If you were put back into the body of a young toddler, what would be the first thing(s) you do?

[FatalGeometry]

Similar to @Sealander, I think I'd probably just be sad. Given your parameters, and assuming that "Young Toddler" is around the age of 3-4, I wouldn't have anything to do. I barely retain any memories from more than 3 years ago, certainly nothing from that age.

Now if we were talking young child, say age 6-7, I'd read. I was a strong reader from a young age and actually got The Hobbit as a 7th birthday present. But I would also probably want to write. I used to have such a vivid imagination (or so I'm told) and I would write short stories about such abstract concepts as early as 7 years old. They improved a lot up until around age 13 where I just lost most of my writing ability. Don't get me wrong, my writing is much better now, but my imagination seemed to leave me behind as I entered puberty so I'd probably want to use it a lot for creative works if I were transported back to that age (assuming that losing some of my current abilities would mean gaining back some of my past ones).

I generally think that I'd have less clue as to what to do if I became that young because my little self is probably around age 7 but is just not potty trained.

 

[longallsboy]

Stim as much as I want without embarrassment, play with my toy dinosaurs, go back to preschool and kindergarten!!

I'd go back to nursery school and also wear long-alls and T strap shoes every day to nursery school too (and church) like little boys do in the Deep South. I never wore long-alls or T strap shoes as a preschooler (I'm from the West Coast), but the only time teachers didn't complain about me was in preschool. Once I went to kindergarten, all Hell broke loose. In the early 1980s when I was in kindergarten, they didn't understand what Autism or ADHD. I got sent home constantly in first to third grade because I couldn't pay attention, and if I couldn't pay attention, then I couldn't follow directions, and when following directions is one of the 5 class rules, that just set me up for failure and punishments that never changed my behavior. I was never aggressive or a bully or anything like that. I was a sweet and kind child and I was the one who got bullied (although that didn't happen till 4th grade. Younger kids tended to be much more nicer to me even as a child and even now). My kindergarten teacher was always complaining that I'd wander around the kindergarten instead of sitting in a circle for Storytime or show and tell or whether. Complained to my parents all the time, including by phone. I was in constant trouble. In a way, my parents thought my kindergarten teacher acted like a 5 year old herself, like a tattler....like she'd call my parents up and say, "Do you know what your son did today in kindergarten?". In a way it totally reminds me of a 5 year old girl who comes home and says to her mom : "Guess what happened in kindergarten today, Mom?". I don't know .... the entire school administration (principal, kindergarten teacher, school psychologist, adaptive PE teacher, speech therapist, etc.) wanted me to repeat kindergarten over again another year. I'm slightly a bit surprised they didn't suggest sending me back to nursery school. Maybe that's where I belonged after all. I said to my parents while eating lunch with them (I still live with them) 2 years ago during COVID 19 isolation that I was slightly surprised the school didn't send me back to preschool. After all, I had no problems there. My parents just semi snorted and said "Yeah, if that had happened, your nursery school teacher probably would have never promoted you and you'd probably still be in nursery school even now." LOL. Yeah I could see that. Maybe if I stayed physically like a 4 year old too like through some sort of growth attenuation. To be honest, I'm sure my nursery school teacher was more understanding towards me. And also what passes for adequate behavior in nursery school won't be okay once a child is in first grade. Totally different expectations between a 3 year old and 6 year old. You might be able to get away with it if you are 3 years old and you don't pay attention in class - so long as you aren't physically disrupting the teacher from teaching. But not paying attention in first grade is a totally different story and expectations would be very different. My first grade teacher wrote that I had "an extremely inappropriate and immature attention span for a 6 year old in first grade".

Perhaps I should have just stayed in preschool till now, wearing long-alls or overalls and T strap shoes. I think it would have saved my mom a lot of grief, and I think she would still love me a lot and be more kinder to me if I did look AND act like a 3 year old or 4 year old, even if I happened to be a proportional pituitary dwarf.

- longallsboy

 

[longallsboy]

Similar to @Sealander, I think I'd probably just be sad. Given your parameters, and assuming that "Young Toddler" is around the age of 3-4, I wouldn't have anything to do. I barely retain any memories from more than 3 years ago, certainly nothing from that age.

