[Elvie]

Oh this is so cool! They're all gorgeous! I love the sea urchin fossil. I have a few ammonites and a mosasaur tooth that was my dad's, but not much else when it comes to fossils, and I really need to change that. They're so interesting!

[PorgWitch]

This is sort of what held me back from identifying as a Little for so long. Every content creator or media I've seen surrounding this lifestyle has only been fully regressed, AB, with their own cribs, pacifiers, diapers and Ageplay. It felt a lot like you had to be part of that or it "didn't count."
I'm still figuring out my Littlespace, but I feel similar where I am watching things I loved as a kid, being curled up with my stuffed animals and blankets, but being hyper aware of all the adult responsibilities I have. I have no clue what it would be like to be fully regressed, I know I have too many things to do, too many things to clean, bills to pay etc. As far as the parents go, mine are always poking in, asking if I've done x, y, and z so I would always feel like I had to stay on top of everything at all times so nobody would assume I can't take care of myself.
Furthermore my close friends are not in this lifestyle, so I know they'd be uncomfortable if I regressed around them.
Even one of my friends who is in the kink community like me, I would explain what I felt, and the fact that it was a way to cope with stress, or relax after a long day, even though that wasn't her lifestyle, she felt that because she also appreciated parts of her childhood and she didn't need regression, that I wasn't quite a Little. At least that's how it felt.
We all experience regression or littlespace in different ways. We all have different needs, and there is no template we have to fit. The "How Do I Know" article helped a great deal with feeling more confident in this identity. It doesn't have to be our entire personality and the central part of our existence to be valid. So you are definitely not alone in this. Sorry if this was all over the place.

[Elvie]

Yeah I keep trying to branch out and connect with others but honestly I just find so few people who aren't determined to somehow "win" at this all. But it's also just things like...most people seem to be into baby and toddler stuff and I find so few middles. I remain skeptical that the whole "complete regression" thing is actually possible, but honestly even if it is it's not something I would ever want to do; it sounds terrifying. I guess I just wish I had more in common with more people. It would be really great to have friends who really get this. (Although like I've said before I have a few friends I think might be littles, but...I'm not gonna be the one to ask them, LOL, but at least they're people I get along with well over our shared love of "kid stuff.")

[PorgWitch]

I know the feeling, genuinely. I'm worried I don't really fit in completely. But I'm sure we'll find our place, our people, our little group. We know it isn't a competition to win, and that truly is what matters. I don't want to engage with people who get competitive

[PrincessEllie]

I'm new to the community, but I see myself more how you've described. I am biologically mid-30s, have a good job that I love, and enjoy regression for an hour or two here and there to relax. I don't think I would be fulfilled living regressed 24/7. And when I am feeling little, I still want challenging activities. For example, I love Lego. When I'm in little space, I might work on a Lego set, but I want a challenging set with lots of pieces.

[JULIEISABOY]

Relaxation is so necessary for a person to be truly happy. Congratulations on your courageous decision

[rosehearts]

I think what a lot of people don't realize about social media is that the biggest people in a community online either have been in the community for a long long time or have a lot of free time and money to put into it.

The reason why so many littles and abdls you see that are popular have so much little hear, a crib, etc. is because they've been in the community for a long time and slowly built up their collection and saved up for so long to get things like a crib. They're not representative of everyone in the community, especially those just starting out.

It's okay to not be little 24/7 or have a crib and a million pacis, sippies and onesies. Most don't have that, the ones that do it took years to get to that point. And not everyone wants that and it's fine to only be little part time and have it a small part of you. No one is more "valid" than the other for being little more often or having more gear.

Also most people exaggerate a lot on social media. A lot of people claiming to be little 24/7 aren't little that often, just talking about fantasies or making stuff up to seem cooler or more "valid."

I've been a regressor and interested in this stuff for a long time (though my regression does partially have to do with cptsd, bpd and possible osdd-1a), and have been in cg/l communities on a chat site since not long after I turned 18 (almost two years ago). I'm just now getting my first pacis, as I finally ordered some a few days ago and they should arrive monday. It's normal to not get everything you want for littlespace overnight.

[Elvie]

For me it's not really an issue of not feeling valid so much as feeling like I just don't belong with these people. Like the other day someone was saying "my little throws things at me when he's angry, how do I make him stop?" and I was the only person saying "He's an adult man throwing things at you in anger, THIS IS NOT OKAY." Everyone else was like...acting like the guy was an actual child. That's the stuff I can't figure out. Stuff like the weird taboo on acknowledging that littles are adults with an adult mental capacity and maturity.

[shadeyday]

You bring up a lot of good points, especially with the flaws in the CGL community. I haven't been super immersed in it, but it does seem like little space can be more of a competition at times. Personally, I rarely regress and when I do it's usually when I'm very upset and alone in my room. A lot of other people have said this, but we are all unique and experience this in different ways. However, just because some of us may be more enveloped by our identity as a little (or caregiver), that doesn't mean we're better than or have some kind of higher status than anyone else.

Additionally, I agree with your statement about the little who was throwing things at his caregiver. Just because he was regressing doesn't mean that he's a literal child. That's just trying to get away with immaturity.

[AdultbutChild]

Phew, oh boy, this! I've been in a few communities where the lines were blurred between being a little and having a little as a character; if that makes sense. The problem was that my caregivers didn't distinguish between the RP characters and me. I can see why some people do not like the concept of "online only" because of stuff like this. However, for me, I have adult things to do and can't be a little all day. Dedicating a couple of hours a day to being my 8-10 year old self is great!

There is a hang up though. Just like someone here mentioned, it's a hard limit for my BF. He will not be a caregiver, and I respect that limit. However, I don't have a caregiver and I would love one but for respect to my partner it would have to be "online only". If someone was around my area I could possibly get my needs met for those couple of hours.

The other problem is I love to play but I know I wouldn't be able to play in the real world unless I found others of course. It gets incredibly lonely when you don't feel like a part of a group because you don't have a caregiver, have a way to be little 'offline', or like other's have expressed, have items that you use while you're regressed. It becomes disheartening. However, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks likes this.