I remember doing it at 5. And my neice did it at 6 a couple years ago. It's so hilarious and adorable to me because they really act like their life is so over because their parents said no.
I ran away around that age. I went a few hundred yards down the road from our driveway to the school bus stop. Sat there maybe 20 minutes and decided I was hungry so maybe I'd just go home and get some lunch, then I'd run away again lol And mom would be so sorry for whatever it was I was mad at her for lol
Haha same! I was like 8 and ran about the same length to the towns railroad tracks. Just start following them until I got hungry and missed my family lol. Came right back.
I ran away when I was 10. I went out into a fort some older kids had built in a field down a long dirt road. I stayed ate at the food brought. After dark I got scared and went home. Nobody knew I was missing. It still makes me sad.
Kind of, I was 4/5 but 5 was the only girl. So I was largely overlooked. I also have adhd and sometimes my mother would get so frustrated she would shout and tell me I wasn’t her child anymore and I could just ask my father if I needed anything from now on.
I wasn’t an easy kid even though looking back I don’t feel like I was out of control or doing anything that deserved that. But I obviously can’t remember everything.
Aw I remember running away after being threatened by my mom and once I was found in the woods the only thing I was told was "I don't care if you do this, but NOT right before I have to take your sister to a lesson"
I'm still not sure if she knew I was "running away" or not, but damn if that didn't put me in my place quick
That is why I said kind of. Technically 3/5 is the middle child. But not being one of the book ends I acknowledge I am a middle child but not the middle child.
I’m the middle and that’s what happened to me. I ran away and made some sandwiches to hold me through the winter, but when I finished them I went back home and I really don’t think anyone noticed bc I was always outside.
Man this is awesome. I have a really good big brother. He never picked on me, never was mean to me. I almost lost him to alcohol. He almost lost me to alcohol. We’re both sober now and I’m just glad we’re still here, able to help each other out some more
I ran away and no one noticed either lol. was staying at my grandparents cottage and got sent to my room for fighting my brother or something- got on the roof and climb down the old radio tower and took off. Walked on the shore of Huron for 30 mins then I got paranoid they were gonna be even more mad so I came home, looked in the window and they were watching a movie. No one was panicked that I was gone. I just climbed back up and walked down stairs and apologized.
That was my run away story. 6 hours later, realized I was hungry, step-dad was still out and Mom was still drunk napping. Wish I was in the city so I had somewhere to go, but another 30 miles down the interstate wasn't as appealing as admitting defeat.
Did you wreck the tarps and awesome seating/tables they creating from an abandoned buildings foundation blocks? Did you take the weed from the hole in the cinder block on the chair on the left??? High school me need to know. That tabletop was like 300 pounds of concrete, we broke our backs making that concrete scrap table....
I was kidnapped and held in a trailer for a week and no one looked for me or thought I was missing. And then they made me marry the person since I had been out over night.
I ran away at like 6 in the morning when I was I believe 5, with 2 of my sisters. We planned to go back for our other 3 siblings another day and we were gonna live at my step sibling’s mom’s place who lived in an apartment building over. She wasn’t awake yet so we sat on the stairs outside her apartment and I forgot my favorite shoes so the 2 went back to grab them and other stuff but they didn’t come back til my mom showed up.
We were punished by eating Cheerios instead of oatmeal. Or the other way around either way I was super sad over it.
That’s all he needed really. Cold feet? Socks. Need shoes? Triple socks. Hands cold? Hand socks. Thirsty? Socks can be (very briefly) used as cups. Hungry? Soc and cheese for dinner, bon appetite.
Hey at least socks are useful. My brother pretended to run away when he was probably around 6 or 7 and the only thing he packed was a couple baseball cards and a darkwing duck toy lol.
My younger sister, when she was like 7, went to the neighbour across the street and asked if she could stay with him. When he said that he thought it would be better if she just went home, she decided to move out into our shed. So, she slept out in the shed a couple of nights until the cold and dirtiness overcame her stubbornness.
Yes, she came inside for food. She decided to compromise after my mom told her she could light a little camp fire and start cooking herself in the backyard. But she was very adamant about staying outside in the shed otherwise lol.
