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I met up with some pals for wings last night.

The topic turned to stupid things we did as kids. I contributed two:

While rollerskating super fast down a street when I was about 10, I saw a light pole and for some reason those cartoons where the character grabs the pole and spins around and around until they land softly on the ground entered my mind.

Surely I could do that too, right?

Nope. Grabbed the pole. The inertia spun me around once and I landed flat on my tailbone. I could not move for 10 minutes.

Then there was the time I took a single hole punch to my hair because I was convinced it would leave circles in my hair. Five punches later, my mother caught me.

And, you????

AJ's MOM

When I was little, we lived in the country. There weren't other kids to play with, so I spent a lot of time in my room or in the basement playing with toys while Mom did housework or whatever.

One of my toys was a barn with little doors that opened when you pushed down on a series of large buttons lined up along the bottom. At some point I got the bright idea to disassemble this toy. I remember using a Phillips screwdriver to open the back up, and I remember pulling the long copper rods out of the system of levers that made the doors open. I also remember reaching toward a wall outlet with one of those rods.

The next thing I remember, the room was full of smoke and I was across the room, smashed up against the wall, still holding the copper rod. My mom was standing over me and her mouth was open, but I couldn't hear anything over this screaming noise in my head.

When I tell that story to people, they look at me for a minute then usually reply with, "That explains so much."

Our next door neighbor had a huge oak tree with a rope tied to a high branch. The older kids in the neighborhood would stand far away from the tree holding the rope, jump higher on the rope, stick their feet out in front of them, and bounce foot-first off the tree.

I decided to try it one day when no one was around. I stood far back from the tree, held the rope, jumped as high as I could, but forgot to stick my feet out. I slammed face first into the side of the tree, knocking myself out cold.

Next thing I remember was laying on the couch with my mom putting a cold washcloth under my chin. I had split it open. Still have a big X shaped scar under my chin to remind me it's better to land on your feet than on your face.

While riding my bike I thought of the clowns at a circus we had been to. I decided I was good enough that I could scoot up on the handlebars and ride that way. but what I failed to see was the pile of gravel in front of me.

My mother picked gravel out of my knees forever, I have the scars to prove it.

Thren:

That explains so much.

That explains so much.

The hair for sure.

I never did anything stupid as a kid... I was perfect.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

God Ive done so manyy stupid things as a kid I could post pages. But here are two of my best.

Once I was annoying a kid who lived downstairs from me. His name was big Joe. They called him that because at the age of 11 he was over 6' tall and close to 200 lbs. Now at that time Im about 4'5" and not even 75lbs. Now big Joe was a gentle giant who never harmed anyone. I was annoying the shit out of him and he warned me to stop. I kept it up and when he had enough and came at me I climbed up a tree. He was big so he could not climb. Now Im about 20' up this tree still taunting him. He gets ahold of a brick and throws it at me and nails me right in the head. I fall out of the tree and am out like a light. I remember waking up on my Moms couch with Bog Joe crying to my mother that he killed me. He had picked me up and ran me all the way home. Big Joe is still big and we are still friends. We will be spending the super bowl together with some others guys at my house on Sunday.

Second stupid thing was back in the 70,s When Evil Knievel was a big star. Well me and some friends decided on building this ramp made from some left over plywood and some 2X4,s we had found. It was about 4' high and as badly made as it could be. I got on my bike and raced down the block as fast as I could. I hit the ramp and it collapses and I take a nasty tumble. Fell off my bike and skidded on the sidewalk for many feet. I was all torn up and bleeding. Could not move my arm. Went to the hospital and had a dislocated shoulder as well. My poor mother was on a first name basis with the nurses in the ER because of me.

[This message edited by stronger08 at 8:07 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

That explains so much.

The hair for sure.

That's what my mom always says when I complain about it frizzing out. "Well, when you were four..."

ETA:

Second stupid thing was back in the 70,s When Evil Knievel was a big star. Well me and some friends decided on building this ramp made from some left over plywood and some 2X4 we had found.

I thought EVERY kid from the 70s had at least one story like this. I know I have several. I never considered that they were stupid, so much as the cultural norm.

[This message edited by Threnody at 8:06 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

As a small child (pre-reading) my mom put picture ids on my records so I could play the one I wanted without asking which one was which. Three mice for three blind mice, Mary and a lamb, etc... I changed all the pictures to new records to see if it would change the songs...

As a teen, I sunbathed... on the roof... on a tinfoil covered reflective blanket... covered in baby oil... God only knows why I did not sizzle and fry like bacon.

eta: to add the summer we built a fort in the middle of the poison ivy patch...

[This message edited by caregiver9000 at 8:08 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

When I was 9 I climbed out my bedroom window and onto the back roof. I opened an umbrella and jumped because I had seen Mary Poppins do this and I was sure it was a lot of fun. I landed on my back and got the wind knocked out of me.

