Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with childhood

Info Sought on Childhood Leukemia

slowtree — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:51:30 -0800

Childhood A.L.L. Luekemia My 2 year old niece was just diagnosed with this today and we are scouring the internet trying to find out all that we possibly can. She starts CHEMO tomorrow. Any personal experience or ideas of informative websites would be appreciated. Not generic websites but detailed and resourceful sites. Her doctors will certainly keep us informed as we go but since we are in the very beginning stages its all we can think about. Anyone that has anything at all to offer, it would be appreciated. Even if its on info on CHEMO and its effects.

She had a biopsy done on a swollen lymph-node behind her right ear. Turns out it was 94% Cancer. They initially thought it was Non-Hodgkins Lymphona but a bone marrow biopsy distinguished that it is Leukemia.

Again any information or suggestions where to find information is appreciated.

Help me find two books I read as a kid

Caduceus — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:41:47 -0800

WhatWereThoseBooksFilter: I'm looking for several unrelated books, or possibly series of books, that I read as a kid. The first involved a family of magic users living in what was the time the modern world. It was probably written in the 80s or early 90s, and I read it in the early to mid 90s (I have the least complete childhood memories of any non-tramautized twenty something I know, so bear with me). If I'm not conflating multiple books, the book was about a family of wizards/magic users who lived in secret in the modern world. I believe it was a YA book, and it focused on the children, though the parents could use magic as well.

I remember that one kid in particular had the gift of throwing small, relatively harmless fireballs, and would get in trouble by using this on his or her siblings. I don't recall if each family member could only do one particular magic act, or if they could all use magic in general and each was just particularly gifted with a single ability. I believe that the kids somehow awoke or pissed off a dragon, and that the family had to band together and fight it. It may have been a series, as well, but I don't remember any details that could have been from other books in the series.

The second book was about trolls. Again, I think it was a YA novel. I remember even less of this one. What I most remember is that they would play this game that I recall as being vaguely like horseshoes, only it would involve throwing what I believe were rocks with etchings filled with copper, silver, or gold in them. The winners would be able to take the losers' rocks. These trolls were fairly Scandinavian, in that they turned to stone in the sunlight, but they were the protagonists of the book.

Please help identify this childhood book.

0.0.0 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:58:27 -0800

Please help identify this childhood book. I'm 90% sure it was english, otherwise it could have been written in spanish. The book was wider than tall, probably 15" by 10", very colourful but dark and weird at the same time. The only page i remember is one where s the main character is walking through a cave or forest and all these very interesting animals/creatures looking at him. (I think there's also page with just eyes surrounding him in the dark). The creatures are oddly drawn and very interesting and it was scary if anything. I believe this was a hand-me-down but eitherway I had it late 80's early 90's. I know the details are vague but i'm just hoping someone out there can bring me to peace. Thankyou

How did you play sports in your neighborhood?

Joey Michaels — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:48:02 -0800

What alternate rules did you follow when you played specific sports as a kid? So, my wedding anniversary is a month and my wife and I are going to treat our friends to a big outdoor party in a local park. We've been talking about activities that would be a little more unusual than the normal summer park activities.

Writing up this comment in the Blue got me to thinking about how much fun I used to have playing three person whiffle/tennis/baseball. I'm thinking it might be fun to abandon the adult rules of some traditional sports and play by playground rules at our cookout thing.

So, when you were a kid, did you have specific rules for playing sports that were, to the best of your knowledge, unique to your town or neighborhood?

Religious Defections

Static Vagabond — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:37:37 -0800

How many people after being brought up in one religion, eventually choose another? I'm aware that it's almost common to find someone who has been brought up in a religious environment to eventually become an atheist, with that change happening even during childhood.

But how often does that happen between religions? If a person grows up in a religious environment and retains the belief in a higher power, how often do they change to a entirely different religion, purely for religious reasons. (e.g. I'd ideally be excluding converting to religion X to get married, or similar)

Have their been studies done? Or more generally, what are your thoughts on it happening?

I'm assuming the defection rate (for want of a better term) would be near zero, unless its a subtle change, e.g. following Anglicanism vs. Protestantism under the Christian umbrella, and even in that case, would that change be more for comfort reasons then religious ones (moving to a town with only Protestant churchs).

Thoughts? (Numbers?!)

