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?

This is a lovely thread - making me feel like crying but also very happy! So many of the little things my mum and dad did are already on here - they were lovely. Probably the best thing was never questioning my choices - I’ve never felt not good enough. They sometimes seem/seemed uninterested but I know they are - they just don’t interfere. Gives a lot to live up to!

My dad would always stop at the shop on his way home from work to get me a little something - it might only be a bubblegum or a pencil but I have such fond memories of him bipping his car horn to say he was back and running to the door to meet him. One day he came home with a beautiful enamel butterfly brooch which I adored. Bothering to stop when he must have been shattered after a hard day's factory work meant the world to me when I was old enough to really think about it. He wasn't an overly expressive man in many ways when I was growing up but this little ritual was lovely.

My beloved auntie - my mum's best friend - wrote me a little poem in every Christmas and birthday card, and inside every book she gave me. I had to dig out a Welsh dictionary recently to help DS with some homework and there was a lovely little verse inside it from thirty years ago.

My mum would leave me surprises in the bathroom to find when I got up for school, just very occasionally. Also little things like socks warmed on the radiator on winter mornings and treats in my lunchbox.

My friend does little celebrations for all aorts of occasions. On valentines the kids wake up to valentines decorations and heart shaped toast, if the teen has an exam there’s confetti on the table, a good luck charm and a message on a light box wishing good luck. She does it for various occasions throughout the year, all super cheap stuff that goes back in a box and comes out year after year.

Mine is probably always having mum there when I got in from school, we would have a drink and a chat about our day. In the winter my parents would pop my duvet on the radiator before I went to bed and then I would get in bed and they would take it off the radiator while I would go ‘fast faster’ as they ‘ran’ to put it on me before it goes cold literally 2 steps, no space for fast walking let alone running!

My dad sometimes wrote poems if I was worried about something, I still have my ‘back to school’ poem he wrote me

Baking with grandma

I loved days out and holidays (even if it's just a visit to the local pond or a haven/pontins holiday). I hold so many of those memories close to my heart. It was always surprises too. We would wake up and go downstairs to my mum, dad, grandma and granddad waiting for us with a picnic and the car packed up! Bacon butties for breakfast in the car on the way there! Followed by our favourite snacks and drinks. We would play games like count the horses/sheep in fields or I spy. We would sing along to the radio. They never complained even if the car journey was hours long.

My mum would come and tuck me in every night and give me a kiss.

She had 3 kids and always made sure we all got special 1 on 1 time. She would take me shopping, my brother to the cinema and my younger sister for meals out.

She made sure my friends felt welcome in our home.

Never forced me to answer questions that I wasn't comfortable with, instead she spoke to me like a person and made sure I knew she was there and I could talk to her about personal things without feeling judged or uncomfortable.

She would let me take time off school if I wasn't feeling myself, and never made me tell her what was wrong. It took a lot of pressure off me and made me talk to her about any issues I was having as I knew she would never use it against me or make me feel silly/weird.

Film nights on a Friday, she would set out bowls of snacks and sit with us all on the sofa with all our duvets and watch a crappy kids film.

She told us all every single day that she was proud of us, she loved us, nothing we did would change that, and we were the most beautiful things in her life.

When i was old enough, my godmother took me out for afternoon tea for special occasions. She also took me to classical concerts and the proms as a teen, which was something we both loved, but my parents didn't, so i wouldn't have got to do it otherwise. It's 20 years on, but I can still remember her smuggling home made food and drink into the royal Albert hall. I never realised she had a rebellious streak until then

The night before my 5th birthday, my mum was taken into hospital very ill. Obviously my dad stayed with her and so on my birthday we went round next door to our neighbours who were probably a bit older than my mum and dad and we always called the "Auntie Jean and Uncle Harry" even though they weren't related. They ended up putting on a little party for me with my brother and I remember them playing party games with us in their house and although I don't remember much about it apart from playing the games, I remember how kind and lovely they were to me.
As Maya Angelou said "people might not remember what you said but they'll remember how you made them feel"

I have a good relationship with my mum now as a grown up but as a child I can't remember her being loving towards me, even when very little. I did have a good relationship with my dad as a kid and he took me everywhere and my best memories are of my dad, he taught me stuff and took me places and was just brilliant. Looking back I think my mum was maybe jealous? I am a mum to three little dc now and I know it can be hard, I don't know if my mum was struggling or not coping in some way so I don't feel able to speak to her about it. Sad though that I can't think of one nice thing that she did for me as a child.