What was a 2000s childhood like?

[Moresleeppleaaase]

Was talking with my dh the other day about childhood throughout the decades and I was thinking that childhoods in the 70s, 80s, 90s etc are looked upon quite nostalgically and I've seen quite a lot of threads on here with people having similar childhood experiences of those times and remembering all the things they liked to do when they were kids. It got me thinking that I don't really know anything about childhood in the 2000s. I was born in 1979 so was in my 20s in the 2000s and didn't really spend any time with kids as I didn't have much family or any friends who had kids then. My dcs were born in 2015 and 2017 so it was a while after the 2000s had ended. Was just interested if either you were a kid in the 00's or your dc were kids then, what was it like to be a kid and what was popular (like foods, toys and what were popular things to do etc) and was it a good time to be growing up.

Dcs were born in early & mid 2000s.
I remember nothing!

I was a teen in the 00’s. I enjoyed it! Big Brother, brick pay as you go phones, age restrictions weren’t what they are now so nights out clubbing started age 15-16. I drank way too much and got myself into too many alcohol related pickles, and started having sex and experimenting with boys way too young looking back,

But it was fun!

@Chasingsquirrels to be fair I can't remember much of the 2nd half of the 2010's because of lack of sleep from dc!!

I was born in 1989, so 11 and upwards in 00s.

I remember playing outside a lot, micro scooters, tamagotchis, groovy chick and nutty tart, Jacqueline Wilson books.
Spending a-lot of time in Claire's accessories and HMV.
Using photo booths and having disposal cameras developed at snappy snacks.

I was just out of my teens.

Butterfly hairclips
Cargo pants
All saints
Vest tops under dresses
Atmosphere trainers
Friends - end of
Kilts

@falalalatte I did wonder if Claire's accessories would've played a part! The one in the town I lived in always looked very busy!

I was just about to enter my teens in year 2000 I remember my childhood being pretty free, like we were allowed to venture into the nearest big town by ourselves and allowed out to play until after dark. Mobile phones for children were definitely not a thing back then. There wasn’t really any censorship around films and tv shows. Totally normal to watch a rated 18 horror movie at a sleepover. The internet wasn’t what it is now, no social media which I’m glad of looking back and only allowed to use it after 6pm or on weekends. I’m glad I grew up in this time, the kids seem so much older these days, with a lot more social pressure.

I was 9 by 2000 and my childhood had lots of TV, mostly cheap processed dinners, playing out with neighbours, calling friends for hours on the landline.

looking through the Argos catalogue as if internet shopping, planning your TV schedule in the guide.

Various activities like kids do now - swimming, dancing, music - but for me at least no pressure with any of them and no resultant skill either!
When I got a bit older, friends turning up at your house then just going out, sleepovers, beebo and msn!

we rarely went out for food, and coffee shops definitely weren’t a thing where we were.

we didn’t just “go away” to different places in the UK like we do now as a family throughout the year, we mostly stayed local with 2 weeks holiday in the summer when we went to Europe.

skirts over trousers
the birth of the skinny Jean
the introduction of primark / ultra cheap fashion (everything used to be like £1-5)

DCs born in 04 and 06. Gina Ford was God or Godess, everybody had read the book and most of us tried to follow it more or less. Cbeebies and horrible histories, pixar movies. Maclaren buggies, sure start centres, one a clock clubs. Baby monitors as no smart phones and (whisper it) leaving the baby upstairs in a hotel while you had dinner in the restaurant pre Madaline McCann . Micro scooters, likabikes and doodlebugs. Waiting for the 20% off for new season mini boden. Sure I will think of some more soon.

Just rembered the smoking, everywhere, inside. People acted like you were very precious if you asked them not to around your baby.

Very similar to today, but without social media or smartphones. Admittedly, those are pretty major things….

