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.

I have 2 noughties DCs.

It changed a lot over the decade. At the start it was quite similar to an 80s childhood- playing out, videos, kids tv, Star Wars, dr who, economic crash, parents unemployed, poverty.
Let them cry.

For the DCs born post crash it was a digital world- smart phones, pics on social media, streaming music, film & tv. Helicopter parenting.
Never let them cry.

My children are millennium baby to mid 2000s.

A lot of time was spent in town buying clothes from Woolworths and Adam’s. Thry had light up shoes from Clark’s.

I was a sahm mum as maternity leave was short and spent a lot of time playing with tea sets, dolls, cars and trains.

Weekends were spent at the wacky warehouse after piling in my micra with what would be now poor car safety. Or we’d go to the park.

I find I can’t relate to modern parenting as I think it was the last generation without major screen time.

Turned 13 in 2000. Early 2000’s was playing snake on Nokia 3310 and buying phone covers/creating ringtones.

Saturdays were for shopping with friends, going to Mcds and sleepovers. Music for me was Britney Spears, Destiny’s Child, Usher, Blue, Westlife and then a bit of Avril Lavigne and Nickelback.

Major news story was 9/11 then the Iraq War. Teens smoked cigarettes instead of vaping. I remember smoking in nightclubs and drinking barcardi breezers.

Late 2000’s it was more the ‘emo’ look and Twilight. I had my first child at the end of the 00s and had the Annabel Karmel recipe book. No smartphone then so not instant googling everything. DS had much less screen time than DD (who was born much later 6 yrs later). DS is in the last group of babies born to get the £250 child trust fund.

We didn’t live our whole lives on screens/social media the way we do now but
not everything was great. Lots of homophobia at school. We had basic sex ed at school but much less awareness over consent or healthy relationships. Lots of pressure to binge drink as an older teen. Rape ‘culture’ and sexual assault was normalised. No one cared much if a teen girl had a much older boyfriend and Safeguarding wasn’t really a big concept then (as far as I’m aware).

Turning Red’ is set in the early 2000’s and captures that spirit of being young teen at that time really well 😀.

I was a teen in the 00s and completely relate to all the posts about Bacardi breezers, playing snake, hours in HMV, band hoodies etc.

What I don’t relate to is this view of childhood being so different now. My kids are all 10 and under and I don’t think their childhoods have been massively different to my own. They play out, they don’t spend much time on screens, they climb trees and get muddy and they are absolutely not wrapped up in cotton wool!

No doubt their adolescence is going to be completely different to mine in both good ways (hopefully less smoking, drugs and alcohol) and bad (social media) but I think the differences people are talking about in early childhood between now and the 90s/00s are kind of parental decisions.

Turned 10 in 2000, I remember that free feeling a pp described.
Going into the nearest city to shop, going to punky fish and Jane Norman. Jane Norman bags at school!
Nokia 3210, then the 8210 with the camera!!
Msn messenger and then MySpace.
MEAN GIRLS 🙋‍♀️
Sleepovers and staying awake most the night.
10 pack of Richmond super kings/sovereigns and 2L bottle of white lightening in the park 🥴🤢
Anyone remember the website faceparty??
Maybellline matte mousse foundation.
Miss sporty make up.
Impulse body spray.
Listening to "let me love you" on repeat
Those Samsung slide phones with the mini speaker you could attach to the side !!

Oh forgot to mention watching ed, edd and eddy, dextors lab and cow and chicken !!!

Born 87 left school in 03. I just remember spending Saturdays in a busy shopping centre, hmv was the place to go followed by a McDonald's. We'd compose our own ringtones on our Nokias. Saturday nights we'd get ready to whichever cd we got most recently & head into town with our fake ID's & our actual cameras. There were so many places to go clubbing! Walking back at night as we'd spend our money on booze instead of a cab. Spending hours on dial up internet using the free AOL disk you got when you bought a PC. Watching SMTV on a sat morning. And I remember getting excited about having a free view box in my bedroom! Absolutely loved those years. Not sure if it's because now I'm a mum of 2 and everything seems a struggle money wise. But back then I was carefree and loving life. Thanks for the trip down memory lane OP it's made my morning.

We had a PC in 1997 and I got a mobile phone in I think 1998, at the age of of around 10. But the technology didn't dominate my life until 2009 I think. So it was a good decade! Played outside plenty.

I see kids on the bus to school every morning now on their phones scrolling short videos not speaking to each other and it looks really worrying.

Born in 1997.

