"I also remember when I was little we were told to find a mum for help if we were lost or when out when a bit older and needed help. You couldn't do that nowadays in most city centres 😮"
In the 70s/80s we were told to come home for dinner/before nightfall. That's it. Parents had only a vague idea of what their kids were up to. I find it said that the world has changed so much that our kids are way more confined.
On a funny note though. When ds was about 4. I was picking him up in kindergarden (peak time, changing room full) and he was fussing with getting dresses, lost my temper and told him that he will get a slap in the face (in native language doesn't contain the word face or any other body part). And my son screamingly jumped on the benches
"Mummy, can I have it now!?!" with a beaming face.
Half the room burst out in laughter, other half hang their heads in shame.
Never left said kid anywhere by accident, but i did have a tendency of putting things on the car top before getting in. I drove kms with 2 cans of beer once. A lad at the red light pointed it out
And I also almost got jailed for sheer stupidity. Had a generic car, dime a dozen. 2x years ago, so manual lock. But the lock was a bit iffy and you had to force it a bit, especially in minus conditions.
Went to a city center xmas fair. Bought millions of small things. Got to my car -or so I thought- put many bags down and just wanted to get home. Lock was acting up, and I got pissed on garage not having a time for me sooner. So I forced it open. Only to find that it was not my car.
Called the police, waited for the owner, paid for everything. Thank god the guy was nice and didn't press charges, but it was touch and go for a bit.
My mum had a habit of getting into other ppls cars. We once had a sports car that is very uncommon in europe. Even the color was not the most common (metallic sunburn-ish). My mum still managed to get into a sedan renault megane by mistake. I will never understand this! :)