23 Random Things We All Did As Kids and Secretly Keep Doing as Adults

Melissa Knudson • Writer

Sep 10, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Joy comes in many shapes and sizes, and in this case, in many memes.

We often reminisce about the good old days by talking about our friends and the things we used to love. Perhaps some very specific anecdote that we have told absolutely everyone we've met a million times, but keep recalling anyway. Perhaps an embarrassing incident that never really leaves our heads and likes to torture us when it's time to go to sleep. One by one, the images start rolling, and we see ourselves as wonderful, innocent, beautiful children. That's when we start to realise that there is something else behind those moving memories. As sweet as childhood can be, once we time travel to the golden years, we inevitably have to come to terms with one universal, unavoidable truth: we used to be kind of weird. We might look like functional adults now, but it took eating mud pies and decorating our faces with random kitchen ingredients to get here.

It's no secret that kids can be a little…random at times and that our minds used to exist in a world of their own, not really worried about common sense or useless things such as "natural physics". We truly believed we could fly by jumping from one step to another on a long staircase, and we really believed we could move objects with our mind.

Here's the real secret, however: some of us never really stopped. From time to time, amid an important but very boring meeting, a troublesome family reunion, or in between dissociated thoughts, we find ourselves going back to old habits. On other occasions, we just really need to connect with our old selves by acting as silly and nonsensical as we used to be. No worries, just give it a try and prove to yourself that the weird (sometimes a little scary) kid in you never really left.

So, next time you have to talk to your intimidating manager, your scary neighbour, or your secret crush, just remember that they most likely did some (let's face it, most) of the things in this list when they were kids (and let's face it again, as adults too). Be honest: which of these things do you keep doing as a so-called "functional adult"?

01
Building blanket forts

via August Bleu
02
Rehearsing important events with a toy audience

via Random Stranger
03
Thinking you can turn into a pro gymnast when you sit on a swing

via Lovethispic.com
04
Giving yourself a fake shot and thinking you're some kind of VFX expert

via Sugartown
05
Going to your parents after any minor inconvenience

via jess
06
Thinking that the moon is always following you around

via @cuddleful
07
Knowing that helping your dad really means this:

via Mia
08
The forever need to turn your markers into a weapon

via We Love The 1990s
09
Also, sticks

via Prettycooltim
10
And using that same thought to create hairpins out of everything

via ☦︎
11
Oh yes, a classic

via imgflip.com
12
The urge to challenge yourself randomly at different times of the day

via woowerse
13
Before, you couldn't have it. Now, you still can't

via Tattooforaweek.com
14
Pretending you're a famous influencer

via SUNSHINE_IDEAZ
15
And pretending you're a famous actor starring in a music video in your shower

via TryLife
16
And in the backseat of the car

via Robbie
17
And using those same acting skills to pretend you're asleep

via wonhypen
18
Desperate times call for desperate measures

via RT's
19
And with great power come great responsibility

via Memes
20
Stealing your parent's clothes at the age of (insert number)

via weknowmemes
21
Ignoring the laws of physics

via STUMPYBEANS010
22
And, of course, always keeping records

via @blanketgoblin
23
After all:

via ruby