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.
Semi-defrosted ones were served at Christmas (usually because Mum forgot to get them out in time).
It wasn't until I started work in London in 1983 that I tasted the delights of a prawn mayo sarnie, or any dish that wasn't prawn cocktail.

i remember there was no shower growing up, so strip wash/bath twice a week. or more often if wanted. i never did.
i think we might have got a shower attachment when i was older
a daily shower fo rme is absolutely the norm.

Spontaneous days out to anywhere that wasn't a local bus ride away were simply not a thing when I was growing up. My Dad passed his driving test in the late 60s when I was a toddler, and had a couple of goes at being a car owner, but the cars he could afford were very much of the old banger variety, and died within months of purchase. He gave up on the cars and bought himself a motorbike for travelling to work. I'd left home before another, more resilient vehicle joined the household.

A bath later than 8pm at night. My mum still thinks this is strange. Plus leaving the house after having said bath. Never happened when I lived at home.

Meat….eating it….smelling it being cooked…….went veggie @15. My family ate it at every meal.

Central heating..we didn’t have any
TV, we had one but my parents didn’t approve of it on much. Couldn’t randomly just turn it on, there had to v3 something you specifically wanted to watch. Watch with mother was OK😁

Takeaways other than chips. Never had one. Ever. Mainly because we couldn’t afford them and also because my dad was strictly meat and two veg and spag bol.

I was so embarrassed when I went to a fiends house at 13 and they were getting a Chinese delivery. I didn’t know what Chinese food was. They showed me the menu and I just didn’t know what to do. Her parents took the piss, it was awful.

Getting a haircut. I went to the hairdresser once as a child, I'm not sure what prompted that singular visit. I had to beg to be taken again when I was 15, and so much fuss was made about the expense (I paid for it myself) and the ongoing cost of having a hairstyle. Getting my hair cut and coloured every few weeks is my favourite treat to myself now.

A drive out.
We hardly ever had a car.
Also meal out.

At the risk of sounding very stupid, what age is everyone who is replying on this thread? The things listed are making it sound like the 1950's? I grew up in Canada in the early 80's and most things listed on this thread were very normal for me. This thread makes it seem like a very different world here than it was there. The examples are closer the examples my dad would tell us about his childhood in the 50's.
Baths? What's the issue? We had baths / showers every day?

Midlands in industrial bit hard by Thatcher 80s working class - going into my teens 90s.

I didn't go aboard till an adult - though IL took DH aboard and they were also very working class but there were just three of them.

I suspect baths/shower was partly hand over form DP upbringing and heating would be cost as frankly it has been this winter for us.

Pop got more frequently for us in 90s - rare treat before usually Christmas and Easter and possibly birthdays.

Same, that crushing realisation and shame of poverty
I remember being round friends house, drawers with manus and they ordered takeaway regularly
The friend and family were agog that I’d never had a takeaway that wasn’t chips
I didn’t have pizza as in Pizza Hut etc til I was a teenager at someone birthday

Having a bath before my brother and sister. We all shared the same bath water, so I’d get in after my mum when it was still relatively hot.

Chocolate biscuits in the biscuit tin.

Going out for a Chinese meal.

My mum making donuts and helping roll them in sugar once she’d fried them.

Cheese scones in my packed lunch. Found out when older that we only had that because she didn’t have any money at the end of the month to buy bread.

This was in the 1970s

Real butter, although I’m not sure we ever had it as it would have been a very big deal (always had that horrible Stork which back in the 70s was advertised as being just like real butter!)

Us too. No car so never went anywhere
Plus eating out aswell.’The Golden Egg’ once a year.
Which was basically a cafe that did knickerbockglories.
There were no restaurants in our town, and it was a big town.

Central heating (never)
Going to a restaurant or having a takeaway (maybe twice a year)
New clothes (ditto)
Days out (never - we talked about one, once, but it didn't happen. When we had to write about what we'd done at the weekend I just made things up.)
Holidays (you must be joking)

Yes, I didn’t have anything until I was an older teen and had moved out!

We can’t afford takeaways more than a couple of times a year but my children know about food from other cultures and wouldn’t be as clueless as I was.

I was an older teen the first time I had pizza too, I moved into a flat share and the others were ordering and asked if I wanted to join them. I remember the sinking feeling of thinking it was going to cost me my weeks food budget as my dad had always said that they were too expensive 😂

Grapes. They were a huge treat and we certainly couldn’t help ourselves if my mum bought some. I remember being at a friend’s house and feeling amazed that we were allowed to help ourselves to green grapes in the fruit bowl.
And pure orange juice… which was called ‘breakfast juice’ in our house. We were allowed a small glass at breakfast and no other time (when we had it at all).

90s Grew up poor in a council house
shared baths
didn't put heating on
no trips
no days out
sandwiches to park was a treat
I didn’t have a notion how it was for anyone else as everyone was poor too

Putting the oven on. My mum would only ever put the oven on if it was completely full. I grew up thinking the cost of running an oven must be completely extortionate.

Takeaways other than chips. Never had one. Ever

I don't think I did either - and fish and chip were rare not every month. My first taste of curry was at Uni we went to nearby curry house - it was fine no-one made fun of me and I wasn't the only one at sea.
I also remember first experience of MacDonalds being a party I was invited to - but we were taken as a family once and parents hated it.

Even now my DP ordering take out is extremely rare - but IL also working class, in a town so not as rural, get one at least once a week.

One set of GP always cold - had butter for best ie not for kids and other DGP had council house and coal fire and no central heating even into the 90s.

Same as you OP. Never even got to make pancakes or have them made for us on Pancake Day.

80s/90s. We were/are poor, hence not having or doing those things.

I wonder what the kids will say in the future about today's set up. What are things that are a rarity today?

Cleaning (or rather not cleaning). Epic thing growing up. From a young age, got involved with the four-six hour weekly clean, by the time I hit pre-teens, it was every night as well.

I’m talking sofa hoovered out almost every day, all pieces of furniture moved, including big desks and beds, and underneath cleaning. Every single surface dusting (twice a week). Bathroom cleaned tiles to toilet three times a week. Skirting boards and architraves every week. Everything removed from every kitchen surface every night and sanitised/dried. Hoovering various rooms every day. Silver polished every week. All woodwork polished every week.

😳😳😳

Crazy town. I was around 35 when I found out that this wasn’t the same in every household. That you can keep a house reasonably clean and tidy without it needing to be spotless 24/7. I genuinely had no idea that this was OTT (and very harshly judged myself as a sloven for refusing to do the same 😂).

(My mum didn’t have OCD, btw, she was just terrified of anyone calling round and judging her for the state of her house - she always said that her mum would be horrified she didn’t clean the windows inside and out every day 😂).

Can of fizzy drink. I'm 38 years old and still feel excited when I'm about to open a can to myself 😂

Meals out, any kind of fast food.

Doing anything that wasn't deemed as 'sensible' 🙄
Getting lifts. My dad hated giving lifts unless he could avoid it.
Staying in in front of the TV dossing.
And having showers! My parents only had a bath in their house until I was 16.

This!

We didn't see my mum on a Sunday until 3pm ish then she'd spend the rest of the day cleaning up!
What on earth was she doing all that time? Mind blowing.
I use the slow cooker from early Sunday morning for the meat and roast veggies for maybe an hour. Kettle to boil water to make gravy. It's actually a relatively low labour intensive meal. A spag Bol requires more over seeing.
But maybe she did it as a way to potter all day and take time as an excuse not to do anything else.