A few days ago, my mom called me to tell me that while going through boxes of old stuff I had written, she found a list I had written when I was eight years old: “100 Things to Do Before I Die.” I was thrilled she found this list for several reasons: I had not known I was interested in or even knew about bucket lists that long ago, I have now accomplished several items on that list (for example, go to France and go bungee jumping), and some of the items are hilarious. I know a few of the goals on this list are difficult to read, so before I photos of this ancient bucket list, I’ll list a few of my favorites:
12. Stay online for at least seven hours. (If only I could tell my eight-year-old self I would accomplish this one many times.)
16. Go to Prinston. (Sigh, to think that I became an English major.)
18. Make people in heaven be able to come back.
24. Get locked in an elevator. (I found this one really strange, especially since now, it is one of my biggest fears).
39. Walk to Brooklyn.
41. Give people Happy Easter cards on Christmas. (What a rebel!)
42. Join the army and quit. (I promise I no longer have such seditious thoughts).
50. Turn the school into a Care Bear factory.
59. Become a professional pencil sharpener. (I had such high aspirations as a child!)
67. Make mailboxes as a living. (Again, really high aspirations).
68. Make people think it snowed by using paper.
Without further ado, here is the complete list. I know the title promises a list of “100 Things to Do Before I Die,” but my mom only found a list that goes up to 75.
What do you guys think? Have you ever found old stuff that you wrote as a child? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
Project Light to Life 
So nice. I have a current list i’m still working on.
This is so cute!! haha I have similar flashbacks when I read my old journals :p
You still might be able to go to mars if SpaceX starts there mars tours 😉
Reblogged this on Keanu Taylor and commented:
I wish I made a Bucket list when I was younger
“make a cure for no one to die” is an AWESOME thing to have on a bucket list. But, would it then still be a bucket list?
Awe I love eat cheese all day! It’s so cute
That’s so awesome. I made my first bucket list when I was 15 or 16. I wish I knew what happened to it!
That is so funny and cute! I love it!!
I love that you wanted to get a pet pig and become a detective!
What a great find!
As for your question, my only interesting discovery along those lines was a diary entry from when I was 13, “I can’t decide if I want to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist.” The funny thing is, when I discovered it I was working on my Ph. D. in psychology, but only after having started college as an English Major with no thought at all of majoring in psych. That happened only — as I’ve reported before — when I wrote a paper on King Lear and got an A-, along with the recommendation that I might like to be a psych major. I took the hint.
The funny thing is, the meaning in the diary is not clear. Was i deciding I wanted to be one of those things? Or was I deciding which one I wanted to be? I don’t think at 13 I knew there was a difference.
Thanks for asking the question. Fun thought.
Reblogged this on Cat Beeny and commented:
So adorable!
Hahahah this is so adorable!
#12 Definitely brings back some memories for me; fighting with my sisters to get off the phone with their boyfriends so I could get on AOL. I didn’t have a bucket list but I did find an old elementary school notebook of mine. There were barely any notes for class and it was filled with drawings of dinosaurs and x-men. Good time. Thanks for the follow!
Adorable! I should make one XD Thank you for following also!
Hahaha! I loved 18, 24, 41, 59, and 68! Those are some adorable goals as a kid! >D
This is the most incredible list! I hope you get to succeed in most of those wishes, and for sure, it’s very inspiring! Sharing!:)
I love this post! This ‘impossible’ nature of so many of the objectives contrasts so beautifully with the simplicity and achievability of the others and tells me so much about your childhood self. What a wonderful find! X
My parents might still have a couple of boxes of old letters from penpals of mine but I don’t recall ever doing a bucket list thing as a kid. What a great list, by the way. And props to wanting to own all care bears.
I think you could use this list to make an Adam Sandler movie. It would earn you millions of dollars, making # 4, and subsequently #5, come true.
lol!
Interesting….sending easter cards on christmas.
Such a cool list!!! You must have been a very imaginative and fun-loving girl. To tell from your posts you still are :)! Thanks for sharing this childhood relict!
Wonderful! This surely made my day.
What a treasure! Bringing people back from heaven, sounds like you have always had a soft heart!! 🙂
Fantastic!
Try yoga? I hope you’ve done that, especially wonderful Iyengar yoga.
Thanks for the follow, we’ll be back to see what you’re up to.
You were a thought provoking little girl to create your bucket list at age 8. Awesome!
I thought you meant “hard to read” meant some of your items were going to be sad or embarrassing. Not literally hard to read. It was a relief.. What year was this written? “Online” wasn’t a term when I was 8, which would have been 1988/89, and I doubt Adam Sandler was famous yet. I love 8-yr-old aspirations, and I like that your list wasn’t complete. You were a work in progress.. a thought interrupted by action. Thanks for sharing that.
Love, love, LOVE this! Thanks so much for sharing. Yes — you did have high aspirations. You wanted to cure all diseases and make it so that no one ever died. Worthy goals if ever I heard one. This made my day. 🙂
I love this. I think I’ll put this one my blog as an example of creative writing to be used in classrooms. Thank you.
Reblogged this on How can I control my class? and commented:
“My Childhood Bucket List” – an example of a creative writng prompt
Wow great imagination at an early age! I think at 8 well…I do not really remember being 8?! Cheryl. Ha! Hehe.
About to start my list. Is it sad that i don’t have one yet?
Aww this is sweet and funny!
Reblogged this on Ideas in My Jar and commented:
This is great. I used to think what I wanted to do, but never wrote it down.
It is good find in past what you think at that time.
I prepared a list about two years back for what i want to do – it was social activist, innovator, journalist. With my blog i am trying all this..regards
What would you see in France ? 😄
I LOVE THIS! i wonder what inspired the list. Its cute and hilarious but memorable. Thank your mom for finding it!
46. Go mining for diamonds! LOVE THIS ONE!!! And yes, I found an old diary from when I was in third grade. I laughed until I almost cried it was so precious. So cool to remember who we were when we were that age! Loved this post!
this is so great! I love finding old things you wrote as a kid. They are always super crazy and make for a great laugh 🙂
Wow! Some of those cracked me up! I can’t even imagine what I would have written, how cool you found that list 🙂
55. Eat cheese all day.
hahahahahaha
“Become a professional pencil sharpener” is my absolute favorite! 🙂
Hahahahaha buy a pet pig AND meet Adam Sandler 😀 You got it figured out 😀
This is just too precious. I wish I did have a list, but I think I remember all of my childhood aspirations. That would make a fun story too.
Thanks for sharing.
This is really cool. I love rediscovering stuff from the past and seeing how you have grown as a person.
Now I will have to make my list.
Now I will have to make my list 🙂
Hahaha.. this is awefully cute and funny.. We lose so much of our childhood in the process of figuring out what to be.. and yet, you had it all figured out right from the beginning 😀
This is really cute and funny. Being a child is so great because you feel you have the power to achieve everything even things that don’t make total sense.
I found this old hardly readable list explaining different things I needed to have before I died, the most funny part is I hate just about all those things today