Mummies in the ventilation ducts? Yeah, we're boned

Inspector.Gadget — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:20:28 -0800

Please help me figure out the titles of two movies that freaked me out as a child, one involving a space expedition and one involving a mummy. I'll recite all I remember from these two films in hopes someone can I identify them.

Movie Number One: Archaeologists (or similar) find sarcophagus, which has a hidden container containg emerald-looking stones. One loots the stones and another later ends up having to dip his arm in a surgical tray full of a liquid that looks like urine in an attempt to fix some other mummy-related malaise. Said mummy later chases a woman through what I think was a library, following her into some HVAC ducts and possibly ripping them out of the ceiling.

Movie Number Two: Raggedy bunch of teenagers on some sort of vehicle in space with limited water and/or fuel supplies are riding the razor's edge on making it back to a planet or space station in time. One of them deliberately contaminates the water supply by adding some sort of lubricant or fuel or something else inky black and billowing to a clear container of clear liquid. There was a scene in which several characters were gathered together gazing out into space at something; the scene had a distinctly Hook-like feel to it for some reason.

Disclaimer: At least one of these was watched while I was running a high fever, so some freaky associated dreams may be altering my memory of the movies' events. Thank you very much in advance for the help - I think Ask MeFi is basically the only place I would consider asking a question like the above and expect to get a response.

Forgotten-Kids-Movie-Filter

sprocket87 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:11:43 -0800

Need help naming a children's movie... My wife has faint memories of a fond movie from her childhood and needs help finding out what it was. Here's what she remembers:

It's a live-action movie (she's pretty sure). The main character, probably a girl, goes through a mirror at the beginning which leads her on a quest for a magical cherry tree that grants extended life. Then there's some old evil lady that keeps eating the cherries to live longer. Finally, the girl gets the cherries to her grandparent (she thinks) which might save their life or something?

She's pretty sure there was some sort of "stuffed animal" creature that led the protagonist through this. It's possible that the whole thing was a Care Bears, Pound Puppies, or Popples video - she really can't remember.

Any ideas? Thanks - this has been driving her nuts for a long time!!

What were we thinking?!?

shifafa — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:23:23 -0800

Health and exposure to nasty pesticides in the 1960s and 70s -- anyone have specific information on exactly what was sprayed in my home every six months when I was a kid? For those of us over 35...I guess we were all exposed to some bad, bad stuff when we were young, including fire retardants in our clothing and bedding, DDT for mosquitos, etc. But I have a distinct memory of The Bug Man coming by our house every few months and spraying the baseboards in every room, hallway and closet.

My sister and I were fascinated by this and would follow the dude around the house, inhaling fumes from the pesticide, sometimes touching it while it was wet.

/shaking head in disbelief

Any ideas on what pesticides were commonly used in the home during the 60s and 70s? ( This was before DDT was banned...) Does anyone have specific information on the health effects of occasional exposure to this crap as a child? All I could find on Google was research on chronic, occupational exposure.

Thanks in advance.

Book from Childhood: Visible Woman Comes Alive

macadamiaranch — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:50:09 -0800

Book from Childhood: I recall it as a pre-teen book (in the late 70s/early 80s) and all I remember was a boy (maybe a boy and a girl?) was in a science museum after hours and the Visible Woman (the see-through anatomy exhibit) came alive and befriends the kid(s). I think all of the exhibits came alive, but I most vividly remember the Visible Woman.

Help me scratch this mental itch?

irregardless — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:53:18 -0800

When I was in elementary school, I read this young adult book about a band of children who carry an American flag all the way to Washington, D.C. (along a highway, maybe?) for some reason. Anyone know the book? This has been bothering me for about five years now. My (very fuzzy) memory of the cover has it as being white, with a big American flag flowing across it. Any ideas?

Nothing to do with Alan Thicke

emd3737 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:14:41 -0800

Growing pains? Stigmata? What really were those pains I had as a child? When I was a child, I frequently got what I referred to as “leg cramps”, even though they weren’t just in my legs. Symptoms: dull but very unpleasant aching in the backs of my knees, crooks of my elbows, palms of my hands, and arches of my feet. They generally occurred at night and often woke me up. Pressing on or massaging the area provided some relief, but I recall them being fairly agonizing. At some point, I stopped having them, although as an adult, on rare occasions (mostly when I’m very tired or hungover) I get an uncomfortable but much less painful sensation in the same areas.
Looking back, I’m curious. What causes growing pains? How common are they? A Google search provided lots of symptoms but not much of a biological explanation. I also didn’t see any mention of pain in hands or feet. Interestingly, I did see one citation about a suggested link between growing pains and migraines, and I used to get awful migraines as a teenager. Perfectly healthy, now, though.

