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 🙈

Prawns were a massive deal and were only bought for prawn cocktails at Christmas.
There were some heating vents downstairs but none upstairs, occasionally if it was extra cold the calor gas fire would be put on to take the chill off the bedrooms. It was common to have ice on the windows and I loved the patterns and scraping it off.
Sharing bath water with my sister, and because she was the youngest she went first.
I had to wear clothes 3 times before they were washed, apart from school shirts which were clean every day.

Unlike others, we had fresh fish weekly when the fish van came around. My favourite was an Arbroath smokie which was once a peasant food but is now ridiculously expensive. I now buy fresh fish very rarely because of the price.

We also had tonnes of strawberries and raspberries as well as gooseberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants during the summer because we lived in an area where you could go to the farm and pick your own cheaply.

We only got a video player in 1996. We only got it because someone was getting rid of it because they'd got a DVD player. I think my parents got a DVD player in 2008 when they were getting rid of that too. 🤣

Shower every day now: We had one bath a week hair wash on Sundays.
Hair dryer: Used to dry my long hair by swishing it across the Aladanique paraffin heater.
Cooked dinner in evenings: As I had a cooked School lunch it was unnecessary(apparently) for me to have anything cooked in the evening. We had bread & butter with jam or marmite followed by a slice of cake. My father was allowed four slices, myself two. Got upgraded to four slices when I was about fourteen.
Washing Machine: Everything was washed by hand or boiled in a large tin bucket. I had to wear everything about five times before it was washed on Mondays. My white school socks were always a horrible grey colour.
Alcohol at home: One bottle of Harvey’s Cream Sherry was purchased At Christmas.
Sweets/Chocolate whenever you want: Wednesday was sweet day. My father brought home a quarter of Keilers Butterscotch sweets. These were shared out between my parents & myself. Dad always had extra.

Born early 70s - we never had takeaways - not even fish and chips but we did go to McDonald's
My first Chinese food was at age 22 IN China!!

Christmas Clubs! Mam saved for Christmas every year by joining the local shops’ Christmas Clubs It started each March, she would save each week and the amount would be jotted down in a cash book. She had accounts in the Butchers Baker, GreenGrocers, Newsagents, General GroceryShop. The milkman, the Ringtons Tea man.
The aim was to have £5.00 saved in each shop. If she achieved this by November the proprietors added a bonus, sometimes cash, if not an extra pack of sausages or a cake etc.
Perishable goods were picked on Christmas Eve, apart from the Turkey, that was collected on the 23rd. tinned goods, sweets, drinks, fruit collected earlier but we weren’t allowed to open the Christmas Cupboard until Christmas Eve.
Another thing she did was add extra to her weekly shop, an extra bag of flour, sugar, dried fruit or extra tinned food, biscuits, it was all added together with the Christmas Club haul.
Shops closed for longer over the Christmas period so it had to last.
I got new PJ’s on Christmas Eve and a book pr a penny toy.

My dad: “Why are you talking on the phone for hours? You’ll see your friend at school tomorrow!”

New clothes

Oh yes @LovelyIssues and new shoes... That was huge!

Juice.

Chocolate.

M&S frozen fish.

My dad being kind to me

Chocolate cereals for breakfast

Mum baking, especially chocolate crunch or cupcakes

Snow. We didn't get much where we lived so when it happened it was the best thing ever!

Eating out.

Just for Christmas and birthdays. Instead of any other present.

Actually using the "nice" things.
My entire childhood was soundtracked by mum shouting things like "don't waste your new pens!" when I was just using them for their intended purpose.
Now she has money, and a whole drawer full of perfumes still in their cellophane, jewellery that doesn't see the light of day as she equates using things with wasting them.
To me it is a waste to never use them and let them go off in a drawer. Frustrates me.

We used to get chocolate once a week on a Thursday. I always had minstrels. Now we have a few squares after dinner every day. Crazy times.

Oh this was so my house too, don't wear that that is good wear, food to be kept same with nearly everything. I was like that as well, still have a good few bits like perfume and body moisturizer that is "good" use, but am now using everything when it runs out. Same with my good crystal wine glasses used every weekend