I remember
Birthday parties in pizza express
Heelies
Playing outside but also everyone had nintendogs and Mario games on their DS
I played a lot of animal crossing
Smoking and non smoking areas in restaurants
Cbeebies and CBBC esp Tracy Beaker
Claires accessories
Kfc and dominos became popular and boomed around 2007 in my memory
Paintballing also became a thing
Everyone's parents drove a clio 😂
Flashing trainers were the coolest thing ever
Later on it was all about MSN and Bebo moving over to Facebook
Blackberry phones in secondary school

Oh also, gameboys!! And then gameboy color!

Omg yes! I think I was twelve in 2000, my favourite shop was Claire's, anyone remember sparkle in a puff? 😂 glitter hairspray, and stuff like that. I remember my dad taking me shopping for school stuff, I got a pair of 6" black platforms that I couldn't walk in, but said they were fine for school 😂 they had laces going up the calf😂 then went in Claire's and they had a little purple and diamante tin, I think for jewellery, but my dad said "I didn't know you smoked?!"I was mortified , and didn't smoke lol. Tammy girl, bay trading, ect

I was born in 1992.

I remember hot summers in the garden, bike rides, swimming, scooters! Winter snowdays playing with my brother. Building dens, climbing trees, make fake houses out of stubble in the fields. Picnics, the beach, hiring a beach hut. Camping, sleepovers. Bowling, Pokemon cards, Tazos, friendship bracelets, gel pens, those plastic things you plaited.

Then towards the end of the 00s it was more camp outs and alchopops with friends. MSN, Bebo, Hotmail, 5 free texts a day.

Born in 1991.

2000s was MSN, neopets, Bebo, MySpace (then Facebook), long summers, getting drunk in random farmer fields. 😂

Oh and snake on the Nokia! That was epic.

Try this for the 2000s feelz!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CreZOQVrvOP/?igsh=azc1OHE2cjEyYzhz

Born in 88, bebo, neopets, Habbo hotel, msn, crappy websites we built on geocities were all online staples. 3310, best phone ever.
When skins came out I went to awesome house parties (god I feel sorry for the parents who’s house it was now though!) alcopops we’re all the rage.
horrendous fashion, parachute pants, shag bands, soo much body glitter

Downloading your favourite tune on limewire, pressing play and hearing Bill Clinton claim he did not have sexual relations with that women!

LOL, another country. My friend has her baby at uni years and her mother looked after her daughter. Lovely childhood, the mother worked abroad, was bringing all the new gadgets, there was already Macdonalds and all that in the birth country, totally western childhood if you ask me, really. On the internet from a very young age, Allo Allo was on a repeat and she watched it with her grandma every night before bed time. LOL

Some of our parties ended up in the newspaper 😱

…they were fun though

@falalalatte this is exactly how I remember my childhood (also born in 1989). To add.... Buying natural collection make up and Boots Musk body spray (sometimes the strawberry one too!) used to love getting a new hair mascara too happy times x

@bubbletubble
You've just reminded me of natural collection make up, I think I had all the lip glosses and that dreadful maybeline dream matte mousse!

Also the body shop white musk and bath pearls

Born in the mid 90s.
We used to play out on our bikes and scooters and still used to knock on each others doors "can Bob and Bobby come out to play?"

Tamagotchis, play station and gameboys but we still loved outdoors.

PP mentioned being wrapped in cotton -
I remember gradually over the years, jungle gyms, monkey bars etc being removed from school playgrounds and certain games being banned i.e British Bulldog and conkers.

Lipgloss from Claire's accessories. Groovy chic, bratz/my scene, hot wheels and pokemon were more popular. SClub 7 and crazy frog at every school disco. Downloading your favourite song on limewire and having to explain to your parents why the computer had a porn virus 😂

00s is when lots of schools were being blended from separate infant and junior schools to being primary schools.

And we still used to sing songs like "He's got the WHOLEEE world in his hands" in assembly 😆

Iwas born 95 so most of my childhood was 00s

I think a lot of what people describe as a 90s childhood is actually a 00s childhood

I remember long dry summers, playing outside.

Harry potter was massive. Our whole school went to the cinema to see the films and I remember sharing a copy of the 5th book with friends

Jacqueline Wilson was big, dick and dom, HSM. Music was S club 7, steps, busted, mcfly, girls aloud for us. I remember imaging I could join S club juniors. Learning all the dances. Dances were a big thing. PlayStation 1, game boy, Nintendo ds and more important Nintendogs

Our computer was dial up. I remember asking my mum when she was going to make a call so I could do my homework

Emo hair/bands when I was a young teen. MSN till late. MySpace and bebo. I remember Facebook coming out and using our friends profile to search all our teachers