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 🙈

Eating out without drama.
going for a day out without drama
visitors without drama.

Took me 30 years to realise why I hated eating in restaurants —- was just waiting for the drama of the day to kick off. Usually my mother complaining about some aspect of me ( my shoes, hair, manners, voice ) on one occasion she even complained about my neck ( I kid you not)

The phone. My parents first got a phone in 1995.

Did you mean to type 1985?! @IsItBedtimeYetNope

I was born in the 80’s.

i don’t think I ate a bell pepper until I was in my late teens 🤣

mum still won’t eat foreign muck ie garlic. Or chorizo etc.

Definitely phone after 1800 and dps locked the upstairs phone.

Weren't allowed to bake much (probably the mess)

'Posh' cheese. ie anything that wasn't orange and came in a block! We are a family of cheese lovers now but i didn't discover Brie until I was at uni.

The dreaded "long distance" telephone call. I gather they were relatively more expensive in those days
Even so, my mum never really got out of the habit of saying or thinking to herself "what's the emergency?" in later years when I phoned her, after I moved to the opposite side of the world.

1995 for a phone. I was in y11 in 95 and we were starting to get mobiles!

I can relate to a LOT of these, was a kid in the 70/80s.

A lot of this is very familiar to me; buying things but then not allowed to use them, stringent limits on food, Radio Rentals etc. My parents bought a tumble dryer which in the 80’s much have been quite expensive but then it wasn’t allowed to be used due to the cost?! They maybe used it 10 times in my entire childhood?! Makes no sense

How could l have forgotten Stork?! In reality l probably blocked it out as it was rather nasty margarine

Things just change over the years. Telephone calls used to be very expensive and aren't now, We couldn't help ourselves to food - only had food at meal times which for my teenagers has not been a rule I have then imposed on them.

Fizzy pop, delivered by the corona man very, very rarely.

Eating out anywhere - it happened maybe once or twice a year, usually for someone’s birthday.

Buying branded cereal or crisps

Buying clothes brand new. I usually wore hand me downs or charity shop, but every so often, my mam would buy me a whole new outfit. I have a lovely memory of shopping with my mam and she let me pick out an outfit for the school disco. I picked out a sparkly silver dress, cropped white cardi and silver platform sandals!

Having friends round - I always went to their houses

Having fizzy pop - My parents would never buy it, except at Christmas time.

"I think US/Canadian standards of living were just much higher @Usrr, across the board. Britain was really in a post-war Austerity state until the mid-80s in many places. We still had a bombsite at the end of my road till about 1978."

Then we also had Thatcher government for a long time. So more of the same for lots of people. A big divide.

How could l have forgotten Stork?! In reality l probably blocked it out as it was rather nasty margarine

St Ivel Gold though. My 10 year old self used to dip my finger in the pot.

Takeaway meals.

Haircuts that were not carried out by my non hairdresser granny.

fizzy drinks.

pasta.

new clothes. had handed down clothing until I got a Saturday job and could buy my own.

Duvets.

A bath - One bath per week on a Sunday night, ready for school on Monday. Every other night my Dad washed our hands, face and knees with a soapy flannel.

Chippy tea - once or twice a month on a Friday evening, my Brother would go and collect it on his bike and come back with the lovely smelling carrier bag hanging from his handlebars.. memories..

I only remember ever eating out once during my childhood, I was with my Grandparents and parents. I don't remember the occasion but do remember that being the one and only time up until I left home at 19.

Crisps in the house. I remember Mum buying a multipack of M&S crisps one Christmas and allowing us kids each to have a packet on Christmas Eve. I felt dead posh hahaha!!

Fizzy drinks from the Alpine man once in a blue moon. We'd buy dandelion & burdock, limeade or cherryade and get 10p back on the bottle when the man came round again.

House phone being installed when we moved house in 1976. During my teenage years I'd only be allowed to use it after 6pm, and then only for about 5 minutes.. Dad watched like a hawk.

Getting a black and white portable tv for my 16th birthday, best gift ever!!!

Treat night was Friday night. Dad would make a special trip to a sweet shop called Don's. I'd have 'crystal and a spanish', Mum would have midget gems, sports mixtures, or nut brittle, brother liked chocolate so he'd have a flake or a marathon, can't remember what Dad liked.

This thread has made me all nostalgic, I could carry on all night but that would become very boring for you all 😁

Going to the Berni Inn twice a year in my parent’s birthday, we’d all dress up & sit in the non smoking section though still in a haze of smoke if you were unlucky enough to be on the outskirts near the smokers.

Going with my dad to the nearest village to get fish and chips 3 or 4 times a year & it always tasted amazing as it was a rare treat.

When my parents bought a microwave! We all stepped back when it was cooking & as bacon was rank and rubbery it was a huge anti climax & mostly used to defrost meat 🤣

going to a hairdresser
wonky fringes until I got a babysitting job to pay fir going to one.
new clothes. we always got a few items for birthday/christmas but that was maybe a jumper or new pj's. most clothes were hand-me-downs.

Never went to a hairdresser until I was at uni. Mum cut our hair.badly

Driving. We weren't allowed lessons. We weren't allowed to discuss the possibility of having lessons.

So weird.

Heating on.

food being valued. I remember having plain rice and a fried egg for tea once- now I have a thing about having a proper evening meal every day.

Doing something every weekend.

Staying in hotels.

All of our family hotels were to my aunties caravan about 20 miles away from our home, i remember we only ever stayed in a hotel twice, once for one night, somewhere in Wales, we had jacket potatoes with prawns and marie rose sauce for tea and a full English for breakfast and id never had either before then and it was the best night i could ever imagine.

The second was in york and i was so excited for it, just me and my mum. She got me pizza hut with thunderbirds lady penelope cup, in the deal, and some britvic 55 and left me in the room on my own for hours watching tv in bed, im pretty certain she was having an affair and the night away with me was a cover.... I was about 7.

A colour telly: remember going to pay for it with the cash every Saturday morning to Radio Rentals on the high street.

I remember this as well - not going to pay in cash as frequently but renting from them and getting newer model and then excitement of renting first video recorder and later block buster rental treat for films.

I remember my parents getting a shower installed in early 90s they just had bath before and rubber tap shower attachment which helped with doing hair.

family holidays*

lie ins
even during holidays and weekends we had to get up and dressed by 8am the latest.