My memories…
Miley Cyrus was Hannah Montana
High School Musical
Micro Scooters
Twilight series
Nintendo Ds

Soft play was a new concept. There were TV shows like Pop Stars which were a precursor to X Factor.
Heelies. Early YouTube. Numberjacks, Aunty Mabel, music was quite emo - Fallout Boy, Green Day etc but also lots of the likes of Carly Rae Jepson and JLS, the Wanted etc.
Charlie and Lola. Turkey Dinosaurs were taken off the menu by Jamie Oliver (gen z haven’t forgiven him) - school dinners were quite a big issue.
I could think of more. Mine were born early and mid 00s.

I think clothes and many foods were more expensive then (comparative to earnings) but I could be wrong.
Did Primark and fast fashion exist in the *early *2000s?

Children (including mine to an extent) wrapped in cotton wool. Primary school insisted an adult drop off and pick up pupils rather than letting them walk alone or with friends. Lots of paid for activities and not enough playing outside. Mass consumerism. Big birthday parties with paid entertainers. Every kid had to get a prize in pass the parcel. Planned playdates rather than knocking on friends' doors to see if Jonny was coming out to play.

DD loved her childhood!

eaving the baby upstairs in a hotel while you had dinner in the restaurant

That most definitely was not the norm.

I was 7 in 2000. Everything was so much better back then. 00-05 were the years I loved the most. We were able to play outside for hours either in the street or at the local parks. During summer holidays we had to go home when it started to get dark but we could still go to the park furthest away. We had a good balance of TV, video games playing outside, and bikerides. Parents were the only ones with mobiles but I remember playing Snake and a fish game often. Teens were always hanging around the parks, so I always saw my older sister's friends out and about. I was introduced to the Internet in 2004 and I loved playing pool on Yahoo. Spent hours talking to friends on MSN and playing dress up and makeup games online. Oh, and Habbo Hotel too!
Started going to the cinema with friends around 04, and the town Loved trying on clothes in TammyGirl and getting chicken and chips before going home.

Again in the *early *2000s, does any one else remember the obsession with silver and chrome makeup/clothing. Because of the millennium there were glittery starburst obsessions like silver fireworks.
I remember Boots Glitter Babes makeup that I mainly didn't get.

Really ? everyone I knew did it. A baby monitor on most of the tables in hotels. Or else a " listening" service.

Born ‘99. I remember everyone a bit older having the emo haircut. And going to soft play and not being allowed heelies

Are those shoes with the dolls in still going?

The internet! At first plugging it into the landline and the wire stretching across the house, the phone not working when using the internet..
But then making websites on piczo, bebo account, habbo hotel, man...

Lots of online chatting, signing into msn after school but then going to meet your friends (and then chatting on msn when you got home)

Tammy girl as the coolest shop, and then Primark and new look

‘92 baby here, the 2000s were great! Our summers were spent outside until it got dark, we got a computer when I was 12 and was obsessed with Sims and Neopets, then MSN and MySpace as I got older. We had micro scooters, furbies, tamagotchi, the original Sunny D (with the rumour that if you drank too much you’d turn orange). Tammy was the go to clothes shop. TV was great too, SMTV live on a Saturday morning with Ant and Dec and Cat Deely, blue Peter, the Queens Nose, the Demon Headmaster. I remember reading a lot of Jacqueline Wilson books and the Goosebump series.

As per PP, when we had holidays in the UK we absolutely did stay in the hotel room whilst our parents went to dinner - it had a listening service (like a walkie talkie built into the wall) and me and my brother were convinced that there was a little man living inside it reading us a story.

I was born in 96 and had a great childhood in the 00s. McDonalds parties were the coolest thing, I played in the street with my friends every day and I was convinced I would grow up and marry Zac Efron.

We had a shared family computer in the kitchen and we all had to take turns using it (I liked websites where I could dress up Bratz and MyScene characters best). Jamie Oliver ruined our school dinners and we never forgave him. MTV and Kerrang were constantly playing on the big TV in the background. My younger sister and brother were born a decade after me so all the theme tunes to old Cbeebies shows live forever in my head.

I'm so nostalgic for the 00s now, I have three children of my own and I always wonder what they'll look back on fondly from their own childhoods.

DS was born in 1992, in the 00s he watched Cartoon Network on the TV, Cow and Chicken was his favourite. He had a Wii which were popular then and a PlayStation and also played Pokémon a lot.