Now if we were talking young child, say age 6-7, I'd read. I was a strong reader from a young age and actually got The Hobbit as a 7th birthday present. But I would also probably want to write. I used to have such a vivid imagination (or so I'm told) and I would write short stories about such abstract concepts as early as 7 years old. They improved a lot up until around age 13 where I just lost most of my writing ability. Don't get me wrong, my writing is much better now, but my imagination seemed to leave me behind as I entered puberty so I'd probably want to use it a lot for creative works if I were transported back to that age (assuming that losing some of my current abilities would mean gaining back some of my past ones).

I generally think that I'd have less clue as to what to do if I became that young because my little self is probably around age 7 but is just not potty trained.

It's wonderful being a 3 to 4 year old! I regularly tell 4 year olds on their 4th birthday that this is going to be the best year of their life, so treasure it. I don't think being 3 or 4 years old would be depressing at all, even being stuck that way. I certainly wouldn't redo any other part of my life over again. That was the only time of my life I wasn't complained about. I probably have more severe Autism, in addition to ADHD, than you do, though.

- longallsboy

 

[longallsboy]

Given that toddlers tend to have very little freedom--my answer is: whatever someone makes me do.

Unfortunately, in my case, while nonautistic 3 year olds usually have less rights than nonautistic 35 year olds, it's nowhere near like my situation. I don't have hardly any adult rights, I still live with my parents, and they run my life for me. To be honest, a 3 year old has more rights than I do. My nonautistic "normal" brother is in his early mid 40s and I'm 4 1/2 years older than him. He has been married for 15 years almost, and has 2 sons - my nephews - who are 7 and 11 years old. He admitted to me that my nephews have more rights than I do. My parents are extremely overprotective of me, and coming from an Asian American family does not help for sure. I can't concentrate driving a car over 25 minutes because of my ADHD and Autism, which means I don't drive although I have a driver's license. But I'm also too big to ride on a Power Wheels car too! I have the worst of both worlds. I cannot do a lot of things that 3 and 4 year olds even can do. At most amusement parks, I can't even ride on tame kiddie rides because I'm over the MAXIMUM height limitation. And I hate roller coasters - even kiddie ones. It I'd very difficult for me to even find children's clothes like long-alls to wear, because I have to find someone who can make their own pattern. T strap shoes are hard to find too as a lot of t strap shoes stop at around size 38 European. I wear a 42. There are people who are 5 feet 6 inches tall who wear a size 38. I am almost 6 feet tall. I've even seen adult babies here who can fit into a size 38. Being Autistic truly is a terrible thing. I wish I never grew up - physically. Even being a proportional pituitary dwarf that looks like a 4 year old would be a blessing and silver lining in my state I'm in. Being Autistic would be much more easier to deal with if I looked like a 4 year old instead of being the tallest person in 26 people in my extended family. I have never even taken an airplane trip alone. I have known some 7 and 8 year olds who have even done that. I hope when I go to Heaven, I get turned into a 3 or 4 year old angel.

- longallsboy

 

[longallsboy]

Two more points to add to my original post on what I would do if I was suddenly the size of a 3 year old.

First, as you know from the previous post, I was an assistant co-host at Preschooler Storytime at my library 16 years. I was actually extremely enthusiastic and absolutely got the preschoolers riled up even singing children's songs as well as oldies songs. Sometime in 2011 or so, for about a year we had Preschooler Storytime at night (and then afterwards it got moved to Thursday mornings). For a short time, my parents were attending a line dancing class at the library auditorium. The funniest thing is that my parents told me that they could hear me and my children's librarian friend and all the children screaming and we were very loud... LOL. We weren't really screaming, more like singing songs very loudly and the 3 and 4 years olds were very enthusiastic when I was around. I really did rile then up to say the least. And Lord knows, if I was a proportional pituitary dwarf that was 3 feet 4 inches, I'd probably be over the top at riling them up. I think most of the kids thought I was an older species of child. I knew moms of preschoolers (some of the kids who were preschoolers were even friends of mine), when we did Storytime on Thursday mornings, who actually sadly concluded that my life would have been much easier if I had been the size of a 4 year old instead of being 6 feet tall. Some felt quite sorry for me. My life would be a lot happier and joyful if I was little, at least if I HAD to have Autism.

