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!

*smoked

Drink Lucozade. DM claimed it was medicine and meted it out in such small measures that the final 3rd was flat

Soft toilet paper, not cut up squares of newspaper.

Having a shower every day and instant hot water, not boiling a kettle for the tin bath, which the whole family of 8 had to share on a Sunday evening, one after the other with grey scummy water by the end (boke).

Buying new clothes and shoes, not hand me downs that were always too big, to grow into.

Brushing my teeth and going to the dentist.

Because of this, DCs always have the correct kit / uniform and are able to go on school trips and have out of school activities and hobbies.

Go on holiday, UK and abroad. Often five star and business class, because we can.

Therapy has helped. And I thank my parents for showing me how not to behave, and move on.

Vegetables that aren't boiled to mush and actually have flavour and a nice texture.

Takeaways!
I can count on one hand the number of times 4 of us (3kids, 1adult) shared a small portion of chips from the chippy as a child.
Now we have a papa johns every payday and I love it!!!

Flat sheets
My mum would insist on us all having a fitted sheet (obvs) but then also a flat sheet over us in bed before the duvet.
As a grown up in my house, I refuse! It’s fitted sheets and duvets, nothing in between.

Ironing
My mum used to spend every Sunday ironing- alllllll day. Bedsheets, tea towels, pants, everything. We never went anywhere or did anything, it was so dull.
I couldn’t tell you where I keep my iron or even what colour it is!
It’s liberating! Life is too short.

Dogs
My mum always thought dogs were too dirty- nothing against them otherwise.
I have 3 dogs and my daughter never gets ill. I believe in ‘good’ germs!

My house isn’t dirty, we don’t sleep in squalor and are very well presented. I think my mum worried too much about what other people thought and spent -wasted- so much time giving herself extra work -ironing, drying extra bedding etc
A lot of it was to do with money which I understand as we live on a very tight budget, but she had too many self sacrificing behaviours that really weren’t necessary. I can see why she was like it, I love her dearly but it wasn’t healthy. I have no weekend memories from my childhood with my mum other than folding the ironing and wishing the clock would tick faster.

Lots of anything. Had to compete/fight/stash stuff for it to be mine.
As an adult, i demand more personal space than normal, i overeat and i still hide things.

I can go barefoot, whenever I want, without being continually told to put on slippers. I only wear them now because I am getting old and my feet are cold, but I love the feeling of being barefoot.

I can cut my sandwiches into triangles, apparently that was too fussy and only for parties. Seems like such a weird thing to care about. I had a friend however who wasn’t allowed to fold bread to make a one slice sandwich, she had to cut the bread in half, otherwise it was the high of bad manners. I have never met anyone else who cares, or even notices how one makes a sandwich.

I can eat when I like, rather than being forced to eat breakfast. I don’t want to eat until lunch time. I still get the look when I go down to stay, and decline.

I can wear nail varnish, even if it is chipped and scruffy.

Oh, and I can have a bath, without having to declare the need, switch on the water heating, and then run said bath exactly half an hour afterwards, so that the immersion could be switched back off. And the bath is more than 4 inches deep, and I can top it up with extra hot if I want.

Constantly have a drink on the go also now, even if it's water. Sometimes I'll have a juice water and tea or coffee all "on the go" at once

Putting sugar or sweetener in hot drinks

More than 30 mins on technology

Going to the doctor when you are anything other than dying

Being late sometimes (parents were pathologically early)

Reading more than one book at once

Startingn more than one task before finishing it

Thanks @TeaAddict235 and @GoopWrithing that's very interesting. I was wondering if it was British because we're known for being reserved; especially compared to Latin families. And children were definitely of lower status a few decades a go. You get the impression from Latin/catholic countries that children are more cherished. But that's just my impression.

I can leave the house with bare legs! My mother insisted that only “working girls” (NOT meaning girls with jobs) didn’t wear “hose” at all times.

Decent shampoo and conditioner (I always had something cheap from the market and that was watered down....my hair was awful).

Mayonnaise! They had it in the house but it was only for adults... I left home at 18 having never eaten mayo in the house, if I visited I still wasnt allowed any as “in this house you are a child”....

So many silly rules...

Thought of some more....

Not brushing my teeth before I get dressed. Wasn’t trusted not to cover myself/clothes in tooth paste so the order of getting ready was dictated to us. As a grown up I purposely get ready in a different order. But she was right, I still often end up having to change after covering my clothes in tooth paste.

