Jules Torti is excited when Bored Panda reaches out to her. The author loves talking and writing about all things nostalgia and growing up. Torti doesn't hesitate to tell us her childhood revolved around questionable things. Even though, like many of us, she didn't consider them dumb at the time.
"I thought I was quite clever when I avoided returning overdue library books and instead chose to bury them down by the pond behind our house," Torti recalls. "And when my brother and I bounced around the pink insulation batts when my parents were renovating the basement, we didn't realize there was anything dumb about it. When our eyes were pinker than the insulation, and we felt like we'd been rolled around in poison ivy, we were politely informed of our dumbness and didn't take much interest in playing in fiberglass again!"
"This was a time period where common sense did not prevail," continues the author. "I mean, we used to throw the biggest rocks we could find onto the pond's surface to test the ice readiness. If the rock didn't go through, clearly, it was safe enough for us to play hockey. We would also [pee] inside our snowsuits when tobogganing to avoid having to go back inside the house and unzipping everything. We thought that was a smart alternative until the hot and wet itch set in."
Torti recalls doing loads of dumb sh*it with her hair as a kid. "My sister and I gave each other several not-so-flattering haircuts all the time," she tells us. "We lived in the country, so we were responsible for creating our own entertainment, which oddly involved scissors and each other's bangs (well, when they existed to cut off again)."
"When we had no hair of our own to trim, we turned to the cat," remembers Torti. "Poor Moker, our grey Persian---she was often whisker-less, and I regret that, but I'm sure my sister deserved the aggressive clippings and bubblegum in her hair. I'm surprised Kiley and I were allowed to have hair at all---the greatest sibling revenge was sticking a wad of Hubba Bubba on the back of her head. Or pine sap in a pinch. We were always halfway up a tree in our yard and if one was annoyed with the other the big brain-like balls of sap on the trunks were the perfect weapon."
"I'm sure she regrets that I'm a writer and love to tell the story of when she ate all of my grandmother's ex-lax," laughed the author. "Oh, and that time she ate Play-Doh. Now, there's a visual!"
Regardless of what generation they grow up in, children will probably always continue to do silly things. But as times change, perhaps the definition of "dumb" will, too. Torti says that the kids of today are totally different from when she grew up.
"I think kids nowadays are non-believers in a lot of things beyond Santa---like what their parents say or teachers teach," Torti tells Bored Panda. "We only had five TV channels growing up, no computer and one rotary dial phone. We relied on our imaginations and silliness because we didn't have cell phones, Netflix, Facebook and hovering parents."
The author adds that nowadays, there's a big shift in kids modeling their parents anxieties. "Whether it's politics, the pandemic, weight gain or social media. This kind of stuff never entered our mindset because our parents never discussed such things or their nervousness about anything."
As adults, we can learn a lot from children. They’re carefree, they laugh a lot, they’re curious, and they’re resilient. Us grown-ups tend to take life really seriously, and as far as kids are concerned—we should lighten up.
The Western Australian government released a sweet and insightful report in 2022 titled “What can adults learn from children?” The office of the Commissioner for Children and Young People had polled over a thousand young people from age 8 up and received some cute and enlightening responses.
“Many children and young people want adults to listen to what they have to say and express their frustration in not being heard,” said Western Australia Commissioner Jacqueline McGowan-Jones. “A large number also mentioned that adults could learn from children how to be more creative and have fun.”
While there’s no denying kids can say or do some dumb sh*t, they are by no means not smart. In the report, a number of children said that adults underestimate their intelligence. "[We] are not as dumb as they think," was one boy's simple answer when asked what adults can learn from children.
In one particularly cute response, another youngster said, “Adults learn stuff from children every day – once when I was 2 years old, my mum thought there were only 10 dinosaurs, but I told her there were more than 400 dinosaurs. She was astonished.”
“Just remember, children are smart, too,” added the little Einstein.
Many of the children surveyed felt that grown-ups need to loosen up. "Have fun and stop working all day and writing emails," suggested one child. And I'd have to admit, I'm guilty as charged.
Even experts agree that adults need to take a leaf out of children's books when it comes to having fun, being silly, and laughing more. “Just because parenting is a serious business is no reason to be serious about it all the time," said Shannon Bennett, assistant professor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medicine.
"Taking time for a moment of levity with your child during your daily routine means you’re making it a priority. You’re saying, ‘We enjoy you. You’re important. You’re loved.’”
Bennett told the Washington Post that kids are drawn to people who can be funny. In order to connect with them, we adults need to lighten up.
“So many of our days as parents can be bogged down with just getting from task A to task B," she explained. "Laughing can be cathartic and release dopamine and other feel-good chemicals in the brain. The key is the shared experience of joy. Making room for fun can help your children become the people they were meant to be.”
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Many of us would be lying if we said we didn't do at least one dumb thing when we were little. Heck, some of us still haven’t learned and could take part in the "Adults Doing Dumb Sh*t Olympics". If there ever were to be such a thing. As children, we often knew no better. We were exploring, learning, and feeding our curiosity.
Psychologist, author, and instructor Christopher Thurber once shared a memory that is literally seared into his being. "When I was four, I fell in love with Hot Wheels toy cars. My favorite was a drag racer with its own parachute. The chute clipped to the underside of the car with a pair of wire hooks... It was really cool," he wrote.
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"I noticed one day that the wire hooks resembled an electrical plug," continued Thurber. "And so I did the logical thing for a four-year-old: I inserted those hooks into an outlet."
I think the majority of us can guess what happened next. Because we are adults, not 4-year-olds, we've learned that it's never a good idea to stick a metal anything into an electrical socket.
