What were you like as a child?

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I've heard so many times how quiet I was as a child,very creative and artistic,but always quiet,thoughtful,wanting to be either in nature or reading/drawing on my own.I loved ballet and classical music,couldn't understand why other children did not love and appreciate the arts and history and books like I did,consequently I was teased so much and this caused me to withdraw even more.I remember looking at maps and imagining all those places I would go.As I got a little older I loved to design clothing and shoes and houses,and dreamed of studying fashion design and being able to sell my products,but that never came to fruition.I never did well in regular school,I wish my parents had sent me to the Waldorf School here,but they thought I could not pass the math test to get in,so they didn't even bother.I feel like I would have developed so much more and been able to excel in what I love and be able to be further along in what I am doing independently than I am now.How a parent feels strongly affects how the child feels,so that really did affect me.
Instead my mother sent me to all girls Catholic school.I guess that being around only girls helped me focus more on my studies,but I was baffled by the emphasis on Catholicism early on.All the hours wasted in class rooms not really listening to this dogmatic,questionable religion! These days I really question all organized religions.
I loved being outdoors in nature and still do.My sister and I were out in the woods all the time,and I still yearn to be somewhere in nature where nobody is,if only for an half an hour or so.That is therapy for me and helps me so much,to recharge and rejuvenate.I was greatly interested in the Native Americans and read so much about their history,also the Russians and various royal families.But the Native Americans have always fascinated me,and I've become a staunch supporter of Russell Means as an adult.
I got along better with older and younger people,especially my grandfather who was a writer.He and my grandmother encouraged me in my love of art,literature and ballet,and that helped me a lot to nourish that side of me which nobody else in my family seems to have.I am so grateful to them.
I am so grateful to my family,even though often they did not do what was best for me,but rather what they thought was "right" (don't do that your children!),and often pressured me in ways they still don't understand that have actually weakened me and left me with various issues,low self esteem and emotional trauma to this day,they have helped and broadened my horizons and views through travel and many other opportunities.

I was always jumping and climbing. I drawed and talked like an adult too, but at the same time I was childish.

I have shut off my childhood memories because it was harsh with a alcoholic father,abusive mom and brother. I remember being beaten daily by them.
Most of my time was spend locked up in the tiny little house which had 2 rooms barely the entire house was 300sq.feet.
I was never fuzzy would eat anything served, was particular about dresses but was never given much dresses...used the same pair of uniform for 2-3 years.
Borrowed books from other students, borrowed my brothers clothes
I never had friends no one comes to my house even after inviting so i stopped inviting
people just use me to get their work done then dump me.

As a baby, I was lying and looking at my fist most of the time. My mom wasn't worried: no one knew of autism in my country in those years and parents had bigger problems. As a toddler, I was very quiet and could keep myself busy, didn't like other kids and preferred to stay away from communication as much as possible. Started reading at 3 without understanding the sense of what I was reading. My first question, as I recall, was 'Why am I me?' and I asked everybody I knew. They were a bit shocked though. I kept asking this until I was about 10 y.o and then gave up as no one could answer anyway. In fact I still don't know.

As a baby my mom said the only things she noticed about me that were different (from my NT sister) were that I didn't sleep properly and I had rigid posture -didn't "mold" to my mom's arms when she held me.

As a child I was hyperactive and super talkative - also called "chatterbox" and spoke like a little adult-using full proper sentences and lots of big words...I spoke early. I had really noticeably bad motor skills and was really preoccupied/inside myself/spacey/daydreamy etc. I stimmed A LOT , twirling a string in front of my face, flapping my arms and walking in circles talking to myself. I collected stuffed monkeys and would play with them by putting them in a circle (each monkey had a special place in the circle) and then sitting in the middle of it. I was a destructive child too-I liked to take things apart-like undoing socks put in pairs when my mom did laundry and when I had barbies I would pull off their arms and legs and head-whatever I could remove. When my mom picked me up from preschool they said I was always "off in my own little world" and had strange behaviors. The first week of kindergarten the teacher arranged for me to be seen by a psychiatrist because of the strange behaviors, lack of awareness and poor motor skills.

