What was a HUGE deal in your house growing up that is normal for you now?

[Bakingmamma]

Various things in my house.

A big one was baking. Although we
usually had the things in the house, wanting to bake was such a big deal and we could only do it on special occasions. Possibly did it once or twice a year.

I’m not talking about big extravagant bakes either! I’m talking about 12 bog standard cupcakes with some basic icing on!

It was only when I reached adulthood that I realized I could cook some basic cupcakes in 20 minutes and it wasn’t a big deal at all.

It takes longer to do a load of washing!

What was a huge deal in your house that you’ve now normalized for your own children? I can’t be the only one 🙈

Also, going to blockbuster on Saturday to pick the family film.

This included accounting for everyone's preferences, whether or not they had a copy for hire or someone else had got there first, and in my very early childhood, did they have a copy on betamax.

I love this thread. Most of mine have already been said but follows the general theme of things needing lots of planning, discussion with friends and neighbours before doing or buying anything. We weren’t rich but definitely had enough money to live a reasonable lifestyle.

Ikea didn’t exist but we never would have gone. Going to the Big Supermarket.
Going into the loft was also a big deal.
Getting any house repairs done - would need to consider if it could be a DIY job (which required months of planning and prepping) or asking if someone else could help (probably for no money).
Getting a taxi
Generally paying for any services like cleaning, car washes, seamstress, car repairs.
Broken small appliances were neither repaired nor thrown out, they just kind of sat there just in case. I reckon if my mum bought a new kettle or toaster nowadays she’d still need to let me know.
Getting anything from the Gift Shop
Computers obviously had to be shared as a family and needed parental intervention and approval to be able to use it. Obviously no drinks or snacks to be within 500 metres.
Generally drinks or snacks were not allowed except for apples.
One portion of popcorn at the cinema to be shared among the whole family. Definitely no drinks, even if we were parched.
We used to do quite a lot of baking compared to now, but it was still a big deal.
Going out for dinner. Definitely no starters and we needed two levels of sign off to be allowed an adult sized portion even when we were big enough.
General fear of waste, I still hate waste today but try not to let it dominate our lives.
Certain types of cars were seen as fancy, now I don’t really bat an eye at anyone’s cars, they all look the same to me.
Doing painting or craft - we wouldn’t be allowed any new supplies and, oh, I tend to buy reams of A4 paper for my DC to write and draw on rather than making them use scrap paper. And I do throw away felt tips once they don’t work very well.

@bruffin you would have been the height of sophistication. I bet that is a lovely desirable property to this day.

We always had old computer paper to draw on, with perforated strips up the side. God forbid we had actual drawing paper!

Oh yes, I remember that paper, one of my friend’s families always had stacks of it for drawing!

yep. the one with white and green stripes. in a weird square format.

Salads

Smoked salmon

Steaks.

Nothing at all actually. Not that I can think off???

Well I don't hit my kids / say cruel words / I hug them / tell them I love them.

My dad brought this stuff home and we loved it! Could use the lines for writing and stick lines of it together to cover whole walls, was great!
I went on to do a degree in Fine Art and be an artist, so can't have been all bad.

Cream. A rare and expensive treat. Ditto butter. Margarine all the way. 'Cream' cakes used to be filled with a vile mix of marge and sugar whipped together, a version of this horror was followed onto our school dinner jelly or blancmange. Shudder to think of it. 1960s.

I feel the opposite of a lot of posters. As a kid we had far more holidays, takeaways, meals out, trips to amusement parks, theatre, cinema, horse riding lessons, summer camps, afternoon teas with homebaked (by us kids and my DM) cakes, doing lots of crafts.

The house was bloody cold though. I can remember not being able to stretch my feet down the bed it was so icy. We wore a lot of hand-me-down clothes but so did everyone and it was no big deal. My neighbour was a few years older and had very cool clothes - converse hi tops in the early 1980s which no one else had, and some very cool check shirts which in my head I called 'farm girl' shirts, and loved! My style has not evolved much from those times. My mum also made a lot of our clothes - they were more hit and miss especially if she got experimental with fabrics and patchworking!