Secondly, I always wondered to myself what do proportional pituitary dwarfs that look like preschoolers see themselves when they look in the mirror. Do they look at themselves and think "Why do I look like a preschooler still"?? Or do they think "I'm such a cutie pie"? If their parents play with them like they would do so with a toddler, do they think they are sort of like a child? I wonder that about actual real children too. At what point are young children actually conscious of how they look or if they are actually cute? I remember quite a few years ago, quite a few years before COVID 19, going to a Fourth of July parade and seeing these two little blond haired boys who were probably about 5 or 6 years old, who were observing the parade. There were a couple of cute puppies in the parade and the puppies were walking by, and the little boys commented that the puppies were soooo cute. I was silently thinking to myself "Yes, the puppies are cute, but do you know how cute you two little boys are, too?". I actually mentioned that later in the car when we were driving home to my dad and he laughed and thought it was hilarious.

- longallsboy

 

[EvilNeuro]

easy, make sure I never grow up
Never let myself get potty trained. Don’t let my behavior get mature,
ideally so I wouldn’t have to hide my interests (Abdl stuff) and just express myself!

 

[EvilNeuro]

To be more specific, I'm mainly defining fun here as building games and creativity like: coloring, legos, drawing, exc if given access to them.

having someoe care for you make it even more fun tho :3

 

[TeddyBearCowboy]

Umm…. Still a very young toddler here.

So well, err, I guess the first thing I would do is be myself.

Whether old or young, the best thing I can think of is just to be who I am and not try to be someone or something I am not.

In real life, babies, toddlers, and young’uns don’t worry about what others think. They express themselves as to what they are feeling and have a childlike faith in others without prejudice or doubt.

In general, most societies have strayed from that. In that they act as their cultures expect, but not as they may really feel.

Perhaps one of the most profound and philosophical statements I have ever come across was from a scene in the movie “The Incredibles”, where Violet expresses her frustration about trying to be seen as normal when none of their family really is.

She states, “Normal, what does anyone in this family know about being normal?!! We act normal Mom, but I want to be normal! The only normal one is Jack Jack, and he isn’t even toilet trained!!”

Then Dash says, “Lucky”, but when his mom gives him a glance, he says, “I mean about being normal”.

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There is a powerful message here. We all tend to want to be “normal”, but shortly out of being a toddler, we put on the image of what we think others think we should be as “normal”.

But sometimes the reality of being normal means just being ourselves and being little, just as Jack Jack who wasn’t even toilet trained yet.

If I was to go back to being a real life toddler and growing up but had the knowledge and experience I have gained while being an adult, well… I would be my little self as long as I could and stop trying to be the person that others wanted me to be.

I know… I know… that is probably a deeper dive than what the OP intended, but just some things that came up in my little teddy bear mind.

 

[longallsboy]

easy, make sure I never grow up
Never let myself get potty trained. Don’t let my behavior get mature,
ideally so I wouldn’t have to hide my interests (Abdl stuff) and just express myself!

