If you grew up in 70s/80s what things did you do which would be unimaginable these days.

[newlabelwriter]

Just thinking about this. When I was about 9 my friend and I used to go around knocking on our neighbours doors to see if we could pick dandelions (or something similar) for her pet rabbits. Seems such a random thing to do and obviously v v young to knocking on doors to go into their gardens!

It says a hell of a lot about the many good times this enabled - today - 50 years later I am still good friends with 6 houses from then. Many came to our wedding and 25th anniversary. I love them all!! Best friends and seen most in last year. Special special memories. Attending a surprise 70th this weekend for one.

MAIN reason being we lived on a brand new Barrett’s estate cul de sac in Harrogate -Only from age 6 to 11. We were all brought together by the shocking building standards (clearly from these threads because they were built by children!) .. one front door was put in inside out. I often wandered to go and befriend many families and walk babies. XXX WE ALL ALWAYS LOOKED AFTER EACH OTHER -xx

Hardly know my neighbours now..

@SmallElephant

Walking to school with only my brother when I was 4 and he was 5. It was very close, but did involve crossing two roads (London).

Same, although in Glasgow.

I know it’s been occasionally in my nightmares but I’m sure I was safe - clearly the staff knew then!!!! Most shockingly couldn’t stop it - bless them for trying

@Annabelle69 x

Seat belts were not compulsory in the back of the car until I was 18. I’m a nanny and my first charge had a wooden high chair that had 2 pieces, we put the top in the car and had the legs wedged down the back of the seat and the back of the high chair was tied around the back seat with bungee ropes. He bounced around happily. My dad decided it wasn’t a good idea and put a harness made from seatbelts from the scrapyard and a ‘booster’ seat which was very sturdy.

Out for drives with cousins and auntys and uncles. 9 times out of 10 one of the cares broke down and we would have 2 families in the car on the way home (5+ children, youngest 6 months, 2 large dads, 2 mums and between 3 and 5 dogs!)

Uncle had a large van, 3/4 dads squashed into 3 (bench) seats in the cab and anywhere between 5 and 12 children in the back with blankets/cushions, the dogs and bikes in the back. Going to Burnham Beeches and going off road so the children got bounced all over the van. Lovely memories of us crying with laugher! Yes we did usually ended up bruised but we got bruised climbing trees, fences or walls.

Being left in the pub garden (actually the car park with about 3x3 meters of dead grass and a tree trunk balanced on a larger tree trunk to clim on) for around 2 hours with a packet of crisps and both of coke each while our dads had a drink or 4.

Mum regularly drove dad to work at 11pm and we were asleep 25/30 minute round trip. I woke up twice, must have been woken by doors shutting and thought they had left us. I was 8 when we left that house (Dad got a job with accommodation attached) so my siblings would have been 6 and 2 and under when they left us alone.

On the subject of seat belts, because my car didn't have seat belts in the back - it was a VW beetle- I could get 5 people and a dog in the back at a push, so I was always tge designated driver when we went to the pub, which was in the next village with no other means of access except walking 3 miles there and 3 miles home.
I also help my friend move house, carrying her furniture on the roff with straps tied inside the car through the windows. Great car, great days.

'Smoking' candy cigarettes, nibbling the end to make them go smaller and pretending to blow out smoke on a cold day.
Imagine groups of young children all stood round taking drags on fake cigarettes.

Goodness so true - shame people haven’t learnt from it at all in a whole generation. I was once taken into hospital and immediately came out in German measles - they kicked me out before I infected everyone!!

@Sparklingbrook

Ringing the phone box at a certain time to speak to my friend and hoping nobody was in it making a call. Then once I was speaking to her a queue would form outside it.

Ringing up random people in the phone box to say : is Mrs Wall there? Is Mr Wall there?

“No Walls here sorry”

“What’s holding your house up then?!!”

3 rings to let your mum know you’re safe

Hitch hiking 😱😱😱😱😱

Also reverse charge phone calls. How to make yourself very unpopular.

