Nice little things people did for you as a child.

[sunshinelollipopsrainbows]

I grew up with just my dad who was abusive and I went into care as a teen. I now have 3 little ones of my own and I often feel a bit lost as I have nothing to emulate. It probably sounds stupid but it's a sore point for me.

What little things did your parents or family do for you that were special or thoughtful which you still remember now?

The most caring thing I remember about my childhood was my mother always having time for me. Time to sit and read a book, no matter how long the story was, time to make chocolate Rice Krispie buns, time to play with me. I'm sure there were loads of times when she had a million other things to do and she was feeling stressed out, but she never showed it. I do try to remember that when I'm feeling tired or stressed out myself.

My mum did nothing kind for us. She thought us having clean ironed clothes every morning was enough.
I would put my DCs clothes on the radiators in the morning, wrap a warm towel round them when they got out of the bath. Cuddle them, read to them. Listen to them when they decide to tell me the things that bothered them about their day, even though I was thinking, "ffs it's bedtime. I'm reading you a story and then I want to go downstairs to relax and watch tv"😂
I think being infinitely patient with them is my idea of the perfect parent. I certainly wasn't that!

@HalfBloodPrincess how lovely, that has brought a tear to my eye. When did all you sisters find out?!?

My dad always used to remove our shoes and socks when we got home from school with freezing feet and have warm toasty socks waiting to be put on. I do that now. He also told great bedtime stories and sang to us at night. Usually old Bollywood songs from the 50 sand 60s 😊

Also warming clothes on the heater and taking us for walks on the canal.

My mum was always busy doing housework for us 6 kids and I don't remember doing much with her. I realise how she devoted her life to looking after our every need but sometimes the washing /dishes can wait and it's OK to do something fun instead. I don't mean that as a criticism at all. We live more child centric lives these days whereas back then children would just fit in with the family.

You sound like a lovely mum. I'm sure you will find little things that are special and meaningful to your children ❤️

Sorry to hear about you childhood OP . Such a nice idea for a thread though. Apart from being bullied at school (like most kids go through at some point) I was fortunate to have a fairly happy childhood. My mum is a very loving mum even now that I am an adult and she sores on her GC. I can remember coming home from school once and my mum had bought me two new jumpers. She laid them out on my bed for me to find when I got home. She wanted it to be a nice surprise. My parents drove us down to Poole in Dorset once. We went to Tower Park and they had secretly packed our swimming things. It was a complete surprise. My mum does an annual Easter egg hunt in her garden for all of the grandchildren. She will hide eggs and little gifts (nothing expensive) for them to find. She has set up a room for the GC to have sleep overs in at her house. She’s made it look really nice with fairy lights draped over the beds, nice bed linen, books and soft rugs. She said to me that childhood is meant to be magical and all about experiences. I read to my children every night before they go to bed. As a little girl I had a hair slide collection (I don’t know what happened to them I need to ask my mum). It’s something I plan to do for my own LG. We used to play I spy a lot on car journeys. I remember my mum stroking my hair. Making home made soup. Making home made biscuits together. Doing arts and craft things together. We had a stock of craft supplies and would do things like papier mache and painting. Just being there and giving them your time will mean the world to them and that is what will matter most.

Sores? Dotes!

My nan would have ya in a Saturday afternoon after our dad collected us but didn’t want to spend time with us. He would go out with his girlfriends and leave us with my nan.
She was lovely. Deluded about my dad, he was golden in her eyes... but she would do so many little things that I will always remember.
She would put my hair in her curlers and paint my nails, let me wear her beads and we would eat jam sandwiches of fresh, crusty bread she would cut with an electric knife.
She thought a cup of tea and hot water bottle would solve all the world’s ills and she would fill a Quality Street tin full of chewits and fruitellas that she would take out of the packets and mix up. It was “nanny’s pick and mix”!
She had lots of funny phrases she would say and her rose garden was her pride and joy. She would let me water the roses with my own watering can and pinch sugar cubes from the cafe so I could feed the horse at the end of her road.
I miss her so very much.

A little picture and message from the tooth fairy.
A warm towel on the radiator on when coming in from a rainy day.
Playing with the jewelry box on rainy days only.
Card games.
Getting a piece of dough to make shapes with.
Junk modeling.

I now have 3 little ones of my own and I often feel a bit lost as I have nothing to emulate. It probably sounds stupid but it's a sore point for me

I know exactly what you mean OP.

When I was little I remember mum taking me and ds blackberry picking and we’d make crumble. But that is it really.