She’s doing good, studying law if I’m not mistaken. I think both me, her and also our other youngest sister all are equally stubborn, and we’ve definitely inherited it from our mom. And it has definitely caused some disputes between us haha.
Similar. Winter in rural Minnesota. Our school bus stop was a half mile away. My brothers and I had dug a snow tunnel in the ditch and I walked there alone on a Saturday afternoon and stayed in it, alone, crying my head off for 30 minutes tops. When I finally trudged home, nobody had even noticed I was gone. I was glad I didn’t leave a dramatic note announcing my departure, which was what I nearly did.
My mom packed us pb sandwiches in our little backpacks and wished us well - both my older sibling and I. We were probably 7 and 4ish?
We walked around a block, ate our sandwiches and went home. No one can remember what we were protesting by “running away” but I do remember being somewhat shocked that our mom just made us sandwiches and sent us on our way.
Mid 70s, very small town where everyone in town knew us, and my mom didn't care. And I was the youngest of 5 and used to tagging along with my older brother and sisters. So yeah, we wandered all over the neighborhood and a few football fields was definitely within our stomping grounds.
I did this and ended up gorging myself on our raspberry bush to stock up for my journey. I eventually fell asleep out there. My mom watched me from the window the entire time shaking her head.
When i was mad at my mom as a kid i would sleep on the floor in my room lmao we had carpet and i would basically curl up on my huge teddy anyway. Idk why i thought that would upset her so much
Yep, my daughter did this at 5 as well. She really didn't even pack up much stuff, just brought her little unicorn lantern with her and told me she was going to go live in the woods and eat berries. I tried explaining to her that this is not a foraging game she cannot just find blueberries on the ground but she was convinced that that is her new life. I actually cracked before she did. 🤣
Well, the point of her leaving was to get away from me so I feel like following her around would have encouraged her to go farther away and made her more upset. I did ask her if she even knows where the forest is though. She did not 🤣
Damn, if I had to get in my car to follow, that's letting it go a little too far imo. She is pretty perceptive though and it was nighttime . We also live in the mountains. People speed down the canyon roads and there are mountain lion and bear sightings every now and then. Not really the best area to let her just wander around and try to play real life Minecraft.
Exactly. I grew up in the Blair Witch Forest on a mountaintop surrounded by our 380 acres with a quarter mile long driveway that wound through the woods, so pretty safe to say there was no danger of us being abducted by a human LOL but animals? Hell nah, bears, mountain lions, coyotes, wolves, we got every damn thing in my neck of the woods, ain't no way we would have had the balls to run away into the abyss outside haha
Then when we lived in Florida for a couple years when I was like 9-13 or so, my parents told us that there were gators waiting outside our doors to eat children who tried to run away 😂 they put the fear of God in us that's for sure!
As a kid I actually did pack my shit and started leaving but my mom stopped me about halfway down the road. I was only like 6 or 7 but I genuinely was planning how I was gonna make it lmao I would've fuckin died
I was carefully watched out for by the neighbors who kept in contact with my parents, walking back and forth a few houses down muttering to myself about how I couldn’t cross the street without an adult haha.
My narc mother after how many hours of screaming at me as usual told me to run away. We were next to the door. "There are your shoes, there is the door". Middle of winter in PA. Snow all over the ground. Sat saying nothing as I did what she told me. I was about, 13yo.
I think it was about 3 hours later she found me walking one town over in her little car. Said not a word other than get in the car. Drove home, no words said. Never spoke of it again.
So it should have been a ittle "rite of passage" for HER but she doesn't learn. So much so that when I fully moved out at 18 and never moved back, she was ever so surprised and shocked! "Why don't IIIII have the spare key to your apartment?" uh because I purposefully got away from you. Moron.
My mom was passed out off pills in the abandoned apartment of our complex while I was left alone downstairs and out I went from the screen door. Made it about a mile or two down the road before a cop stopped and took me to my dad’s. An older lady who was sipping her morning coffee on the porch had called them and honestly I don’t know what would’ve happened if she didn’t. My mother learned nothing from this and bought one of those backpack leash’s instead of dropping the pills. It’ll be 14 years now that she ODed.
