthfully that I didn't have such a great one, it was actually pretty difficult and now I'm simply making up for it.   I have a huge inner child anyways, so it's easier to smile everything off and play along..

Don't worry about it, petal. It's a unique hobby, part of what makes you so individual. It's quirky, it's fun, and it's a lot better than being miserable or engaging in anything detrimental! It isn't weird at all. We wouldn't all be here right now if we didn't collect, and ponies are such a fabby escape from what can at times be a funny world to live in.

It isn't like you're being Peter Pan and refusing to grow up completely. If anything, you're a mature and developed individual. You're simply embracing something which brings you happiness.. and it doesn't harm anyone, so there is no problem whatsoever in it.

[Yurusumaji]

Far as I know, I'm still a kid when I want to be ... and I usually want to be. People will poke fun at me for my hobbies, so I am the type to smile and take it all in stride. Yeah, I'm strange. Yeah, there are people out there who are probably appalled by the thought of grown adults collecting children's toys. But, you know what, I surround myself with things that make me happy. Right now that's Pokémon, MLP, anime, manga and children's films (Disney and Ghibli, mostly). My mother was very bothered by my collecting at first. It's "wasting money" and whatnot. Whatever. I spend within a budget and our money goes where we want it to go. I don't ever let anyone else tell me what I can and cannot spend my money on or what I can and cannot enjoy.

I don't believe in guilty pleasures, within reason. I believe that what brings you pleasure is part of you and you should be free to indulge in it so long as it's not harming anyone. And it isn't, so just keep on loving it!

[LeighAnnApanites]

I didn't have a terrible childhood, either. I mean, it had it's moments, and there's stuff that I'm still dealing with, but overall it was very happy, and that's where I think this collecting comes from. I look at ponies, mine, somebody else's, just wherever there's ponies, when I look at them I feel happy, truly, deeply happy. Innocently happy, like when I was a child. No bills, no drama, no stress, just happy. That's why I'm collecting now. I would think that's a feeling everyone is looking for (grown ups anyway, kids don't know how good they've got it  ), and I happen to get it from ponies.

I'm really lucky because I've always been a little bit weird, as are my friends, so nobody really gives me a hard time about it. My husband jokes me a little bit, but he has a nascar collection, so he can't say too much.

I really hope you can trust yourself enough to not question what brings you happiness and joy even if your friends and family do. It's different for each of us, and somebody else's joy won't work, but we all deserve to find what makes us happy and pursue it. There's nothing wrong with collecting ponies, even as a grown up, if it makes you happy and you're not spending rent money buying them! Lol.

[kissthethunder]

I was very lonely as a child, and suffered molestation on many occassions from my grandfather. I've been forced to live in the same house as him now in my adult life, and found out recently he molested my cousins who I had tried to protect to the point of desperation. Between being alone and carrying the weight of feeling 'unclean' by someone I should have trusted, I escaped in toys, mostly ponies. It's the one innocent and pure thing I have, and I want to protect it. (It's also why pony porn bother me so much)

[Yuitsu]

My counsellor asked me about my mum, and I told her she's not supportive and doesn't approve of the toys, and she asked if it stopped me, as the toys make me happy. I said no. If it makes you happy, do it.

I suffer, apparently, from something called regression, which makes it difficult for me to deal with things as an adult should and I revert to being the me that I was over a decade ago when I had my breakdown. All my toys that I have the most attachment to are from before my parents separated, and are intertwined with my sense of 'home' and 'safe'.

[Koudoawaia]

Wow, that's really terrible, I'm sorry to hear that My own childhood was really quite normal and happy, I don't feel I have any excuse for not adjusting the way most average adults do.

I'm almost 30 now and I still like many things that would be classified as being for children still: Disney, MLP, etc. I even still browse the young adult and kids' novels because other than the fantasy section, I find those books to be better than adult fiction. My view is that if you're interested in it, you're not too old for it so keep loving ponies to your heart's content.

