Let’s all admit we all did some pretty strange things as kids. I realize now that some of these peculiar endeavors were some of the best memories. For starters, I remember in elementary school walking through the halls with my hand on the wall. I would trace the crevasses in the wall following wherever they would take me.  Looking back, those walls probably held some type of disease from all the kids doing the same thing. I have no doubt that it helped build all the kids’ immune systems. 

As a kid, seeing a light switch meant one thing and one thing only- I had to balance the switch in the middle. Especially at home, I would get so mad that I couldn’t balance the switch in the middle, or anytime I thought I had it, I wouldn’t. It would switch on or off. Personally, my mom always got a little irritated at my failed attempts. At the time, I didn’t realize we had to actually pay for those lights in order to be able to turn them on and off, but we all know she most likely did the same thing when she was our age. Who wouldn’t? I would focus on that anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. Something so simple yet captivating.

Kids are amazed by anything, just like those raindrops on the window. Every time it rained, and I was in the car, I loved to watch the raindrops slide down the window. Or if there were two raindrops side by side, I’d watch them race. You’d pick the one who you thought was going to win. And it was calming when the raindrop you wanted to win, won. But it kind of stunk when the one you picked didn’t win. It was a huge disappointment. I did this a lot as a kid. Sometimes I still do if I’m being honest.

I don’t know what other people did as kids, but I know my sisters and I did this all the time. Whenever we had to turn off the lights somewhere in our house, we would turn off the lights and run. Because if we didn’t, some kind of creature would come for us and grab us by the feet and drag us to its cozy little home. I never wanted to know what that house looked like. So, you already know I would be sprinting into another room full of light. It was always fun having to be in that situation with siblings because you’d fight to run up the stairs first, leaving the other person in the dark. 

These were things I did as a kid, but I wanted to know what other people did. Courtney Rose, who currently attends Muskingum University, told me this story, “ I remember going into any bathroom no matter what and just looking behind the shower curtain. I always thought there would be something hiding behind it, waiting for the right moment to scare me. Or, if I was really paranoid, I’d just push the whole shower curtain to the side just to make sure.” 

We did a lot of things as kids and I know for a fact these are just a few. Most of them are just silly things we did to entertain ourselves and keep away from being bored, but they sure did make some of the best memories I know I won’t forget.