Growing up, some frivolous situations gave me stress and anxiety. Definitely insignificant now, but that’s a tribute to the magnificent childhood I had. I was extremely lucky that these silly scenarios made me stressed.
Who remembers the game Perfection and Superfection? The object of each game is to place matching pieces into a tabletop tray before the timer goes off. After 60 seconds, all the pieces pop up and scare the daylights out of you! It was a love/hate relationship. The game was so fun, but the anxiety of the pieces popping up made me so nervous! The key was to practice often so you can beat the timer..lol
I loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and shows. One of my favorites was Land Of The Lost. It was such a weird show, but one of my favorites. The premise was that the Marshall family was trapped in a universe where dinosaurs and other strange creatures existed. Each episode focused on surviving in this bizarre world and finding their way back to the world they left behind.
The Sleestaks were these green lizard creatures with big bulging eyes, hooved feet, and a spine of bones down their backs. When they came onto the scene, they made a noise like the blowing wind. They were scary, and I got so anxious when they appeared on our big, heavy TV console in our family room. I’m sure I hid under Mom’s orange and brown knitted afghan that hung on the back of the couch. Check out a video of the Sleestaks here. Scary, right?
When I attended CH Campbell Elementary School, there was a teeter-totter on the playground outside the kindergarten room doors. Talk about giving me anxiety..I learned you had to really trust the person with whom you would be riding. Cherry Bombs were the worst. Do you remember them? It’s when one person is on the low end of the teeter-totter, puts their feet up, and the other person goes flying down and bumps hard into the ground. It always freaking hurt. It also bruised your feelings if you and the other rider promised not to do Cherry Bombs, and they lied. I never enjoyed anxiety on the playground…
In our backyard on Dartmouth, our Dad built us a sandbox. It was a big square, and it had a little ledge around it where we could sit. It was great at first! We would do all the sandbox stuff..dig, fill buckets, make sand paths, etc. Then the worms showed up. I’m not sure where they came from. They were big and slimy and gave me so much anxiety. Needless to say, I ditched playing in the sandbox because I was afraid and felt uneasy every time I thought about playing in it and digging one up. Ick.
In every stage of life, there are anxieties to overcome. Obviously, some situations are more serious than others! Luckily, most situations come and go. Just remember this…
We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist without the presence of a pie.
-David Mamet
Lol…….
Melanie R
I remember Perfection but not Superfection! Guess I wasn’t lucky enough to have that game, ha ha. Operation was another game that gave me anxiety. Brian and I were just talking about that game the other night.
Your seesaw comment…I barely remember this, but my mom remembers it clearly: I was 4 years old and on a seesaw with my 3 year old cousin. When I was up in the air and he was down, he suddenly jumped off. I went slamming to the ground. My mom said I screamed and cried for hours. She was sure that was the beginning of my back problems and pain. (I guess parents didn’t rush their kids to the ER back then?!)
myheartinpen
Oh, yes! Operation! We didn’t have that game but our neighbors did. Add that to the list..lol. Oh wow..I can see some serious back issues stemming from Cherry Bombs. It’s no wonder they are extinct. Yikes.
Nicole MacPherson
PERFECTION! Yes, it was super stressful. I remember getting the “bumps” on a teeter totter and going flying. I’m lucky I didn’t lose a tooth or something, as it was I had a bit of a cut on my face for my second grade photo.
myheartinpen
First world stresses as a kid..I was lucky those anxieties were the worst of it!
Kari
Land of the Lost! OMG, I used to love and also be scared of that show.
And Perfection! Heart Attack would’ve been a better name. Also, the game Operation scared me when that loud buzzer went off. 🤣
myheartinpen
Haha..yup, I was afraid of the Sleestak, but I watched the show anyway. Melanie mirrored your comment about Operation. I didn’t have that game, but played it often at the neighbors house. Why was being scared considered fun for some kids? I called it pure anxiety…haha
Suz
Land of the Lost was my favorite show, but yes, it created more anxiety than necessary! Those damn sleestacks!
My girls even had the Perfection game, and it still gave me anxiety, that many years later! Why do we do those things to ourselves?
I remember Teeter Totters, but not the Cherry Bomb.
One of my biggest worries as a kid was after watching Close Encounters Of The Third Kind….I swear I would see alien ships in the sky and worried they were going to take me away!
myheartinpen
Close Encounters..yes! That was a freaky movie! I felt anxiety with Jaws..even at our local club, I felt nervous to get in the water. Hey, you never know if a shark could have swam through the pipes, into the pool. lol That’s the million dollar question..why do we do that to ourselves?!!