But that's not true, either. I am indeed actually emotionally and socially like a 4 1/2 year old 98% of the time, and I act like a child often without knowing that I do because of my Autism and ADHD. So it's not that I'm even setting aside my maturity. Plenty of even college instructors that had me in their classes knew immediately that I was going to be a problem from day one. But even though I actually am like a child and don't hide any childlike or childish interests, I still am made to feel like I should be ashamed of myself by some people. I highly suspect if I was a proportional pituitary dwarf and looked like a 3 year old or 4 year old, then people would totally see why I act that way (even though it's through no fault of my own). All I have to say, is people can be very judgemental even when it isn't your fault you are a certain way and typically Autistic people, especially Autistic adults, are held to a much higher standard. Even if I had Down Syndrome and acted like a child like I do (or even wore long-alls or T strap shoes), people would be much more understanding. In fact, I have seen adult females with Down Syndrome wearing children's Mary Jane shoes in the past. People are so ignorant regarding Autism, and there are people who don't even know what it is at all. But even beyond that, society can be judgmental of nearly anything. They can even be judgmental of actual toddlers and preschoolers - and sometimes preschoolers even realize this, which is extremely sad for a child. For instance, expecting a 18 month old baby to act like a 3 1/2 year old just because the baby is a big child and looks more like a 3 year old than an 18 month old, and is perceived to be a 3 year old. Then these people say negative things about a 18 month old acting like an 18 month old and saying he shouldn't cry and should be able to use complete sentences because they think he is 3. Whereas in fact his behavior is totally age appropriate. Makes me so mad. And not everyone likes children either. I had a 4 year old friend with me one time in 2014 (when I was in my mid thirties) in the library. His mom told me put a flyer on activities for moms with toddlers on the second floor bulletin board. I did that, but I had a librarian tell me grouchily to take my friend back downstairs because he was talking to me in a piping high pitched voice and the librarian couldn't stand it. Seems like some of those restaurants that ban children and toddlers from their premises. You ban children from your restaurant, you lose me as a customer as well. This can really add up, if everyone boycotts your restaurant... you might go out of business. There were even apartment complexes that banned kids from living there in the late 1970s. The song "Short People" by Randy Newman in 1978 may have been partly actually inspired by that. So yeah, people can be judgmental even against toddlers.

- longallsboy

 

[FatalGeometry]

It's wonderful being a 3 to 4 year old! I regularly tell 4 year olds on their 4th birthday that this is going to be the best year of their life, so treasure it. I don't think being 3 or 4 years old would be depressing at all, even being stuck that way. I certainly wouldn't redo any other part of my life over again. That was the only time of my life I wasn't complained about. I probably have more severe Autism, in addition to ADHD, than you do, though.

- longallsboy

Part of my response is probably memory related. I genuinely have ZERO memories from before age 11, maybe one or two a year from age 11-16, then I have a larger quantity of more recent memories running up to around a two weeks ago where I can remember most things that happened for the past fortnight. Every single thing I "remember" from primary school was told to me by other people, so I can only assume that nothing I did before age 7 was very interesting since I haven't really been told much about what I was like before then. Because I now (mostly) judge the quality of my life by how interesting it is I reckon that current mental state me would not enjoy being that young.

My memory situation is very unique or so I've found. I've seen medical professionals about it and none have ever seen a situation as strange as mine in someone as young as me. It rather fits better with early onset dementia and though my mother's side of the family is riddled with it, none had any symptoms before 50, and the fact that I started experiencing these memory problems at 15 is even more bizarre since "early onset" is 30-65, certainly not a teenager.

It's made me think a lot about why I'm ABDL, since it could well be a trauma response to something I don't recall. I know someone who has uncomplicated PTSD from something they no longer remember, as strange as that sounds, and some mental health professionals have suggested that some of my other behaviours (not ABDL since I've never mentioned that) are frequently seen as trauma responses, and that I might not remember the source of it. Regardless it's a very scary prospect that I could be having all sorts of mental health problems now from something incredibly traumatic in my past that I'm too traumatised by to even remember. Abuse from parents, family, friends, and teachers has been suggested on numerous occasions, and I know that the latter two did occur but not that early. I have been told about some things that my parents did as discipline that my younger brain could have internalised as abuse but I'm not sure about that either. I think that the most terrifying things to comprehend are those which we cannot fully comprehend, and an event traumatising enough such that I have no recollection of it whatsoever and that nobody has ever even hinted at its occurrence is quite the existential horror.

 

[longallsboy]

Part of my response is probably memory related. I genuinely have ZERO memories from before age 11, maybe one or two a year from age 11-16, then I have a larger quantity of more recent memories running up to around a two weeks ago where I can remember most things that happened for the past fortnight. Every single thing I "remember" from primary school was told to me by other people, so I can only assume that nothing I did before age 7 was very interesting since I haven't really been told much about what I was like before then. Because I now (mostly) judge the quality of my life by how interesting it is I reckon that current mental state me would not enjoy being that young.

