Riding a bike.
My sister had a horrible bike accident when I was in utero. Quite traumatic for my parents, years of hospital visits, tins of medications, etc. My parents didn’t get me a bike for the longest time, when all the kids younger than me already rode. I wouldn’t really do the work to learn to ride at that time, and as an adult I did try but I just couldn’t get the hang of it.
Dancing - I tried really had but have two left feet. I was kicked out of dance class as a child because I couldn’t do a cartwheel. Tried again in college and was still awful.
Tennis - Dislocated my shoulder my first week and decided it wasn’t for me.
Camping - I can do it but just too hot and buggy.
Cooking - I’m not very good at it and don’t enjoy the process.I do what I have to and that is it.
Gardening - Too hot here most of the time and all my work turns into the plants dying anyway. Black thumb here.
Chess- I’m ok at it but don’t enjoy it. Always thinking of other things I’d rather be doing
So much of my childhood revolved around getting on my bike I can’t imagine not being a bike rider. It DID take me a little extra time to learn to bike as I was pretty clumsy, had poor balance and was literally afraid of everything (falling). But it was the vehicle of childhood right through high school.
But sometimes we don’t miss what we don’t have!
I appreciate this thread. I thought I was the only one not good at skiing- In Colorado I thought every one skis. But I guess the ones that don’t are not on the slopes.
I learned to ski in my 30’s and I think just too late. H learned in early 20’s and is very good at it.
However, I am very good at ice skating which I learning in childhood. H tried it in his 30’s and did not do well.
I was terrible at playing the flute, but was forced to play from 4th grade through 12th grade. Maybe that’s why, to this day, I don’t enjoy the symphony. 
Same here. I grow just-about-maintenance-free herbs and that’s it. I feel bad when someone brings a plant or flowers to our house as a hostess gift. I look sadly at the gift and think, “RIP little plant. You drew the short straw today.”
Hanging out with women…
Man, I struggled with this when I was younger. Maybe it would better be called “hanging out with girls.” I could play games with girls, Barbies or hopscotch or some pretend game, but just hanging out and talking—uh uh. I felt like an alien. The stuff they cared about and talked about was so different from what I cared about and wanted to talk about. Hanging with the boys was easier for a long time.
This got better as I got older. I have made an effort to learn how to chit chat with women.
I think it depends entirely as to what the conversation is about. Typical kid things that drive you crazy? Pretty easy. Talking about common interests? Again, pretty easy. Talk about stuff that you don’t give two flying figs about? Hard.
Cocktail chatter (with people of any gender) is not my strength and something I’ve had to work on over the years, but when I find the right people, real conversations are easy.
I’m 100% with you on this one. I’m all thumbs. Tried as a teen and it just never clicked for me. Felt like a chore rather than something fun.
Swimming. I know it’s a life skill, but I just couldn’t do it. Thankfully, both of my kids were good swimmers. I think they took after their dad. They could rescue me if I should drown.
This is my daughter. She has always had a hard time making female friends. In school they seemed too catty, as a grown up they just don’t share her interests.
Mah-jongg. Don’t like it. Did win a few games but overall am too slow at the beginning which is not good. And I don’t like it.
You know, back in the dark ages we actually had to pass a swimming test to graduate college! This was UNC-CH so not a small place. What it was was treading water for a certain amount of time. Isn’t that odd? Did anyone else have this?
Yeah, I didn’t like it either.
W&L still has the swim test, or at least it did for the class of 2020. I think you had to swim a distance though, not tread water, but I’m not sure.
My kids can’t believe how good my Red Cross swim lessons were in the Midwest in the 70s. We had huge community pools - the main pool was roughly 50mx25 yards with a separate diving area and a separate baby pool. Kids were required to have their swim lesson level patch sewed or pinned to their suits so the lifeguards knew what areas they were allowed to be in.
I sailed through my lessons and passed the last level at age 7. But that entailed not just knowing all 4 competition strokes plus elementary backstroke, but we had to jump in the diving well with a long sleeved shirt/jeans and shoes over our suits. We had to tread water and disrobe throwing the shoes and jeans out of the pool and tie up the shirt and turn it into a floatation device!
In contrast, my kids’ lessons were pitiful in our city. The lifeguards here don’t swim well, and we only have a few small private pools. Hence why I made them join swim team (and ran it for 7 years). My kids and their friends can swim correctly.
Had it as a HS graduation requirement in the 2010’s, but not for college.
Cornell still has a swim test!
Here’s the history of how they started the requirement and the changes over the years. History of Swim Requirement | Physical Education | Cornell University
At Binghamton around 1966, there was a requirement to take three (I think) semesters of swimming if you couldn’t pass the test (which I don’t remember–I was a good swimmer going in). After three semesters of trying, the student could stop. If you passed the test right away, you didn’t have to take a class.
We had to pass a swim test to graduate from high school!
My high school had a pool in the basement. Every student was supposed to have swimming as one semester of gym and needed to pass the swimming test to graduate.
I somehow got very lucky and was never scheduled for gym. I can’t swim and I am deathly afraid of water.