Even people who had great childhoods often spend “the other 8 hours” trying to be kids again.

You either gotta do it like the rest of us and find time for enjoyment between work and errand, or find a way to make money off your “adult childhood”. Neither is easy, but you’ve been through a lot, so you’re obviously capable of doing difficult things.

It might help if you schedule time for it. That way, you can say, “On Tuesday, I’m going to do these things I missed out on as a kid from 7 to 9pm”. And then you play. Or whatever.

You need this, and everyone needs it, so don’t feel bad about scheduling it. You’re helping yourself heal.

No, it’s not wrong. But you’re not allowed to take truly replenishing time off in this capitalist system. It’s not just unfair, it’s unsustainable and it’s on the way to collapsing. Hopefully we can create a better system in the rubble. Until then, don’t let it break you.

You can enjoy yourself at any age. What you might be missing is the feeling of being fully cared for and therefore carefree.

I’ve never found a way to replicate that as an adult. If you find it, let me know

Maybe you might want to try out a different perspective. Because weirdly, being an adult can give you the freedom of being more childlike.

Think of it this way…as a child, no matter what kind of home life you had, abusive or not, you had to go to school for much of the day. As an adult, the same thing applies. Except now you’ll be at work instead of school. So realistically, that part is actually the same if that makes sense. The time each takes out of your day is roughly equivocal.

Ok. So then where does that take us? The time spent during work or school is similar. So now the real differences are going to come outside of work/school.

As a kid, what happened outside of school? Your life was hell. You didn’t get to play and do kid things the way a normal kid does.

Aa an adult, what happens outside of work? Believe it or not, you can do whatever the fuck you want.

That’s right.

Want ice cream for dinner? Fuck it, you’re an an adult and can do what you want. Want to buy some toys and play with them? Fuck it, you’re an adult and can do what you want. Want to climb a tree? Fuck it, you’re an adult and can do what you want.

Use the now to live the childhood you didn’t have. Difference is instead of spending your non play time at school, you’ll just be at work instead, earning your own money to do whatever the fuck you want. :)

Best of luck.

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I didn’t enjoy being a kid at all, but being an adult I do like, don’t mind working because they pay me.

“Everyone else got it” is a stretch.

It does sound like you are carrying a lot of trauma, I don’t want to minimize that, but if you are able bodied, can see and hear and move and think, you are ahead of a lot of people. If you live in a developed nation, you are ahead of a lot of people. I don’t think even a majority of kids get the idealized childhood you think they do.

If you have no kids or obligations - what I did was get a lot of roommates to get living cost low and yeah, did just work a minimal job and hang out for a few years before sort of getting more serious about work. Never did the career ladder thing but did get a good job and I can say with absolute honesty - it got better.

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Pack up and/or get rid of all your stuff and go travel the world. Go discover new places, new people, new cultures. Learn new languages, new skills, new customs. That’s probably the closest experience to being a child again as an adult.

Ok, it sounds like you haven’t had the opportunity to process your childhood trauma, and yes, based on what you wrote it is a trauma.

I recommend going to therapy to help you process and sort out your thoughts.

You were robbed, robbed of your childhood, sadly, you can’t change that, but you can change it so that you don’t get robbed off of your adulthood as well.

I understand your thinking. OTOH, if you don’t carry your own weight, you make someone else do it for you, and put them through the same hell you’ve been trying to escape. That’s not fair, either.

If I were you, I would try to take some time off, travel the world on the cheap, and find my feet, maybe even make peace with myself.

Good luck!

Personal opinion here, I think the world is inherently unfair. Fairness is something we give to ourselves and each other, but the world itself only has its natural laws to follow.

If you can find some childhood happiness even as you grow older, you should enjoy it. It is a right we all have or are entitled to demand.

I’d say the typical childhood is a fantasy, not everyone is the same. There’s plenty of suffering and neglect to go around and I’m sure you’ll find plenty of friends here who have gone through similar things.

It’s good to ramble and relieve the pent-up stress once in a while, but also to seek a way of resolving the issues to stop them from reoccurring.

Most people don’t want to work.

You can have a job and still do the things you think you would have done as a child. It isn’t like 1/3 of childhood days aren’t taken up by school, not even counting homework.

I had so much more time as a young adult than I had in school. Except for summer break I guess.

Freedom comes at a cost, what you want is for other people to shoulder the burden and take care of you and that’s not an option beyond a certain age, and having someone do that for you also comes at a cost.

Your basic needs will be met either in the military or in prison, but that’s not freedom.

You can get a job and pay for your basic needs on your own, which while also not freedom, is still better than the military or prison. :)

You can enroll in college and have food/shelter taken care of, but if you don’t have a job to pay for it, you’ll bury yourself in debt, paying for your freedom now, with debt chains later.

Man, most of these replies are just the results of living in capitalism and the brainwashing it imposes.

“Work cause you have to… Unless you don’t cause you’re rich!”