Elementary school I had no friends , was bullied mercilessly, was described by every teacher I had until grade 4 as being "off in my own little world" and "constantly playing with or fiddling with paper/string and ripping paper". I was a loud-mouth, I was bossy and I had poor theory of mind. I didn't like the smell or taste of lunch meats so I would sniff my lunch and throw it out every day. I once tried to throw out other kids' lunches too. I would yell at the other kids to follow rules at one point. Need for sameness/control was an issue for me- I threw tantrums when my desk was moved or my "box" of school supplies/assignments. I was constantly in my imaginary world which revolved around my interests which were pretty typical just intense and pursued through imaginary world-I liked undersea creatures so I pretended to be an octopus- I liked gymnastics-pretended to be an Olympic gymnast. Some of my imaginary worlds revolved around characters in stories-but they were girly stories-i liked fairy princesses and unicorns -I liked the babysitters club books - the other girls at my school were into these things-but also into witches and "scary things" and would also watch the ninga turtles -I wouldn't -I only wanted to watch or do "girly things". In fact I got teased for never wearing pants (only the same three dresses) but I didn't care to change that. Although I apparently used to memorize and recite stories and was obsessed with listening to stories I learned to read very late (at eight) but once I learned progressed super quickly and was from then on in the advanced reading group. Also I had spatial problems (I have NVLD too) and had trouble with things like drawing. My verbal IQ tested out to 143 but I did poorly in school......I was not motivated/didn't try hard for the most part. Also I had major issues with sensory overload and my mom couldn't take me to any kind of fair, festival, parade or even a crowded shopping mall without me throwing a fit. I also wouldn't eat in the lunchroom bsc it was too noisy/crowded when I was really young.

I was much less feminine than I'm now. I had short hair and often wore "male" clothes. I didn't really got along with girls, and they bullied me for looking like a guy (I was often mistaken for one). I got along with some guys (usually nerds), but a lot of them also bullied me.. for not being hot or whatever.

Well, I look and feel much more feminine now, no mistaking me for a guy. But sometimes I still feel like I have a rather male personality.

I knew I was different, but figured there was nothing wrong with that so I went with it...

As a young child I was non-verbal, spent the majority of the time having meltdowns...as I got older I was still largely silent until I got to know people better, and then became VERY goofy, I seemed to tackle the non-verbal thing by barking like a dog or singing silly songs when I was too nervous to be able to talk normally. Basically I was all kinds of weird as a kid.

Lilo from Lilo and Stitch reminds me of me when I was a kid.

Not sure what I was like when I was a baby. I never asked.
I had more male playmates than female playmates when I was a young child.
I had no friends in elementary school and stayed inside during recess and read or helped the teacher.
I could read earlier than other children and did well with spelling and grammar.
I was obsessed with rocks and loved reading about them and collecting them.
My favorite toy was my rock tumbler.
I was bullied by other girls quite a lot, but it never got physical (thank goodness).
My favorite meal was Mario Brothers macaroni and frozen fish patties, which I ate nearly every day.

Don´t know about when I was a baby.

When I was a child I was very calm and quiet, other children sometimes asked me if I could talk at all or said "***** never says anything".

I almost never played with other kids, and when I did it was mostly because they had TV-games or animals I liked.

Scared of almost everything. One thing I couldn´t stand was fireworks, the sound was too much. On every New Year´s Eve I was lying in my bed crying and had my hands over my ears.

I was overly sensitive.

I was very good in school.

I was very angry when other kids didn´t want to play with me.

At 11-12 years of age I almost only played with boys because we had similar interests. I had no problem talking to them thanks to that. Then I sometimes got overly talkative which only annoyed them.

When I was in love, I could get REALLY jealous. If looks could kill, I would´ve killed my love interests girlfriends in seconds.

unlovable and hated, the more things change the more they stay the same. (lucky these days I don't care!)

aussiebloke, this is the Women's forum