10 bizarre childhood habits that defined the chaos and fun of our youth

Your childhood isn’t complete if you haven’t done these habits yet.

Curiosity killed the cat, but for us in our youth, imagination drove us to do things way beyond our understanding. As children, we were inherently curious about how the world worked, especially during a time where there were no phones or the internet to quench our thirst for knowledge or satisfy our boredom.

And no, we aren’t watching you. You probably did these antics when you were young. You thought it was your own little secret, only to realize a decade later that millions of other kids were doing the exact same thing.

Here are 10 odd childhood habits we did at least once in our youth.

Eating cupcake wrappers

You just finished eating your cupcake, but you crave for more. As you look around, you realize that you are alone, staring at the wrapper covered in leftover crumbs.

An unconventional move would have you chewing on the paper, relishing the crumbs left in the wrapper, and spitting it out after. Numerous conversations on the risks of eating cupcake wrappers remain, but we cannot deny that we have at least tried this strange habit once.

“Smoking” wafer sticks

It’s merienda time and your mother hands you a wafer stick. Suddenly, you remember how cool it would look to smoke like the adults do. You place the wafer stick to your lips and replicate the feeling of nicotine entering your body, and imagine yourself as a mafia boss.

But remember, smoking leads to severe health risks, so it’s best to stay away from traditional and electric cigarettes and just stick to wafer sticks as your daily addiction.

Balancing the light switch

We understand how a light switch works, right? But somehow, our curiosity still got the better of us. As our young minds start to think like Edison or Tesla, we ask ourselves, “What would happen if the light switch is perfectly balanced in the middle?”

Does it turn on? Does it turn off? We were suddenly electrical engineers doing this little science experiment.

Spying on the refrigerator light

Just like the light switch, we knew that closing the refrigerator would turn off the light inside. But we just didn’t trust the appliance.

The only way to confirm the truth was by slowly closing the fridge door while taking a peek inside to witness exactly how that light turned off in the dark.

Electric fan as a voice modulator

Who says you need a modulator or autotune to alter your voice? This childhood habit of speaking or singing in front of an electric fan allowed us to instantly replicate alien voices or create robotic covers of powerful ballads.

The science behind this phenomenon is attributed to wave frequency, as the spinning blades constantly block the sound waves and let them pass with speed.

Peeling glue off your hands

In this arts and crafts experiment, you transitioned from a mammal to a reptile. As boredom struck, you’d take the liquid glue out of your bag and pour it all over your hands. Once you rubbed it in, you continuously blew on your skin to speed up the drying process.

After a 5- to 10-minute long wait, the dried glue was finally ready to be peeled off. The result was a universally pleasurable experience that you just knew you’d try again.

Candlewax fingerprints

Whether it was due to rotational brownouts or a traditional family prayer, a lit candle could never escape your lingering mind. As the candle shrank, the melted wax formed a pool that somehow attracted you.

Curious, you’d dip your index finger into the wax, endure the burning sensation, and let the wax cool down to harden, leaving trails of candlewax as you satisfyingly peeled them off. While the initial heat might put you off, the satisfaction in the cooling process made it all worth it in the end.

The tabo royalty

It’s not a Filipino bathroom without the timba’t tabo. For the youth however, the bathroom is a playground. As you filled the tabo with water to the brim, you quickly placed it on top of your head like a crown. For a moment, you felt like royalty as the cold water slowly poured from your head down to your body.

While adults debate whether using a timba’t tabo is more cost-effective than a typical shower, your childhood self simply ignored them, opting to use the traditional Filipino way to anticipate the fun bath.

The doorframe climb

Your interest and love for bouldering may have started with this exact childhood habit. Testing the limits of your acrobatic skills, you head to the doorframe. You’d press your hands against one side of the frame and your feet against the other. With pure strength and friction, you braced yourself to climb all the way to the ceiling.

For a moment, you embodied Spider-Man climbing walls to fight crime. But that moment was instantly lost once your mother berated you to get down before you broke your bones.

Raindrop racing

Before phones and installed LED screens in vehicles, pure peak entertainment during a long trip came when the rain started to fall. You’d stare at the window pane and watch the rain droplets vigorously racing to see who would win at the bottom.

Suddenly, your sibling or relative sitting beside you is in on the fun as well, betting on which raindrop will pour down faster.

 

 

You thought it was your own little secret, only to realize a decade later that millions of other kids were doing the exact same thing.

 

 

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