"What happened in your childhood?"

[Zombelina]

@Zombelina

I, too, suffer from depression. Suffered for about 10 years so far...it can really eat you up. Also suffering anxiety during stressful situations. PONIES MAKE IT ALL BETTER! But in seriousness, I'm glad it helped you^_^.

Thank you and while it helps to know I'm not alone, I am so sorry you have to suffer this as well. Sending pony love at you too!

Love the Darwin story LadyMoondancer. Following your heart is always the best path. Although eww, acrid beetle fluid...

I guess as an adult I'm supposed to go buy shoes or something. You can't really cuddle shoes or talk to them or stuff them in your pocket and take them on adventures, though.  There was nothing wrong with my childhood but I do get lonely sometimes so it's nice to come home to my toy "friends". That's all, really   

Totally this!

:empties hugs from bin and tosses them all over the thread:

*rolls around in hugs and throws around more*

[hyenacub]

:bounces on a giant hug:

[PawPrince]

*

[BrightIdea]

While I was growing up, there used to be a big expectation that everyone would have different interests and stop liking kid things when they grew up.

I still like all the kid stuff!  Sure, you like some new things as an adult, but I still love everything I loved as a kid.

[tulagirl]

Well, I have to say that I do think there is a childhood root.  It doesn't mean thats a bad thing though. For me, toys represent the joyous times for all generations that were once kids.  Collecting is preserving a part of play history that tells a huge story about the decade it represents.  I collect from many decades and even own antiques. Its that history that appeals to me and the joys the items evoke in me when I hold them. I can picture in my mind a child playing and that feels wonderful.  Times have changed each decade that has past and each toy has represented those changes. Dolls represent values, fashion and technology.  For example:  Its really neat to have a Barbie from 1970 with her record player and then own one from 1980 where the walkman is introduced and now where she has an ipod doc.  This tells a story about our world.  I love love love that.  Ponies are no different.  Tell this friend that and watch her head spin.  I have a love of civilization, costume history, art, fashion trends, cultures and anthropology.  Toys are a huge part of all of those things.  So why does it mean we are weird for wanting them?  If it were not for someone in the year 1900 not preserving a bisque doll, I wouldn't have it to look at and marvel at in 2012.  And who are the toy makers?  Most of the time they are adults. Who are the authors of the toy collectible books?... Adults.  To me making a statement like this just shows lack of knowledge about this sort of thing.
So, while the lady my age that collects shoes purses and expensive jewelry loves that...hey thats fine thats another part of our fashion history and we need those things preserved also.  What everyone needs is a little bit more acceptance of others and a lot less jesting about things you know nothing about.

Yea my childhood was a huge mess, but when I was very young I had already developed my love for all I mentioned above and its no surprise I ended up being a collector of a whole lot more than just ponies.  My collections have brought others a lot of joy. When I took my dolls to the nursing home those ladies eyes just lit up like Christmas trees.  We need to preserve childhood everyone wants to remember the best of it.

[hyenacub]

I love all that about old toys, toO!!

[reanna-mator]

I dunno... for me, MLP isn't reliving my childhood because I barely remember it from when I was a kid. I remember one of the episodes (The Fugitive Flowers) and I had a Wind Drifter toy, but if there was any more than that I can't remember.

On the other hand, I have lately enjoyed looking up old toys, books, movies and shows that I liked as a kid, and it's the reason I have a small collection of vintage Care Bear dolls. Nothing wrong with it at all-- I just feel that as I'm nearing the age of thirty, I want to reflect on where I've been. Also as a writer, it's been fun to look at the fiction I enjoyed as a kid and how it may have influenced me to this day.

Probably those who ask you about reliving your childhood generally don't have any malice behind the words-- at least I'd hope. I know I've had a fun time constantly surprising my sister, who is 18 months younger than me, with the occasional link describing something we used to love, as I seem to have a better memory for that stuff. So where I'll remember owning most of the Wish World Kids toys, she wouldn't remember them and have an "Oh yeah!" moment until seeing them again. It's fun.

[Juri]

I have had people imply before that my love for childish things is because of a trauma I experienced when I was younger. To be honest Im not sure that I agree with that - I think I like what I like and that is that
I think there is a big difference between collecting something you love and that brings you joy and having a real regression issue that interferes with you being able to live your life. In the same way there is a difference between healthy collecting and hoarding - if you know what I mean.
If your collecting isnt interfering with other aspects of your life in a harmful way and isnt causing anyone else harm I dont see any problem with it at all. If other people want to judge thats up to them - ultimately its your life and you need to live it the way that brings you happiness.

[octocorn]

The way I look at it, everyone collects something. Shotglasses, spoons, postcards, stamps, whatever. I assure you that walking into a room with a bunch of bright colored adorable ponies brings me more joy than a pile of spoons from various states would!  My boyfriend collects DC Universe action figures, so he's incredibly supportive of me and my ponies, and I likewise with his figures!  Life is too short to avoid something so simple that brings you happiness.

[lunar_scythe]

my usual answer is

'I enjoyed myself, didn't you?' along with

'No one made me grow up or told me I was too old for toys, so now, instead of buying alcohol, drugs, or the latest fashion trends, I still spend my money on toys.  *Much* cheaper in the long run!'

[hyenacub]

:unar-scythe, I love those answwers! 

[starrypawz]

To be fair, in my case I don't think I've ever 'grown up or grown out' of toys. When I was younger I was picked on in primary school as when all the girls seemed to move onto popbands and makeup I still wanted to play with toys. I didn't have a bad childhood really apart from the bullying, secondary school was a pretty big rough patch but other than that it wasn't too bad all in all.

I enjoy having my room filled with the things I like as it means when it's been a long day I've got something to look at to make me feel happy. I enjoy sorting my collection, cleaning, restoring and searching for new additons.

I like ponies, I like cuddly toys I like action figures and don't see me stopping collecting or wanting them anytime soon. But of course there's that stigma that only certain things are apparently 'suitable' to collect. Apparently no one looks twice if you spent 200 quid on a pair of shoes but spend 6 quid on a plastic toy, you must have a problem.

Honestly, I collect toys, I game, I read, I draw and do other geeky/weird things. Yet I don't smoke, don't go out getting plastered every week, don't do drugs, haven't been arrested and would say I'm a realtivley healthy adult so I don't see why there's such a stigma.  I'm healthy and that's more important than the fact I happen to still like little plastic ponies.

[hyenacub]

--200 quid on a pair of shoes --

Now THAT I can't figure out.  Shoes are shoes.  lol  A pair that's 20 would look just as good.  Or even a pair that's 10.

[Water_Fire]

my usual answer is

'I enjoyed myself, didn't you?' along with

'No one made me grow up or told me I was too old for toys, so now, instead of buying alcohol, drugs, or the latest fashion trends, I still spend my money on toys.  *Much* cheaper in the long run!'

I like it! My usual answer is, 'Well, ponies are a helluva lot cheaper than crack.'

[starrypawz]

Actually, on topic there's a good quote from C.S. Lewis that can be very useful in these cases

“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
― C.S. Lewis