Also, when I was 10 a bunch of us kids were sitting around on a hot July day and we wanted candy but we had no money. I had the great idea to put on costumes and knock on doors to go Trick-or-Treating. That was the best way we could figure to get candy.

A lot of people slammed the doors but some gave us candy and we got a half-eaten bag of chips and some cookies. Not a bad haul for an afternoons work.

Then there was the time that we all pulled our money and bought 10 bottles of cheap dish soap and poured it into David Palmieri's pool because we thought it would be fun for the pool filter to make suds we could swim in.

I just remember his red-faced father pulling up after work and I don't think we ever played with David again. His dad was PISSED.

Good times.

[This message edited by UR_AN_IDIOT at 8:18 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

OMG, you guys.

I am DYING here!

And most of us have procreated?

Scary, indeed.

Oh boy, lots of these.

Taking turns climbing inside an old tractor tire and rolling each other down the road. A road that cars used, not a quiet country road. My parents just about had a cow.

Running around in the woods, in the summer, in Florida. Snakes galore. Enough said.

Swinging on the grapevines in the woods- something we were told to never do. One broke when my cousin was on it and I swear we thought he was dead. Went screaming in the house to get help. Thankfully, he just had the wind knocked out of him.

Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over the gas burner of the stove. But not when the parents were home.

We found a stray dog in the woods and set about sneaking food for it. After about a week, we went looking for it to feed it again and play and found her with 8 puppies. We were in heaven! We brought the dog and all 8 puppies home, and proud as could be, surprised my Mom with her Mother's Day gift. Boy, was she surprised. We still laugh about that.

[This message edited by kernel at 8:52 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

Omg. I don't mean to be a thread hog but this is fun.

There was the time that I hit Lester in the head with a broom handle and he went down. I was so scared that I was going to get in trouble that I ran home to get to my mom first before she heard that I had killed Lester.

I ran in and my mom was in her nightgown doing her hair. I very calmly said, "Mom, don't be mad but I think I killed Lester." She ran down the alley in her nightgown. Lester was fine. I think my mom was madder because she had to go outside in her nightgown than she was about Lester's injury.

And one more. It was the 70's and the news was full of stories about the dangers of red dye #2 which was in everything red and edible. They were saying it caused cancer.

One day I was playing jax and started to chew on a small red jax ball. When I took it out of my mouth it was grey and I realized I had ingested all of the red paint.

I hugged all of my stuffed animals and said bye to my sister and laid down on my bed to die quietly from Red dye #2. I just kept waiting for it to happen. I remember losing consciousness and thinking...this death thing is not so bad....I woke up a while later and was so surprised and happy to be alive.

I guess it was just a nap.

I don't know if this counts but when I was very little, I couldn't wait to grow the bones in my heels so I could wear high heels like the ladies. I thought the spike heels were hollow.

I think I thought too much.

[This message edited by Pippy at 8:51 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

I loved the Archie comics...was mesmerized by how vivid the characters' colors were.

So one day when I was suppose to be napping, I snuck the food coloring from the kitchen and proceeded to rub it all over my body.

Though I clearly remember the thought process leading up to this, I don't remember much after my discovery. My mother just left the house and my dad was given the job of clean up. He said he would scrub for a while and I would turn green. Then he would scrub longer and I would turn blue, etc.

[This message edited by truthsetmefree at 8:57 PM, February 2nd (Thursday)]

the monkey bars that you grap and hang from and then swing from one to another? they look like a horizontal ladder?

yeah instead of using my hands to swing across, i climbed on top of them to walk across. i made it about halfway before i fell off and broke my collarbone. i just couldn't do things the way the other kids did *sigh*

Where do I start? Let's skip over the time we jumped off someone's roof using an umbrella to 'drift' down to the ground--it only works for Mary Poppins...

One summer night while visiting my grandparents in upstate NY, my friends & I were having bicycle races down a steep road. Two kids on each bike-one in the seat and the other side-saddle on the bar between the seat & handle bars--that was me. As we were speeding down the hill, somehow my foot got caught in the spokes of the wheel--total wipeout. I woke up with my foot still stuck in the wheel and the kid who was 'driving' screaming her head off and running in circles around the bike. My cousin had run for my grandfather--their house had a 1/4 mile lone driveway. Poor gramps ran the whole distance, then had to carry me home. It amounted to only a bad sprain with a deep gouge out of my ankle, the scar for which is still there 50 years later.

We also won't mention all the trees I fell out of, the 'sword' fights with wire coat hangers, and climbing into houses that were hoisted on blocks to be moved to another location...

Riding on a large tractor tire innertube tied behind a snowmobile in a small field (lots of swinging out along the curves), I was holding onto the rope and having a great time. Slid around one corner and suddenly I was halfway across the field rolling through the snow. When I stopped, I had a very sharp pain in my right bicep, checked it out, everything was still working, but could not figure out what had happened until we wandered around for a bit and found the broken pieces of the cinder block I slid into.

I am trying to be quiet as I read these replies. I am literally lol!!!