Things your parents led you to think were 'special' or 'expensive' that you now take for granted?

Buying clothes that fit. I got one school skirt when I went to secondary school, bought god knows how many sizes too big so it would last me the duration. On my first day my mum rolled up the waistband and put big kilt pins in it to secure it, so it wouldn't be sweeping the floor. How I hated that skirt.

I grew up in South Africa in the 80s, any nice food was a treat.

I can remember every pay day (which was monthly) we’d each get a yoghurt, a packet of crisps and a can of fizzy pop. Loved that.

My mother was a chef so food wise we ate well on left overs. My uncle a gardner and many fruit and vegetables came.from his wast garden. Mum close friends with a fisher man so food we always had in abundance. I as a child tasted many things my friends had never heard off. Treats were also always available as was fruit and veg. Mother very much saw food as a way to show and express her love. Even now nearing 50 i struggle with leftovers due to having them so much as a child. Dh loves them and the kids eats them too. I have scrambled eggs.

Clothing however was almost always homemade or second hand. I had very little in terms of toys and only what was needed for clothing. Shoes were bought as cheap as possible a shoe shop was not until i was late teenager. I have terrible issues with my feet now i am sure this has contributed. Special shampoo or bath stuff was a no go. Own brand stuff wpild do just fine. Heating was not needed above 18C i can remember my stepdad telling me it was not cold as the hoise eas 17C. I have the heating on as much as I or the children want.

Coke/fizzy drinks, we only had them at parties and when eating out (usually a once a year treat to somewhere like Pizza Hut). Today I drink close to a litre a day of Diet Coke

Takeaways, my parents still don't get them

Chocolate from vending machines

Buying anything to eat/drink while out

Getting new clothes unless you'd visibly grown out of everything you had (and even then the response was, can't they manage with what they have a while longer?). I didn't get to choose my own clothes, or buy more than one new item at a time, until I got my first job.

Archery

My mum was having none of it. We even had a mini oven attached to the big one, ideal for such cooking, but no ...

I remember the power strikes, and does anyone remember the bakers strike?

Mum was baking dozens of loaves each week, not just for us, but for my working aunts' families too. They all contributed costs.

I remember fizzy stuff and buying ice creams was something saved for special occasions, and eating out was so very rare.

LaLaLandfill we had baked potatoes a LOT, as if you have a big family then it's worth putting the oven on, as you can cook a LOT of carbs all at once, and it makes a cheap meal at that scale. (Still had to stick a fork in each of them to cook the insides quicker, though, and remember not to use the same fork when you went to dish up.)

My parents took me to a Little Chef for my birthday treat once. I’ve always been cheap date 😑

My mum would never let me have baked potatoes, as it was too expensive to turn the oven on just for one spud ... going to SpudULike was an annual treat

She now denies this

MumOfTwo none of my DC have ever asked for a toy/treat when out, they learnt very quickly that sweets are puddings only and small toys are a reward on a Saturday for whatever behaviour we're trying to improve.

All of the above! Central heating, Vienetta, individual shampoo, holidays. Also wine which DM now consumes by the bucketload and cotton buds for some reason. I remember being aghast at a friend who decadently used one cotton bud per ear instead of using both ends of the bud.

We didn’t really have any money in a one parent working family and horrendous mortgage rates, so anything was a luxury. We had a foreign holiday and presents at Christmas/birthdays but I would NEVER ask for a toy/treat when we were out or get to dictate what went into a shopping trolley.

I hate to this day buying ridiculously overpriced food/drinks from services/on days out and what I consider to be ‘tat’ toys.

Little Chef was properly gross. I don't think the lollies were only if you finished your plate, the staff never cared, but my dad wouldn't let us have one unless we had :( I hardly ever did because I used to leave the disgusting bits. Meanie.

I was going to say Viennetta as well.

Also new shoes.

sinceyouask - "the sort of profligate behaviour that would lead to ruin" exactly that!

since my parents house is like a sauna now too! As soon as I moved out they had radiators put in all rooms, including my bedroom which didn't have one for the 21 years that I lived there.

Cedar I remember the power cuts and the rush to get the candles from under the sink. Such a fire risk as we didn't have candle holders and had to drip melted candle wax onto a saucer and then the candle would be stuck in that. It's something that's stayed with me as I keep a box of white household emergency candles in the cupboard in the utility room!

'Mineral' water (this is what my DM called any type of bottled water). I mean, I avoid bottled water even now- we have taps! We do not need to buy bottles of water if we aren't out and about and very hot and thirsty!- but my dc do not, as my brother and I did, regard mineral water as the height of sophistication and something only very posh people had.

Anything from a vending machine, ever. It was my DM's firm belief that buying from a vending machine was the sort of profligate behaviour that would lead to ruin. Also, things from a vending machine were likely to kill you.

Turning on the heating (once we'd moved to a house which actually had heating) before ice had started regularly forming on the windows. Which is odd as my parents now live in a fucking oven and complain that my house is painfully cold.

Vienetta. In the first 12 years of my brother's life we had this twice. Both of us remember it in greater detail than any Xmas, birthday or holiday that took place in those times.

Toiletries for each person rather than everyone sharing the same soap/ shampoo. I still get a bit of a thrill out of having my own shampoo :)

I don't need bird music, just lollipops!

My dh refused to get the kids dunkin donuts when we stopped off at a services on the way back from a holiday at haven because as he said we could buy a bag of donuts for a pound from Asda I hope they don't feel as resentful of us as they get older

They were delicious and exciting Margo!

Your Dreams really did come true

I don't know x2boys, we don't have a car.

What a shame x2. I forgot the other thrilling feature of the one on the A3, is bird music in the loos. I honestly don't think I could have asked for more, from a place I'd always wanted to go to as a child.

It appears the nearest one is about 20 miles away