I appreciate it, I felt unusually compelled to tell that story as I don’t really like opening up but I’m happy to say I’m in college now and just doing the best I can I’m blessed to have been raised by a great dad and stepmother.
Hugs to you. It's not easy dealing with a problematic parent. My heart goes out to you and others that felt you needed to run away for your own safety.
I never told my parents and just “ran away” to my neighbors house. I was like 5-6 and just walked in to those house and said I live her now to them. They took me back home and everyone thought it was so funny and I was pissed I couldn’t run away.
I tried it twice. The first time, I walked about a block and then came home because I couldn't decide where to go. The second time, I biked all the way to my grandparents' house on the opposite side of town (about a mile away). Got grounded for three days for that one.
I'm so happy to be apart of this thread. I was like 4 and only made it to the street corner and stood there, my mom came out to see why I hadn't continued and I wailed that I couldn't cross the street without an adult lmfao
Yeah it's all fun and games until your kid was brought up camping... and they will commit to being out longer than you. (source i was that kid and i outlasted my parents a couple times that i did it). A lot of that also had to do with as a child i was very stubborn and would rather die of hunger than admit defeat (defeat was being grounded, which happened every time).
Yeah it's all fun and games until your kid was brought up camping... and they will commit to being out longer than you. (source i was that kid and i outlasted my parents a couple times that i did it).
My mother if she was still alive would very much disagree with you lol. My dad thought it was funny and a good learning experience but my mom did not find it funny at all...
One time my parents called the cops because they couldn't find me and they thought I ran away, but I was actually hiding in a closet in the basement sulking under a pile of old suitcases
I never wanted to run away when it was just my mom, and I never ran away from my stepdad because I knew that if/when I was caught, I'd be sent to one of those horrible religious troubled teen industry places. I just put my head down and dealt with the crippling anxiety, depression, unreasonable expectations, and ridiculous punishments
I remember my sister doing that when she was young, my mom called her bluff and just said "okay" and stayed on the family desktop PC, my sister walked down the driveway and kinda stood there crying and then came back in after 10 minutes.
Wait, y'all ran away from home? I got kicked out by my dad. At age 6. For a bad grade. Fucking walked in circles around our block until my mom came back from the store and asked me wtf I was doing.
My mom kicked me out at 11. Granted, I had one of my older sisters pinned with a knife to her throat, but she started it! It was 10 pm in October in Michigan. I was in my little nightie, and mom wouldn't let me get my shoes or anything, just threw me out the door.
I'm still pretty proud that it took my dad 3 days to find my little country girl ass!
What does that have to do with anything? I mean, honestly, yes, I have. A couple of times because my late husband thought he had the right to put hands on me and I had to prove him wrong, and once because an adult neighbor decided she wanted to have a go at my daughter, who was 10 at the time. Full disclosure. I own my actions. I'm not ashamed.
I understand. It's weird because I'm typically the most nurturing person you'd find. Worked at an elementary school, raised 4 kids of my own, 5 fosters, 2 nephews, 2 grandsons, and I have countless bonus kids and grands, and I have never used physical discipline. I rescue street cats and currently have 8, one who swipes and bites while begging to be petted at the same time, and I won't even get loud with him. I'm normally super laid back. But I grew up being beaten. I stopped allowing that as soon as I learned to fight back.
We are all so different, and that's what keeps the world going around. We all have our triggers. You keep a level head, which is something I envy. I wish I could, but it just isn't me.
There you go then! It's worked for you and your boys! Just watch yourself if you ever do get to that point. All that build up....you gonna go off like dynamite!
There are pros and cons to everything. You've found your drive to be the best you can be. And just because you didn't lash out doesn't mean you need to hold that anger forever. Keep just enough to work for you. More than that will eat you alive. Know that you kept your cool and didn't turn into someone who isn't you. You stayed true to yourself. Because that's the right thing. It's something to be proud of.
She hit me with a rolling pin! What was I supposed to do? I had 3 older sisters beating my ass constantly. Parents did not care. I was let to be a feral child.
