Hi Jayhawk,
of course, that is a personal question and everyone will have their own answer. Perhaps you are looking for a way to jog your memory and loosen some long hidden morsels of the good times. Or, maybe you really didn't have any. Either way, your experience as a child in JW's is unique in many ways, even though there are basic tenets that JW's follow and apply to their young ones. How you reacted to those tenets and how your life unfolded in areas not directly controlled by them shaped how you experienced your childhood in the cult.
I can sympathize with Dungbeetles comments and I hear similar comments by many others who hated their childhood as JW's. Yet, those same tenets of belief were in the literature that our family studied and peddled from door to door. We took Armegeddon seriously and were instructed to be beware of "bad association". But I don't remember ever being hateful or suggesting that all the "other" kids will become bird food.
I certainly was a not a normal kid and I was fortunate to have parents who really loved their kids and one another. Perhaps my parent shelterred me from the "real" truth about Armageddon and the destruction of all our neighbors, I don't know. Anyway, I have to say I had a really wonderful childhood as a JW. I loved the meetings, field service, conventions. I loved the association, the meals, cook outs, picnics. I was happy to stand out as different at school. I got respect from those I cared about and I didn't care that some kids didn't like me because I was a JW. In junior and senior High School I excelled and was very popular. I was given the nickname, the "Preacher". I used opportunities in class to preach and I spoke up about what I believed in. Of course, I was wrong. But I didn't know that and I was full of confidence and had a talent for conversation. That got me through school and I have many fond memories of school activity as a JW. I was not restricted from participating in school as long as I was careful to avoid "bad association". My parents allowed me to find the balance and were not over restrictive.
When my parents were leaving the JW's and I was trying to convince them to stay, I often told them how much I loved my childhood and that I flet they were responsible for my having those memories. I still believe that. Now I know more. I know that I was completely wrong about almost everything I believed in as a child. But I still have fond memories of the experience I had as a youth. Now I know that by far the majority of children do not have the same fond memories of their youth as a JW. I attribute much of that to the teachings of JW's and the heavy-handed message they spew out into their neighborhoods. Still, I can't help but think that my experience as a JW youth was due to having a pair of loving parents who cared more about teaching their children a balanced view toward human interaction than they did about teaching them to hate their neighbors who did not believe in their "truth". So, I thank, not the religion, but my parents for giving me the childhood I had. There were others as well who influenced me and for whom I have fond memories. I guess I was lucky to have been where I was when I was. I certainly am not happy to hear of the many horror stories told my others telling of abusive parents and an almost militaristic approach with their neighborhoods. I wish everyone could have had the same opportunities I had as a kid. Yet, it seems most out of the ordinary for families associated with this cult.
Now I wish that I would have had the same parents but NOT in a cult. That might have afforded me many more opportunities to explore the realities of life and started me down the paths I now find appealing but have less opportunity to explore. So, if I were bitter about what those crazy tenets of my religion as a youth had forced me to miss, I might let my anger cloud out my fond memories of my childhood. I have chosen to keep my good memories, even though they seem now to be an anomoly.
Sean
