What things were you not allowed as a kid that you can now do to your heart's content?

[BubblesInTheTub]

I know this has been done before but I love these threads.

I'll start:

• We never ever used to have Paracetamol in the house unless someone was actually ill with a cold or the like. I used to have horrendous period pains but pain relief was never available. Now I pick up Paracetamol whenever I'm in a shop (I think I've got about 20 boxes at the moment) and I take it whenever I need to.

• When I was a kid drinks were like food, you got a drink, you drank it and it was finished until the next drink. I've always needed to drink quite a lot and remember always being a bit thirsty as a kid. Nowadays I have a drink constantly on the go - a water/coke/squash just on the table for whenever I need a sip.

• When I was about 12, it suddenly became very uncool to wear a backpack. I used to walk two miles to school loaded up with really heavy shit sitting on one shoulder. Now I'm an adult and don't give a fuck what I look like, I'm happy hiking around town with all my heavy shit loaded up on my back

C'mon tell me yours!

put the heating on.

eat more than one piece of fruit without being called greedy

go browsing in shops just to see what they have.

look at something and admire it without having to check the price first to see if it was "something i could pay attention too"

oi and buy clothes from shops not have it home made

Eating whatever I want, and eating it on a tray in the living room (or in bed). Eating in bed was only if you were ill and eating on a tray in the living room was a very, very rare 'treat', usually because something really special was on the telly. I still remember being thrilled at eating on a tray because the Wizard of Oz was being broadcast.

Being able to set my own sleeping/waking hours. Especially now that I'm retired and NO ONE gets to tell me when to go to bed or get up!

Not having to 'behave' if I don't want to (within reason) because 'what will the neighbours/other people think!.

I love this thread. It's so good to remember how free to make personal choices we are as adults. It's reminded me to be grateful for my life and the ability to choose how I will live it.

Own a cat (or, more accurately, be owned by a cat!)
Eat lunch in a cafe during a day trip, rather than fraying sandwiches from a manky tupperware box
Drink fizzy drinks when it isn't Christmas
Stop to go to the loo on a long car journey
Sit in the front passenger seat of the car
Buy the 'top of the range' version of anything technical (e.g. a CD player) rather than the budget 'this feature may not be available on all models' version.

Having food in the house, lived with an alcoholic mum until I was seven being in a warm house
Cooked onions, my dad hated the smell of them so they weren’t allowed, in anything ever, no garlic or any type of spice either.

Drink as much fruit juice as I like.

I still have to rein myself in.

Beds had to be made perfectly every morning and I wasn't allowed to sit on a made bed - now I enjoy curling up in top of the bed covers & reading the paper -a very small thing but I still enjoy the fact I can do that if I want to!

Not go to church, play with boys toys (I have ds now who has all of the boys toys I wanted as a kid)

Get a taxi when I cba walking

Have a biscuit whenever I want

Leave my dishes in the sink if I need to leave by a certain time and doing them will make me late

Eat meat every day if I want to (never used to be able to afford it)

@GameOldBirdz I also enjoy NOT having the tv on! My parents had it blaring constantly. I never turn it on unless someone actually wants to watch something.

I also still get a thrill from having the heating on during the day. My parents had a coal fire and we could only afford to have it on for an hour in the morning “to warm the house”, then it burned out and wasn’t re-lit until it got dark. Now I can have the gas central heating on all day if I want. Still haven’t got to the point where I feel comfortable turning it up high enough to not need a jumper indoors though - it feels too extravagant!

I'm reading through this thread though and realising just how much freedom I had as a kid and how relaxed and comfortable my childhood was.

I could have a drink if I was thirsty, if it was more than an hour until the next meal and I was hungry I could have a snack, I could wear whatever I wanted provided it was weather appropriate, the house was warm and I got a say in what we ate and if I wanted to make a pillow fort on my bed I was given the cushions and blankets from the living room to use too.

I get why I had such a peaceful childhood now and probably why I never really rebelled. There were no daft rules to rebel against.

The house wasn't the tidiest (or the cleanest if I'm honest) but my overwhleming feeling from childhood is happiness and respect. There was little to no hypocrisy and I think that makes all the difference.

Staying up all night on the PlayStation.

Having hot baths at any time of the day and for as long as I like

Using stupid amounts of loo roll and not getting told off

• Eating an evening meal when it suits me rather than waiting til 8.30pm af the earnest because it’s ‘not done’ to eat earlier.
• Having close, important friendships outside the family. My parents are lovely but they are each other’s best friend and are quite insular.
• staying in hotels rather than tents. I still get excited at the sight of s mini kettle
• pjs all day when I fancy it

Not having to eat dinner at 5pm every night. I can eat at 8pm like a civilised person! And we have an actual dining table so I don’t have to put my plate on my lap.

Buy from vending machines. My dc are allowed to choose from them after weekly swimming lessons but I still hardly ever get anything myself.