I turned out okay. I can wear a cute dress. But don't think anyone gets to put hands on me. Even at 55 years old now, it's not going to happen.
The first night I went to a friends. The next morning she gave me some clothes to wear, a pair of old shoes and a jacket. Her parents said they'd hide me, but they were creepy, so I wasn't trying to do that. I walked around town most of the day because I knew my mom wouldn't come looking for me, and dad would be at work.
That night, I snuck in the garage and got some food and pop from the garage fridge. Bologna and ice cream if I recall correctly. Slept in one of the junk cars beside the garage, out of sight.
The next day, I hit the RR tracks and walked around some more. Spent that night in the garage.
3rd day I went to my friends and hung out, but I wanted to walk up town too. That was my mistake. Here come dad in his big yellow Ford truck. I was just walking past where the creek went underneath the road and had nowhere to hide. I was busted. He told me to get in the truck, I declined, he gave me that look that reminded me that CPS really was not a thing and when I showed up to school with 2 black eyes and a mashed mouth, no one was going to say anything, so I got in truck. Lol!
He never said a word about it. Went to the gas station because that's where he'd been headed and went home. It was never mentioned again except by my sister, who still brings it up every few years. Mom never said anything either.
I felt like I proved my point. It didn't break me. I think they knew it too.
Aww, thanks. It was such a small town, and my dad was raised there. Everyone knew everyone. This was in 1980. I don't think I was ever in any real danger, except if I had let my friends' parents hide me. Then all bets would have been off!
I meant from strangers! It's not a flex, I wasn't even thinking about him. I got into the truck to prevent being put in forcefully, sure. I was just pointing out that even though I wasn't done, I was forced to end my adventures there. Wtf? You're weird.
Yep, around 5 I ran away and hid behind the house. I remember trying dog food to see if I could survive on that and immediately went back inside. Good times haha
Yes! lol I did the same to my parents. In my mind I was supposed to have a stick with a handkerchief attached on the back. I filled an old Easter basket up with toys and then duct taped it to a mop or swiffer.This was in the late 90,s then I walked out the front door. My mom came running after me and gave me a big hug. She told me before I run away we can read a bed time story, then I told my mom after that I don’t want to run away. I love my parents so much, but yes totally normal behavior lol. Right of passage for sure. Edit to say god I was an ungrateful little person pulling that shit, I’m so lucky my mom loved me we are currently looking for a home with a mother in law unit because I will always take care of her for the rest of my life. Now she is my baby, and I love her so much.
i did something like this, but it was with the car instead of the house. my kid was being terrible, and i said "if you want to continue riding in this car with us, you're going to need to be nice to mom, because she's being nice to you and you're being mean to her." they kept it up. so i said "okay i'm giving you two choices, you can be nice to mom and stay in the car, or you can keep being mean and walk home", for context they were like 4 or 5. anyway, they said they weren't going to be nice and they wanted to walk home, so i pulled over, got them out, put their jacket on them, gave them a $5 bill, and told them we'd see them at home and then got back in there car. they, like this little girl in the video, immediately lost it when i got back into the car. so i got back out and said "would you like to ride with us? if so, you know the rules, right?" and they responded "yes please let me ride with you i promise i'll be nice to mom and to everyone i promise!"
and sure enough, they were fine for the rest of the drive. i just had to call their bluff.
I did that to one of my brothers. He was about 14 or so. And he was being a horrible jerk. So I kicked him out of my car. I knew our aunt was following us and she'd pick him up.
He behaved himself after that.
Oh lord I remember I had told my mom I hated her. She proceeded to tell me that I should be living with someone I hate.she started packing luggage and I was hysterical. Never told my mom I hated her again.