My house is warm thank goodness, but I think I seriously need to up my parenting game! Although DH and I do similar jobs to my parents who both worked fulltime, they had paid off their mortgage quite early and maybe had more disposable income.

hardly any TV was allowed in our house. we lived in various places in North America and we were allowed very very little telly. now I watch LOADS of brilliant telly but have only just allowed myself to watch TV in the day guilt-free despite being disabled and unable to work.

My childhood was very similar really. We lived in a detached executive new build house with a burgundy corner bath and gold taps. My Mum had her own car, a cream Mini Metro with the red seat belts and had her hair done every week at the smart hairdressers on the high street. Every Saturday night my Dad and her would get dressed up and go to a dinner dance somewhere in town. Or they would host a dinner party and my Mum would cook something from Delia Smith and use her prized hostess trolley. It was all quite glamourous and very Abigail's Party to be honest.

But I'm much more easy going and respectful with our DCs. They're allowed to lie in until mid afternoon if they want and I wouldn't dream of opening their post or sneaking through their private stuff. I never guilted them into spending time with me or slagged off every single one of their partners either.

Days out with Dad.
Mum's baking - usually at weekends
Sunday tea - twice baked jacket spuds
French stick with Pate or fish paste, crumpets!

Actually non of it is normal now!! But I miss it! Miss my parents too!

Also, going to blockbuster on Saturday to pick the family film.

Friday night for us! Although Mum and Dad did not go out much they never seemed to be around when we watched a video which is weird because Dad being a typical bloke did rather take over the tv!

Going swimming. When I was about 12 my DF used to take me early on a Sunday morning, but before that a trip to the nearest pool involved all sorts of fuss.

Going to the beach. Admittedly we were the London end of Surrey so not exactly on the coast, but beach visits only ever happened on holiday when the weather was good, the wind was fair and Jupiter was on the ascendant, and we always had to have the swimsuits, the towels, the picnic, the picnic blanket…With my DCs it was a question of chucking everything into the boot and driving, having made the decision on the fly early that morning.

Every bloody Saturday was Chine takaway for lunch. I hate Cantonese!! Now if it had been Schezuan that would have been fine by me! But of course in those days it was bog standard pork balls in batter with sweet sour sauce UGH!

Does anyone remember that cooking butter that came in? It was cheap and our arteries must be thanking us for it!!

Looking back I am amazed that we virtually never went to the beach. As a child I grew up with this idea that the beach was a very long way away. It was just about an hour tops. I only realised as an adult as we went a handful of times when I was a young child and every car journey felt long.

Reading this thread also reminded me how big deal was going to church in my house. My mum would guilt trip us and dad and it also backfired massively, as PP mentioned, so we could high five there.

Going to the Offy (Off Licence).

Dohh- I’ve just realised the meaning of the name !

It was an ad-hoc, spur of the moment decision and everyone had to either say what they wanted of get in the car immediately. I remember it involving lots of wine & crisps & nuts 😁

No other shopping was allowed on an Offy trip.

Not me but my grandparents. My patrician, pop-hating, classical music obsessed grandfather thought all TV was ‘rrrabeesh’ and his grudging concession to the 1970s came in the shape of a clapped out black and white telly with two and a half channels and an indoor aerial that worked when it wanted to. Watching anything turned into a performance even on BBC. And the number of times I missed the Muppets because they were on ITV (still bitter).

Soon after he died in the mid 80s my parents bought my grandmother a (modest, but functioning) colour television. She happily became an EastEnders fan despite her relatively limited English. I think she really liked Neighbours as well. 😂

Oh yes, I’d forgotten about attending church 🤦‍♀️ I was confirmed at age 11 and then saw the vicar telling my teenage sister she’d grown up nicely while staring at the boobs.

My mother was horrified when I refused to go the next week.

How can it destroy your hair and scalp? You wash various bit of your body everyday without any side effects.