My memory situation is very unique or so I've found. I've seen medical professionals about it and none have ever seen a situation as strange as mine in someone as young as me. It rather fits better with early onset dementia and though my mother's side of the family is riddled with it, none had any symptoms before 50, and the fact that I started experiencing these memory problems at 15 is even more bizarre since "early onset" is 30-65, certainly not a teenager.

It's made me think a lot about why I'm ABDL, since it could well be a trauma response to something I don't recall. I know someone who has uncomplicated PTSD from something they no longer remember, as strange as that sounds, and some mental health professionals have suggested that some of my other behaviours (not ABDL since I've never mentioned that) are frequently seen as trauma responses, and that I might not remember the source of it. Regardless it's a very scary prospect that I could be having all sorts of mental health problems now from something incredibly traumatic in my past that I'm too traumatised by to even remember. Abuse from parents, family, friends, and teachers has been suggested on numerous occasions, and I know that the latter two did occur but not that early. I have been told about some things that my parents did as discipline that my younger brain could have internalised as abuse but I'm not sure about that either. I think that the most terrifying things to comprehend are those which we cannot fully comprehend, and an event traumatising enough such that I have no recollection of it whatsoever and that nobody has ever even hinted at its occurrence is quite the existential horror.

I find not that many people remember from before they were 5 years old. My mom does remember being a 2-3 year old in her childhood. I remember actually multiple days of nursery school, I remember my first trip to Disneyland at age 3 1/2. I remember the shoes I wore at age 3 years old, and not because I saw it in a photo because I remember things in my life when I was that age that was no photographic proof of, yet my parents say whatever I remember actually truly did happen. I didn't speak till I was 3 1/2 years old, because I have Autism and I was delayed in speaking significantly, but apparently I realize now that memories can predate any verbal abilities. It's not a continuous picture though. I wish I could remember every single day from when I was a 3 year old. Even with my excellent memory recall, I don't remember everything. Then again, I likely don't even remember what I did one week ago at this time... LOL. I remember certain things very clearly though, especially if they were a special thing. I remember me and my mom carving a pumpkin (there aren't any photos, except I do have photos of me at a pumpkin patch I went to with my nursery school class in late October 1979, likely a few days before Halloween). I remember we put the carved pumpkin out on the front of our porch. I remember on Halloween coming back home from my mom going supermarket shopping and I remember wearing my tan colored leather Buster Brown tie-lace oxford like shoes with the shark imprint on the side. I always considered that color leather to be "burnt orange" and I felt that my shoes were a very similar color to the pumpkin we had on the porch. I also remember eating out at a fish and chips restaurant store quite a few times with my mom after nursery school finished (Tuesday and Thursday morning from 9:00 to 11:30 AM). I always have loved fish.

- longallsboy

 

[SissyAliceUK]

I would be a bit sad but also happy.

If i had all my current thought and memories and was a toddler who would grow up and not remain one i would be able to plan my life better and make better decisions early. Also, if i were a male toddler would use that opportunity to express my gender expression from a really early age. I don't think i would come out as transgender but i would love to be more "girly" from a young age.

 

[NappiedTruckDriver]

Presuming back as a toddler with the family members you had back then , I would run up to my Dad and give him a very big hug and say don’t leave me daddy

 

[pampers4U]

1st thing I would do would be to tottle around checking out the size difference of everything to me, seeing everyday furniture as adult vs a toddler must be crazy

 

[AlwaysInDiapers]

The first thing I would do would be lift my skirt and see my pretty plastic pants and of course show them to whoever is around as at that age it is perfectly OK to do so. Did that as a small girl all the time and when the time is right I still do. It would be like I was in heaven.

 

[tobid03]

Considering it's Saturday morning where I am right now, I'd grab my stuffie and try to watch some (kids) tv.

Generally, I'd play with toys (like Lincoln Logs, legos, matchbox cars, or train sets) or go outside and play in the sandbox or on the playground. (I plan to have those outdoor things set up in a future house.)

 

[paulinfo]

I would go along with the day & use my nappy as I want too.