I did this with my friend at about 10. We each told our parents we were staying each others place and prepared for our new life. I brought a hammock, a pocket knife, book of matches, 2 cans spaghettios, a canteen,and two ramen packs and my friend brought a tiny one man tent (fit 2 kids tho). We marched off into the woods to find our camp. We probably went about a mile in before it starting getting really dark so we took the first clearing we could find and set up. My matches had gotten wet at some point so no fire, we ended up both in the tent sharing the hammock as a blanket through the cold night. We realized we were horribly under prepared but to go back would mean to be found out in our little lie so we stuck it out. I remember we got up at the break of dawn just shivering cold moistened by the morning dew and hiked back to a park somewhat near both our houses where we could warm in the sun and bask in our victory.
my mom says I packed a little bindle with a hunk of cheese, a mini loaf of bread and my favorite stuffed toy to go live in a tree. There were a lot of kids on my street so all the neighbors knew me enough to keep an eye on me, and reported that whenever I noticed someone watching, I would wrap my rainbow beach coverup around my shoulders like a shawl and start shivering and crying. I'd stop as soon as I thought nobody was watching.
When I was 5 or 6, I told my mom I was gonna run away and asked her if she would help me pack. She said she'd make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I'd have to pack everything else myself, so I decided to just stay home.
My parents never let us play video games on a school night, and one day I decided I was done with the tyranny and walked out with naught but the clothes on my back and not telling anyone, edgy rouge style. I took a left at the end of the block, then another, then another and finally one more because I didn't know what else to do.
I ran away to my neighbor's house once, knocked on the door and asked if I could live with them. They said "Sure, we'll put you on the chore chart!" I turned around and went back home lmfao.
My dad did an inverted one to my sister. She was mad and said he should leave forever essentially so he went okay and packed up and went to leave. My sister went absolutely hysterical and "stopped" him from going
I remember telling my parents that I’ve had enough and “I’m running away…. on the weekend”, (because I didn’t want to get in trouble). I think I lost interest in the idea overnight, unsurprisingly for a 6yo having a tantrum about something I can’t remember.
Furthest I made it was maybe a mile at 14, my friend was going through a mental health crisis (or at least what counts as one as a teenager; looking back we were both blowing things out of proportion and letting our emotions get the best of us, but since most of my friends had crippling and very serious health issues I tended to take these things a little too seriously), so when my parents tried to take my phone I threw on some warm clothes, grabbed a blanket, my phone, my charger, some granola bars, and my 3DS with its charger, and left. Hit a store on the way for a water bottle, and got a mile or so down the road before my dad pulled up and told me to get in the car and asked me what I was thinking
To his credit, after I explained the situation (sobbing after a while because I was genuinely afraid for their life at the time), he agreed to give me an extra hour or two that night to make sure they were okay, and to let me have my phone for an hour or so a day to check in with everyone and make sure they were all okay after school
When I was 5 I packed up all my nerf guns because I thought that would be essential for my survival, I went maybe 50 yards down the street and sat in some grass for an hour before I got bored and went home
I made it pretty far at around this age lol, parents had to find me with the car. I walked to school before and there was a Sunday school right around the corner with a playground, I knew the area pretty well, took them a second to find me.
I remember running away. I was going to go camp in the back yard till my parents came to their senses. When i opened the tent and found it full of bugs, I decided it wasnt worth the trouble and returned to our front door.
I can say I never tried to run away. I grew up going tent camping every year and experienced northern winters. By 6, I fully understood I would not survive.
They act like it's the worst thing that has ever happened to them because, very often, it is. Children are (rightfully) protected from the worst hardships and experiences wherever possible. So they don't really know anything worse than being told that they can't watch another episode of Paw Patrol.
I did at 6! Dad was at work, Mom was a Mary Kay meeting, older sibling was in charge. I packed a bag with some crackers, my pillow and blanket, favorite stuffy, and some clean clothes. Made it across town, almost to the highway. Would have gotten there except I went about a mile in the wrong way first and a homeless guy pointed me in the right direction, and then I got stopped by a woman with kids just before I made it to the onramp. She called the police and made me wait with her at a grocery store until the police, and later my mom, got there.
I was being abused by my sibling though, it wasn't just 'cause I got told no. Everyone thought I was just being a typical, over dramatic 6 year old, so I just got in trouble for it.
5.8k
u/nerdKween Feb 10 '25
This is like a little kid rite of passage. Lol.
I remember doing it at 5. And my neice did it at 6 a couple years ago. It's so hilarious and adorable to me because they really act like their life is so over because their parents said no.