Not wear a seat belt in a car. Light cigarettes on the stove for adults, teachers smoking in the school, going to teachers houses outside of school, get a good hiding, play on construction sites, go outside to play until its dark out of parents sight. Accept sweets/soft drinks from strangers (any adult could offer kids water from their kitchen windows on a hot day but usually one of the kids knew the adult) playing out. Pick up younger siblings from primary school whilst your in primary school and wait for parents to come home from work. Racial insults or calling someone fatty was normal. Husbands beating wives was normal and police only came to settle the man for a bit then left him to it. Bring loads of suitcases on flights and smoke on the flight. Claim benefits from several addresses, change schools at drop of a hat many times, tell boss to stick job up his arse then get new job in less than half hour, have several council flats in different boroughs the list goes on!

When I was about 4 or 5 (so about 1970) some girls knocked on our door saying it was bob-a-job week and asked DM if she had any jobs to do.

She said yes, take my little girl to the park - which was a few streets away!!!!

They took me but I was panicking about these things floating in the air that looked like giant spider webs. I still don't know what they were, they were about two feet long, floating in the air like big white pieces of cloth. They were floating near me when I was on the climbing frame. I screamed so much the girls had to take me home.

Calling all mum and dads friends uncle and Aunty. I’m 53 and still call my best friend at junior school’s mum Aunty, haven’t seen her for about 35 years but mum sent birthday and Christmas cards every year.
Mum died late November 2020 and I can’t remember sending cards that year.
Dad died July 2021 and I opened the card from her, sent a card back and told her about mum and dad, she sent a letter back with her telephone number. I called them, she picked up the phone and I said ‘Hello Aunty xxxxx’! It was natural to say it.

One of my earliest memories is riding in my parent’s two seater car that had no seatbelts and a zipper convertible top. My mom would put down just her side to keep me protected from the sun.

Being 10 years old and in charge of my 6 year old sister all summer while my parents worked. We would watch soap operas and go swimming unsupervised.

Babysitting someone else’s 6 week old baby when I was 12 years old.

Babysitting late into the night when I was 13.

As a seven or eight year old I used to wheel my little sister’s mothercare pram 2 miles to the local hardware store with a massive plastic container. The man in the shop used to fill it up with paraffin, lift it back into the pram and I used to wheel it home.

I also used to buy my mum and dad’s 20 Benson and Hedges from the local newsagents at the same age. Quite shocking thinking about it now.

@zafferana

When I was a young DC (under 4) I'd stand by the gate and talk to anyone who was walking by on the path. I apparently knew everyone who regularly walked by our house and would tell my DM they were my friends. My DM apparently hadn't a clue who they were, so she obviously wasn't keeping an eye on me

I did this, but back in the sixties.

Our garden was at the side of the house on a main road. When I was a toddler, I would stand at the garden gate and talk to anyone who walked past. The trouble was that we lived opposite a bus stop, so I would call out to people waiting for a bus and they would cross the road to talk to me. According to my DM, I even caused some people to miss their bus!

Got a grant for uni ! No such thing as loans or tuition fees

Wafting round dodgy areas of London at 13/14 late at night going to gigs and that getting last tubes homes.

Laughing off getting flashed as that's just something that happened and you dealt with it.

Lots of dubious parenting on these threads looking back - think some things have definitely changed for the better.

Had to do sewing and cooking at school, not the boys though
Got served in the pub at 14
Hitchhiked everywhere
Smoked in the car
Pierced our own ears with darning needles

Lots of dubious parenting on these threads looking back

In hindsight and thinking about the way things are now some of the parenting is a bit shocking but it was just the way it was back then.

I need to ask my parents how it went from no ITV/sweets/pop to letting me go clubbing at 15. I keep asking my two why they aren't going clubbing.

@Tillymintpolo

Got a grant for uni ! No such thing as loans or tuition fees

Got a grant to go to a polytechnic!

Is it dubious parenting? Or have children lost a huge amount if freedom and joy and pleasure. Children have so much less autonomy to play with their friends now. Hard as I try I feel like my 9 and 7 year old get almost no chance to play freely with friends.

It's a huge huge loss. Yes some of it was veering on dangerous but most of the free play described here was a joyful and special childhood that is gone now while kida go on indoor organised playdates or sit watching their x box

@NeverSurrender

Going in the phone box and ringing directory enquiries and asking for the number for famous people 😂 also biking round checking for change in them!

I used to do this