 

[PumpkinPrincess]

Probably watch cartoons while hugging someone

 

[LittleAndAlone]

Fail potty training and pee my bed every night. See if I can make it into school still in tape on baby diapers.

Would have my adult confidence, knowledge and vocabulary, and presumably other skills to swiftly deal with bullies. Lots of things are just knowledge and experience data in the brain so youd keep all that with your adult mind intact.

Keep the other kids off guard with my smarts and inclusiveness and make a better effort to make friends and play more than I did the first time around. Again with my mind intact I'd have my bottomless love for kids and wanting to be a kid again so I'd want to befriend and meet everyone in school. Live it up to the fullest and not care about growing up.

 

[longallsboy]

Part of my response is probably memory related. I genuinely have ZERO memories from before age 11, maybe one or two a year from age 11-16, then I have a larger quantity of more recent memories running up to around a two weeks ago where I can remember most things that happened for the past fortnight. Every single thing I "remember" from primary school was told to me by other people, so I can only assume that nothing I did before age 7 was very interesting since I haven't really been told much about what I was like before then. Because I now (mostly) judge the quality of my life by how interesting it is I reckon that current mental state me would not enjoy being that young.

My memory situation is very unique or so I've found. I've seen medical professionals about it and none have ever seen a situation as strange as mine in someone as young as me. It rather fits better with early onset dementia and though my mother's side of the family is riddled with it, none had any symptoms before 50, and the fact that I started experiencing these memory problems at 15 is even more bizarre since "early onset" is 30-65, certainly not a teenager.

It's made me think a lot about why I'm ABDL, since it could well be a trauma response to something I don't recall. I know someone who has uncomplicated PTSD from something they no longer remember, as strange as that sounds, and some mental health professionals have suggested that some of my other behaviours (not ABDL since I've never mentioned that) are frequently seen as trauma responses, and that I might not remember the source of it. Regardless it's a very scary prospect that I could be having all sorts of mental health problems now from something incredibly traumatic in my past that I'm too traumatised by to even remember. Abuse from parents, family, friends, and teachers has been suggested on numerous occasions, and I know that the latter two did occur but not that early. I have been told about some things that my parents did as discipline that my younger brain could have internalised as abuse but I'm not sure about that either. I think that the most terrifying things to comprehend are those which we cannot fully comprehend, and an event traumatising enough such that I have no recollection of it whatsoever and that nobody has ever even hinted at its occurrence is quite the existential horror.

I just was reading late yesterday night that Andrea Friedman, who had Down Syndrome, passed away on December 3, 2003, at age 53, from Alzheimer's Disease. If you don't know who she is, she played Corky's (Chris Burke's character's) girlfriend on the sitcom "Life Goes On". Sad because she was quite functional. She drove a car and worked at an accounting department of a law firm in Los Angeles for decades, which is more than I have been able to do and I have Autism. I guess not all Down Syndrome people function at the same level - a few have even graduated from college in a regular program (like how I have a BA degree). As far as Down Syndrome is concerned, a rather large amount of those with Down Syndrome develop Alzheimer's by their 60s. Only 10% of those with DS make it into their 70s, apparently. Though the average life expectancy is 60-63, which incredibly is actually higher than with Autism which averages 54-58 years old (some of that is due to suicide from being bullied, but also other things like heart disease, diabetes in some, epilepsy in some, etc). Really scares me that I might not be here in 10 years or less. Then again, I've also known plenty of people who are perfectly "normal" and nonautistic and passed away in their 50s from a heart attack or cancer. The average life expectancy for nonautistic people with no other syndromes, your average Joe, is 76 years or so. But that means half of the entire population kicks the bucket before 76.

I also did some research and found that Autistic people have a 2.6 times likelihood to end up with Alzheimer's Disease. That is also scary because you lose your memory and then you lose your life too. I have some great memories - including of oldies music from the 1950s and 1960s, and events from my early childhood, and I don't particularly want to lose them. Like my elderly retired children's librarian friend that I co-hosted Preschooler Storytime with said, humorously tongue in cheek, "Life is a bitch, and then you die". LOL

- longallsboy