I’m a clothes hoarder- I never had new clothes as a child. Can’t seem to throw clothes away now or even send them back if they don’t fit
🙄

Holidays
As a child we never went anywhere on holiday. Ever. My mum gets INCREDIBLY stroppy and a little bit crazy if I book to take my daughter away and has even tried to sabbatage holidays so that we can’t go (moves passports, refuses to feed cats an hour before we leave despite months of agreeing in advance and always feeding her friends/siblings/neighbours/work colleagues pets). A lot of this is jealousy, though she’s very different if my siblings go anywhere- that she actively encourages. It’s all very odd.

Bare feet- love having bare feet, was never allowed as a child.

Swearing
My mum hates it. I swear loads. Not in front of children or inappropriately, but if I stub my toe, I swear. If someone nearly smashes into my car, I swear. If I’m exhausted and everything is going wrong, I swear.
She tells me I’m common. I tell her it’s a sign of high intelligence. Drives her mad.

It's funny that as a child the things I had I don't allow my dc to do. E.g. Leaving heating on, immersion heater for longer than necessary and I really loathe eating in restaurants as I can't enjoy the meal as I am mentally totting up what it would cost me to make at home. Also really resent paying for tea/coffee outside.

@FoulMouthedMotherFigure I like the "rushing into the shop to buy flip flops" that you did!

I was not allowed to have branded trainers (too expensive, and I might outgrow them), or to wear any shoes without socks, including sandals. Now I have a vast collection of Reebok/Nike/Adidas, which are frequently on my bare feet.

Canyouhear, do u think your children will remember those restrictions in a similar way as many posters here do?

Having the heating on before it's got to the point where you're wearing two jumpers and a coat and are still cold. I vividly remember having to argue to have the heating put on in January when my hands had gone so numb I could no longer write my homework.

Having more than one pair of shoes - until I was about 11, I had School Shoes and nothing else, not even trainers, and School Shoes were to suffice for every activity. I dreamed of owning trainers, or jelly shoes with heels like my best friend from primary school!

Not buying clothes from charity shops.

Dairy products - DM was a vegan for years, before it was cool. She did not have the culinary skills to make it a pleasant experience.

Buying coffee when out of the house

Halloween - "an American import" and thus banned. My dearest wish every October was to go trick or treating. I've never managed to fulfil it as you can't very well go as an adult with no children...

Takeaway deliveries - to this day, on the very rare occasions that DF gets a takeaway he'd still rather drive to the takeaway and wait than have it delivered, even when the delivery charge is less than the mileage.

Washing towels - DF harboured a bizarre belief that if you ever washed towels they lost all their absorbency. You can imagine the state of them after a few months. By the age of 12 I saved up my pocket money, went to primark and bought a set that I could do with as I pleased.

Make a mess

Have the heating on and the windows open

Use the tumble dryer

Put the tea bags in a plate or mug had to go straight in the bin

Leave the bed unmade

Leave the curtains open at night (I like to be woken with sunshine and birds in my window not a closed curtain)

Wear pyjamas during the day

Take regular breaks

Drink caffeinated drinks

Drink milk or juice straight from the carton

Use instant gravy or eat instant noodles (apparently pot noodle was synonymous with abuse)

Sleep with the hall light on

Take more than ten minutes in the bath or shower

Play music loudly

Take antihistamine for anything other than an anaphylactic reaction (hay fever was invalid apparently)

Use biological washing powder.

Use fabric softener of any kind.

Let the alarm go to "snooze"

"You get the impression from Latin/catholic countries that children are more cherished. But that's just my impression." @tobee I agree, but man, the nagging that goes on in those cultures. Deary me. Like being in Italy/Spain/France in April on a hot day, the kids are still dressed in puffer jackets, a snood, a hat and maybe waterproof trousers in Germany. Because they are all PFB or only FB. The British kids are running around with t shirts and might have warm trousers on, might not.

Eat in the street, watch ITV, wear skirts more than 2” above my knee.

Wear make up, ride a bike.

Eat lamb that’s pink & veg that haven’t been reduced to slime.

I'm really surprised that so many of mine have already been said - maybe my parents weren't that weird....
Have long hair, too curly, too much trouble. And, I suspect, too wild looking.
Wear make up. Not appropriate
Wear jeans. Male clothing, not appropriate. Of course, I live in them now.
Shout. Swear. Move quickly. Slam doors. Be excited or angry. Turn the fucking tap on too hard. All of these and more would result in pained wincing.
Chew gum.
Have a warm house.
Read at the table
Read all night, if I wish.
Have loads of butter.