Please help me remember the name of a childhood toy.

mockjovial — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:54:23 -0800

Please help me remember the name of a childhood toy. I'm remembering a toy from my childhood, which would have been the mid - late 80s.

The basic idea was that it was a military vehicle of some type - like a jet or a jeep. You would push a red button and it would fold out and expand and become some kind of military base. I remember that the jeep doors would swing out, and the wheels would fold down to serve as a platform. There also were little plastic infantry guys - one kind was black with red visors, the other was beige with green visors. They were in all different types of positions. Crouching, running, etc. The jet would unfold to a little base as well, and the front nose-cone became some kind of car. I thought they were called 'xpanders' or something like that, but my google-fu is failing me. Does anyone know what I'm talking about!? It’s driving me nuts!

Help me trace this strange childhood song.

paulfreeman — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:02:06 -0800

In primary school (In the UK) we used to sing a song about Hannibal The Cannibal, King of the Cannibal Land - But I can't find any record of such a song any more. I'm pretty certain that the song came from a printed song book, but I don't know the name of it. This will have been some time in the early to mid 80s.

The only lines I remember are the opening:
Hannibal was a Cannibal,
King of the Cannibal Lands (or Tribe)
He eats Toes On Toast...

Both my brother, and my best friend from back then remember the song equally as vaguely, but enough to convince me there was such a song even though it seems very odd for kids to be singing something along these lines. I've been trying for years to find a copy of the song book, or the full set of words, but have never had any luck.

old movie title

comfortinsound — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:24:37 -0800

I'm trying to find the title of a movie which frightened me as a child (40's/50's) In the movie, a young girl's mother has died & she has nightmares or fantasies about a killer who wears a feather. At the climax she sees the shadow of that feather coming for her & it turns out to be a lady's hat(the woman who is about to become her evil stepmother)maybe played by Bette Davis? & she is saved by her father. I had nightmares about this movie & have tried unsuccessfully over the years to find out more about it. Have searched all the movie sites & google & asked all the movie buffs I've known. Does anyone know this movie?

"people dying, children crying - look, fingernails in your back..."

trinarian — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 10:46:27 -0800

Help identify a strange and creepy children's song from my past that seems ungoogleable. I have a very distinct memory of coming back from YMCA summer camp with my older sister. As we were driving away, my she starts singing a song she learned that day with the kids her age. I remember the tune and some of the words, and it was creepy as hell to a seven year old. My mother made her stop singing it, I think she did the whole thing for me another time, but now she's forgotten anything of it.

The lyrics I remember was a chorus of, "people dying, children crying" followed right after by a stop of the tune and something like, "look! fingernails in your back." I think this might have been followed by something physical like putting nails to your back. The entire song was describing some kind of war-torn wasteland or nuclear apocalypse.

The tune was something like "dah dahn dah dahn da dahn da dahn - dahn!" for that above chorus.

It was extremely catchy and burned holes in my head with apocalyptic visions - I still remember it 20 years later. I don't think there's anyway they could have made it up, it's too catchy. Anyone else remember this words or know the origins to this?

Missing chicken.

Cat Pie Hurts — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:00:37 -0800

Longshot stuffed animal of yore finder filter. I'm looking for a stuffed animal I had when I was a kid.

He was a chicken. His face, hands and legs were yellow. He had an orange rooster's comb and an orange beak with a little red tongue inside (comb and beak were made from felt). Me wore a light blue shirt that had the words, "Chick-a-dee" written in a light cursive across the front in yellow stitching. He may or may not have been wearing pants. Answers to the name, "Chicky"

I remember the day I got him. It was Autumn, 1975 in New York City. My sister bought him for me from a bin at Wainwright's.

After a conversation with younger cow-orkers about childhood stuffed animals, I was filled with wonderful memories of Chicky.

While I would love to find one just like him, even just a picture would make me happy (really extraordinarily happy, really. Stupid happy.) It would make up for the horrible way in which I lost him. (I just found a pic of my dog Henry, and that has gone a long way towards bringing me to joy. CHicky would make it complete).

Hope a creepy old man's childhood back into place, hive mind!