Buy an 'inappropriate' coat (short jacket without hood)

Not eat a proper evening meal sometimes! Took dc to the park this afternoon & got home about 5pm freezing cold!! We had hot chocolate & crumpets. Then some nuggets & sausages! All whilst sat on the sofa under a blanket with Harry Potter dvd on - bliss! My dm would have been much more organised & had some sort of proper meal ready to heat up quickly but snacky junk is fine for tonight

This thread has made me think a bit about my own dc's lives. They often share bath water (age 6,8 & 9) & haven't mentioned any desire to have their own. It's always filled high with bubbles etc & gets topped up with hot if anyone spends a bit longer.

I use the same good quality shampoo & conditioner on dd's hair as on my own. Ds's have a nice kids one. Everyone's hair is well cared for. It's also in a style of their choice.

I'd love to have another bedroom so my ds's didn't have to share. We're likely to make this happen within 3 years (they're 6 & 8 at the moment) as I think personal space is important.

I try, whenever possible, to let me dc grow up having the same opportunities as single children. So allowing each to do 3 - 4 activities a week each if they want. This wasn't something that affected me but my friend (1 of 5 children) was always told 'No, because the other 4 will want to do it too.'

Always seemed so unfair as she didn't choose to have so many siblings. I will run myself ragged at times so that each child can do their desired activities. DH does shift work so not always available to spread the load. DM helps out a lot which I'm really grateful for.

Hand me down clothes are an option but never forced or instead of new. I'll often put a bundle of older ds's clothes on ebay & buy new for younger ds. They like different styles/colours/characters but jeans are usually passed down.

Interesting thread!

Slurp the last dregs of a milkshake noisily through the straw (in my own home, at least)
Lick the dish (ditto)
Leave the dishes til the next morning if the evening has been long and social
Buy and make decent coffee
Sleep in sheets that don’t reek of over scented conditioner

Buy lunch out and go out to eat.

Stay in hotels.

Eat more than two biscuits.

Eat biscuits for lunch.

Buy lots of books.

Have the telly off.

Have lamps on instead of the big light.

Not have to tidy up.

Not many to be honest as I wasn't well cared for.

But two come to mind
I don't have to drink milk anymore, it makes me gag.
Emptying my plate, I don't need to do that anymore. Probably why I always let everyone serve their own portions.

On a funnier note. I can now, drink booze, smoke, stay out late, have sex when I please, see my friends when I want, wear what I wish, swear endlessly...

Oh yeah and chose to have no contact with my family. That's the most liberating one.

Have the heating on instead of shivering.
Have central heating.
Have 2 dogs.
Perhaps the biggest thing of all, I was horse mad and always desperate for a horse. My mother did not approve of my riding as I might injure myself and was always saying be careful etc.
When I was mid 40s, DH said "Why don't you buy yourself a horse?". It had never occurred to me I could actually buy one. I did. Marvellous.

Choosing to be a bit untidy. My parents (mum in particular) is mega houseproud. Washing up is never left and everything is put away, straight away.

Oh Christ and eating a sharing bag of crisps to myself

And having peanut butter on toast for dinner

There must be people reading this who brought up their children this way. What do they think, reading it back? And what do you lot think will be said about you in however many years‘ time?

I eat chocolate cereal with absolute glee and still get a cheap thrill picking a box of coco pops off the shelf (which then get hidden at home coz there's no way my own children are eating that crap OBVIOUSLY)

TAKE THAT PARENTS! 🖕🏻

Long showers - DF did something to the water tank so the shower only lasted for 2 minutes. I had to rinse off in the sink with a flannel if I wasn't done in time. It wasn't until they moved 10 years ago that I found out they weren't on a meter so god knows why they felt the need to limit it!

Deodorant- my DM considered it unnecessary as long as you had a 2 minute shower every day.

A warm, clean, comfortable house. DM didn't believe in cleaning or heating. I occasionally give her bathroom a swizz when I visit. She still proclaims 'it's not cold' from under 2 jumpers and a gilet indoors.

A proper haircut at the hairdressers. I had some god awful kitchen scissor haircuts as a kid.

Dresses! I rarely wear trousers having grown up in my brothers handmedowns.

I could go on...

I’m really wondering what terrible things I have inflicted upon my children that they will complain of later in life. There seems to be lots of similar themes here. Wonder if lots of future complaints will be related to online stuff.

Clothes,my Mum had loads when I was growing up,she used to make me help her hide all of the clothes she had bought from catalogues(that my Dad didn't know about)where as I had 1 or 2 outfits,it was really shit and I always felt ashamed and I love clothes and have a really good eye of what goes together.

Now I have lots of lovely clothes,matching underwear sets and lots of bags,shoes and boots,I'm not like my Mum though,I wear all of the things that I buy and I can afford it.

Fruit,for some strange reason my parents treated it like a treat(and they could afford it)in our home we have 2 large fruit bowls always filled with fresh fruit and I can eat fruit whenever I like.

Breakfast and lunch,for breakfast it was either toast or jam on toast,we have about 20 different options for breakfast now/lunch it was a ham sandwich or cheese sandwich now there's so many choices in our home it can take me a while to choose.