[Salli]

How old are you guys? I've noticed that people in their late teens/early 20's tend to be more judgmental about it. It's left over from high-school.  Like you know how when you go from early school age to teen, the kids will seriously eat you alive if you still play with toys? So you stop playing with them. There's this mentality that comes with the peer pressures of teenage years.
One of my younger siblings (early 20's) feel that it's kind of odd. It just makes me laugh because he just got married and he is beginning down a path that is going to really going to push him towards the edge of sanity. (Parenthood). Someday he'll see the value in having an emotional sanctuary.
The older you get, the less you care about what other people think. Most of the people I know over 30 collect something. Whatever it is, they can empathize with me and see the value in my collection (which is super small).
If I had tried to collect ponies with the friends I had just out of high school they would have openly mocked me. I am now 35 and have now surrounded myself with the sweetest, most supportive people in the universe (all different ages). Most of whom have now acquired at least one pony! I have one friend who loved my blind bags so much she ordered a box of wave 1's on line. I've even turned several guys into bronies.
I think they see how I think it's cool, and it makes me happy and I don't even think about what other people think. Then they realize it's cool. I think it's a combination of the power of confidence and the fact that I have great friends. I wish I had had that confidence in High School. I would have been so much happier.
Aren't you glad we have the internet to connect with each other? When I was in school, we didn't have the internet as we know it, and it was so lonely. Now we can all find each other! And meet at conventions! lol

ShortyBoo, I am so sorry that you had to go through the horrors in your past. I'm an abuse survivor too (not of incest though) and I understand a little bit of the hell you know. I hope you know that you are an amazing person for taking that severe soul-pain and turning to something positive, beautiful and creative. So many people let their pain turn them into monsters. Please know that you are amazing and strong and a miracle. You inspire me and I'm sure you inspire others.

(4 people responded while I was writing this!!)

[BrightSide]

How old are you guys? I've noticed that people in their late teens/early 20's tend to be more judgmental about it. It's left over from high-school.  Like you know how when you go from early school age to teen, the kids will seriously eat you alive if you still play with toys? So you stop playing with them. There's this mentality that comes with the peer pressures of teenage years.

I'm sixteen. Arena baby.

[rybett]

Well, I stated the Ramona series as a child.  As the new ones come out, I buy them for DD who has yet to touch them.  I of course, have read them.  As for the ponies, it started as DD's collection, me customizing duplicates.  At this point it is safe to say that I am listening to my inner child.  So many folks stop listening and seem unhappy because of it.  Don't get me started on hubby's ton of Legos downstairs.  About to turn 40.  And I am demanding black balloons that day, thankyouverymuch.   

[Salli]

Also I wanted to say that look at your ancestors. Collections have brought people joy forever. I think it's our hunter/gatherer natures. It makes us feel like we actually accomplished something because we can see it. SO much of our lives feel like drudgery. Think about the 'normal'  people you know who collect anything. Junk cars, shoes, china, cats, stamps, coins, magnets from different places you've visited, pen-pals, guns, jewelry, music, etc... Almost everyone collects something. Look at the older people you know. How many have a collection? Almost all of them, right? Having collections is a part of life. And it's getting much more socially acceptable. Most people love something 'nerdy' (I call it nerdy and I am fine with it). My brothers have Transformers and they are in their 20's and 30's. I think us kids from the 80's appreciate collecting 80's toys. It wasn't just our childhoods (cuz mine wasn't good), it was a simpler time. We're trying to hang onto that piece of time when the world (in America anyway) was simpler.

kissthethunder, I HATE pony porn too. Seriously, there is nothing positive about it.

Brightside, I am old enough to be your mom although my oldest is 7, so that keeps me young. Yah, my 38-year-old hubby collects GI Joes.

[Lorelei Redfern]

i'm 31 yers old. nad  i love collecting ponys and such.  i have over 300 eeyores.  (i'm a bit obessed with him) but onto the ponys.  i had tons and tons of my little ponys growing up,  and i lvoed them.  but i couldnt get allt eh oens i wanted becuase my parents wouldnt buy them for me.  only certain  ones that were cheap. so now that i'm grown i can go out and buy (when i have the money) the toys that i wasn't allowed to have when i was little and  go through all the fun.  i recently got a light bright (my mom never allwoed me to have one growing up) and i foudn some mlp light bright sheets. but the point is it isnt hurting anyone.  just shrug it off.  its  a thing you like to do.  i'm still colelcitng ponys and will likely never stop. i lost  almost all mne in moves and a hosue fire. so i'm staritng over.

oh and for my birthday i got a fluppy dog ^^ i always wanted one. but my mom would never buy me  one so  now i got myself one!