Are my memories real? Does it matter if they aren't?

Avenger — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 01:59:03 -0800

How can I be sure that my childhood actually happened? Before I begin, let me say:

1) No, this is not a joke

and

2) No, despite my wishes to the contrary, I'm not stoned out of my mind.

Basically, I have a number of memories from my childhood that are completely surreal and more or less physically impossible -- which would rationally suggest that I'm remembering dreams -- yet these "memories" are just as real and perfectly vivid as any other memory of my childhood. I'm disturbed by the implications of this.

Example 1: I have a vivid, utterly real "memory", from when I was 6 or 7 I guess, of my dad and I standing together, naked, in a toilet bowl. We weren't shrunk or anything, just sort of standing there, full sized. I know, it's classic Freudian dream material. Yet, it's just as "real" to me as one of my birthday parties from those years.

Example 2: I remember, very distinctly and strongly, of visiting my grandmother's house for a family reunion when I was about 9 or 10. Part of the "ritual" of the family reunion involved everyone (except myself, because I chickened out) walking over a bed of hot, smoldering coals.

Yes, I know it's all completely insane. I asked my grandma about it last year and she agreed that it's insane as well, yet I remember it as well as I remember Christmas from around that time. Perfect clarity.

Example 3: Some kids have "imaginary friends". I had an "imaginary enemy". It was the telephone pole who lived out back. The nodes on top were his eyes, the "V" shape crossbars was his perpetually grinning mouth. The strange part is that I remember him speaking. Like, really remember him speaking. He spoke a terrible monster-language (sounded like "Gonk-gonk-gonk") but I could understand what he was saying. He always wanted to eat me and my family. I remember him threatening my family, as much as I remember my dad talking to me as a child. Its that real to me.

The rational part of my mind (which I like to think is very strong) realizes that these and other "memories" are obviously products of my own mind -- yet I'm unable to distinguish them in any way from "reality", except, perhaps, by their seemingly ludicrous nature.

So, some questions:

Is this normal? Does anyone else have these experiences? Or am I completely insane?

Is there any truth to the idea of "false memories" that could have been implanted by someone else? Or even by myself, unknowingly?

And finally, (on a more philosophical note) If I can't reliably tell the difference between dreams and reality from such a young age, how can I be sure that anything from back then is real? Obviously I can ask others who were supposedly there (like grandma) but if they don't remember, what does it say about my personal integrity that many of my earliest, most formative memories could be fake? Or even mostly fake? Obviously I've given some extreme and very surreal examples, but what can I trust if I can't trust my own memory?

Remember these maze books from the seventies?

matildaben — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:19:02 -0800

When I was a kid in the 70's, I was an avid solver of a series of mazes published in books by an author with a Russian name (I remember it as Vladimir something). They were the kind of paperback books sold in the games section of bookstores, that you were supposed to write in like you do with crossword puzzle books. The mazes were simple, black-and-white, in a variety of shapes, and not gimmicky, just quite challenging (they were intended for grownups, not kids). Does anyone remember these books and can help me find them again?

Is it me or the Twinkie?

esereth — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:34:01 -0800

Twinkies, have the ingredients changed? They don't taste quite like they did. Twinkies and Ding Dongs and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Coke. The aroma, the fantastic first bite. I figured it was cuz I was a grown up. The sweet flavors seem flatter and less textured now.

But I'm wondering. Maybe they really ARE different.

I don't suppose anyone has a ingredients list for a Twinkie in 1985 to compare with today, but is there anyway to find out if the ingredients have changed?

Nerf baseballs?

notsnot — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:19:10 -0800

Whatever happened to Nerf softballs/baseballs? Asking for a friend:
When we were kids, we had a TON of yellow nerf baseballs. (They were baseball sized, but had the outer softness of a softball, and generally threw like a baseball). My friend ate ridiculous amounts of Cap'n Crunch, and the balls were a mail-away prize from that cereal. They were great for hitting out in the schoolyard, and we're reliving our childhood through activities (dirt bike riding, stickball, etc) so we want to get some new copies of the old classic. We can't seem to find these balls anywhere online. Ideas?

Older book a la "A Dangerous Book for Boys"?