So I try really hard with the dcs to do nice things but it’s really hard as I don’t know what good parenting looks like!!

We were silly poor but some days after school and on the walk home my mum used to buy me a chocolate eclair from the bakery which was my absolute favourite thing in the world. Even though we lived in London she'd always take us to ride the open top sight seeing bus. Super fun!

Thus is a most excellent thread, thank you OP.

It seems, as a PP said, to be the time and care rather than money spent. My mum could be quite firm shall we say, but when she wad kind it was like the sun breaking through. I'd bask in it. I used to ride a horse for a friend's mum and it dumped me everyday. When I got home, everyday day mum would ask where it hurt, have run me a bath, and had my dressing gown in the kitchen waiting for me as I'd usually be cagged in wet mud.

Baking bread with my mum

Mine are mostly from my dad. He listened patiently when I quizzed him from my 'Girl's own encyclopedia' or similar on long car journeys, and showed me the houseplants and how leaves unfurl. He made me listen to hear the water percolating down into the roots - I've never forgotten that. Basically he shared his knowledge with me, not all the time but sometimes at least. It made me feel like he liked me and was glad I was there.

I'm sure my mother tried to do the same sometimes, but it's been somewhat lost amongst all the hour-long critical evicersations or days of sulking.

I try to randomly show love to my two; I remember being distinctly unimpressed with my mother when she would obviously try to make up for a fit of shitness by overdoing the love immediately afterwards, as it was so clear that she was doing it out of guilt. I'd have preferred a cooling-off period and a standalone instance of positive affection the next day, IYSWIM; it would have indicated that she'd made an effort to remember to be nice a whole 24 hours later.

It sounds like you're doing a fab job op

At Christmas and sometimes on my birthday, my uncle (with the help of my parents) would give me the much-loved "helicopter ride", telling me that a little imagination was needed.

My uncle would blindfold me, check that I couldn't see at all, and help me to stand on a chair "step up into the helicopter", and tell me to put my hands on the shoulders of my parents standing beside me. I would be told "we're taking off", feel the chair being lifted up, and my parents' shoulders moving down. I would then hear a commentary "there are fields and tiny houses below you, we're flying over the sea, we're so high, we're touching the sky..." and I'd feel my head touching the ceiling; I believed I really was flying! I was then told that if I was brave, I could do a parachute jump to come down, and jump off the chair. I did this, and it really felt like a long way down!

Because my eyes were covered, I couldn't see how it was really done, but I did find out later. The chair wasn't lifted very high, but my parents would crouch down, so I'd feel their shoulders moving down, making it feel like I was going a lot higher. The ceiling was actually a book lowered on to my head. And when I jumped off the chair, it was actually on the ground, but felt like it was much higher!

I used to put sweets in DS’s coat pocket, known as bus stop sweets, to cheer up the long waits on the way to & from school.

My dad used to take me on my brother on walks down the river in the summer and point out different trees and birds etc and tell us what they were called.
My daughter is tiny now but my husband was telling me he is going to do the same - I hadn't told him that my dad did though

My parents said the same thing every night.
Goodnight, god bless, sweet dreams, I love you.
Every single night.
I say the same thing every night to my girl

letsgomaths that's completely awesome!

What a nice thread OP, you sound like such a considerate mum.
Most of my best memories are also my dad. He noticed me. He would make up stories every night at bedtime and would come watch all my sport days (I wasn't very good). He'd quiz me on my work if I had a test coming up. On Sunday evenings only the 2 of us would go get an ice cream(my sister was invariably on a diet). He would play game after game of chess with me. Gosh I can go on and on. Basically he just always had time for me.

Gardening with grandparents and being allowed to have our own areas to grow what we liked.

Grandma spending ages softening and rolling plasticine into balls when we mixed up the colours and then moaned!

Warm pjs. Eating fish and chips in front of the fire on Fridays.

Having favourite food cooked for us when we came home from uni (this still happens whenever we go "home"!)

My nan used to sneak me in doughnuts and sweets after my school plays in primary school wouldn't advise that one though as someone called the police once as they thought she was a lady peadophile bless her

What I do for my children now is warm up their pjs before bed and I do this thing where I randomly shout who's going to give me a cuddle and they run to me and jump over me I love it

My grandma treated every illn

@PrivateIsles That's lovely about your dad always playing games with you when he got in from work. With blind man's buff, did you have ways to choose who'd be the blind man first?

When DS started school, I put paper kisses in his trouser pockets.

DDad ravelled a lot for work. He used to send us bedtime stories in installments on postcards.