Soulbee — Fri, 04 May 2007 07:10:36 -0800

Help me find the name and a copy of a book similar in concept to the newer A Dangerous Book for Boys. My paternal grandparents used to have a book that they said was my fathers, though it may have been my uncle's (who was 12 years younger than my dad and thus born in '65). It was similar to the new book "A Dangerous Book For Boys," in that many things that a preteen/young teen boy would find fascinating, in terms of escapades. I remember it describing in detail how to build an underground fort with a trapdoor in the ceiling, how to have an awesome crab-apple fight, how to make an icy luge you could shoot riding on metal platters, how to make invisible ink out of milk, how to make an ice rink in your backyard, etc. I think many of these things were couched within a loose storyline of a group of youngins. There may have been jokes and puzzles in it as well. I think it may have been non-traditional sized hardcore or stiff paperback, more like a textbook sized thing, and either predominantly white or yellow in color. The inside had lots of diagrams drawn cartoonishly in black and white. I think the title was something along the lines of "everything your parents don't want you to know" or something like that. Does anyone remember this book? If it belonged to my father, it was probably new in the mid sixties; if it belonged to his younger brother, it was probably new in the mid 70s. My dad vaguely recalls ME being fascinated with this book after finding it in my grandparents house but has no recollection of it being his or his brother's.

What are all of the Brown Paper School Book titles?

drfu — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 04:46:32 -0800

Is anyone else here familiar with the Brown Paper School books published by Little, Brown & Co.? I am trying to find a definitive listing of all of the books in this series. These are fantastic kids' books (they were a large part of my childhood, which is why I still have them and share them with my daughter now). I have eight of these, and I knew that there was at least one more out there. Google has let me down (or perhaps I have let Google down with my search skills), as have my other usual avenues (Wikipedia, usenet). Ebay lists a BUNCH that I have never seen, and I would like to get a list of all of these titles so that I can share even more of these with my kid. For anyone who cares, I have My Backyard History Book, Blood and Guts, The Reasons For Seasons (used today!), I Am Not A Short Adult!, The Book of Think, Good For Me, The Night Sky Book and The I Hate Mathematics Book. All of mine were published in the mid- to late-seventies.

Is "your type" hard-wired in youth?

whitneykitty — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:32:39 -0800

Is the type of person you're attracted to or consider attractive hard-wired in you during childhood? I remember reading an article several years ago about how people's types are hardwired in them by the age of six. Have warm, fuzzy interactions with a red-haired, shy boy in the sandbox, you'll grow up with a thing for red-haired shy boys. I can't find the article or even a book explaining more about this.

I genuflect before the awe-inspiring and awesome AskMeFi :)

Thanks!

Know anything about canned butter from the 1950's?

phonebia — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 19:22:33 -0800

Help me figure out the name of the brand of canned butter my mother loved as a child growing up in Taiwan. I'd love to present her with a tin of this stuff for her birthday. A long shot, for sure but I have to try. :)

She grew up in the Kaohsiung area of Taiwan, in a village that translates into Six Turtle (Liu Kuei or something similar), and remembers this sweet-flavored canned butter from her childhood. She would have had access to it during the mid 1950's-early 1960's. Apparently the Catholic church passed it out to the local people along with flour and such.

There are some traits of this elusive butter that she is quite insistent upon:
1. It was in a round tin, diameter approximately equal to that of a CD.
2. It had a cow on the side.
3. The stuff definitely tasted sweet. In fact it was so awesome that "[she] can still taste it now."

This Red Feather Pure Creamery Butter is the closest thing I could find (Googling yielded some notes about how it was imported to Asian parts of the world also), but it doesn't have a cow on it. Also, the ingredients don't seem to indicate that it would taste sweet.

Can you help me figure this out?

To err is human

hadjiboy — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:11:56 -0800

What are some of the ways I can use to fight my enormous fear of failure? A bit of background info: I was raised in a house where academic excellence was prized, and although it was said that “it didn’t matter how much I’d get; we’re still going to love you no matter what”, I always had a distinct feeling that the love given was in direct proportion to the marks obtained. So a low score would net you fewer cuddles, if any.
I can still feel the after-effects of this till today. (I have an assessment at work tomorrow, and I’m scared shitless how it’s going to go. Today, I almost didn’t make it to work—I’d worked myself up into such a frenzy. I also have a minor case of Bipolar disorder, for which I’m taking medicine, so I’m not quite sure how that’s affecting me.)

My sincerest thanks to anyone who can give me some practical advice which I can use tomorrow, or a few anecdotes to lessen my shame, and fear.