Do You Think of Things You Took For Granted As a Child That You Now Realise Were Privileges to be Treasured?

[mbosnz]

My aunt and uncle had what is called a 'bach' in Marahau, NZ. Rough as guts, originially with an outdoor loo, that was basically a pit with a seat over it! But it backed on to the beach, and at night, as we lay in the bunks, whispering our fights and fears, as the adults kicked back in the room next door, we watched the moon shining down on the water, through the pine trees, as we listened to the waves lap the shore.

Sometimes I ache for that time. The song 'Disembodied Voices' by the Finn Brothers makes me cry for it.

At the time we just took it for granted - the bach would always be there, Uncle Dick and Auntie Pixie, and all the couzzie bros would be there, Dad would be there, Rusty the dog. . . now they're all gone. But we were so lucky to enjoy that place and that time.

What about you?

Having a stay at home mum, who ferried us to and from school, grew vegetables and made a home cooked meal every evening.

That is a luxury very few children have nowadays.

I wonder if my kids will ever get to thinking that, mugglewump!

I had a good childhood, full of love but without much money.

I was talking to my grandson a few days ago about all the things he takes for granted. Having a bicycle, there being more than one television in the house, central heating, clothes that are bought because he likes them rather than because they are needed etc. And then of course the things that are generational... unlimited access to music (my mum had a radio, we didn't, and when I was 13 I was bought a cassette player to share with my 2 sisters), having a mobile phone, the internet etc.

I think the best thing about my childhood was probably the proximity of my grandmother, I used to spend a lot of time with her. My school was small and had fabulous gardens we were allowed to play in.

Similar to @DilemmaDelilah. My school was based in the grounds of a listed medieval lodge, so we got to play in sunken gardens, a maze, all sorts of things that seem completely bonkers now.

At home, our garden was split in two by a row of trees, and my mum only really had time to keep the visible half neat and tidy. The other half became overgrown and my ‘jungle’ to play in. Right at the end was a large shed with a pond next to it that housed newts and frogs. There was also a massive magnolia tree that was excellent for climbing. I spent lots of time in the ‘jungle’ and have great memories of it.

I didn’t realise at the time, but now know I was lucky in the 50s and 60s, always to have a proper bathroom with hot water, an indoor loo, a phone in the house, a good sized garden, and despite DPs being almost permanently skint, having proper, nourishing, home cooked meals every day.

I remembered the name for the kind of toilet - a long drop! It's been bugging me all day and all night. Flipping stroke brain!

There are 75 million less wild birds in the UK now than when I was a child in the 1960s. Since then the number of cars has risen from 11 million to 34 million.

I'd love to go back and hear again what the world sounded like when it was a quieter place filled with bird song.

This sounds absolutely awesome! Gosh, the games you could make up with surroundings like that.

I loved frogs as a kid. My parents weren't so keen. And Mrs Edna just about (literally) had a heart attack when a frog jumped out at her in my bedroom. It was too much on top of the escaped snails from the snail farm.

I'm not going to be answering the question properly but reading the other posts so far has got me thinking about the things we got up to in the summer holidays with my dad, ( as he was a teacher and shared the school hols with me and my brother).

We used to go on walks and somehow collect poorly animals, rabbits, birds, snakes etc that we would care for for a little while before releasing them. We had almost a hundred mice at one point, til my mum decided she'd had enough and took them to a pet shop, or so she told us. We built a massive greenhouse from some cast off sash windows scavenged from houses being demolished. We kept chickens and he somehow had some fertilised eggs which we kept in a home made incubator and watched as the chicks hatched. He took us to museums, castles, beaches, got us into an archaeological dig, always had these interesting hobbies and interests that have given me so many lovely memories. Things that unfortunately I've not been able to replicate for my kids, although I imagine you can't miss what you haven't had.

I do think of those things OP. I was remembering the sunday morning feeling of the house when I grew up, with older siblings and grandparents and parents all listening to the record player playing Tapestry by Carole King or Peter Greens Fleetwood Mac or the soundtrack to Paint your wagon, while mum cooked Sunday dinner and I played with my little sister. The house had been tidied, the smell of roast chicken in the air and we all gathered round a big table to eat. Some kind of pie or crumble for pudding . Lots of chat and then helping with the washing up while the grown ups snoozed in the living room. It was a happy time.

My children didn’t have that but they did have other things I hope they will remember.

When I was at primary school my brothers and I were on “home dinners”. I look back now and feel so lucky to have had that break in the school day. My lovely mum collected us, fed us a home cooked hot dinner and dropped us back at school within the hour - she was amazing. During the hot summer of 1976 she would make a picnic that we had in the park before going back to school for the afternoon. When I was a bit older she had to go back to work and my granny stepped in. My younger brother and I would walk to hers for lunch, watch one of the really short kids to programmes that were on at lunchtime back then and still be back for afternoon school. Such a privilege

Being taken on holiday every year to a beautiful place in Cornwall and not paying for it and being funded to go and have fun. 🤩

@HumphreyCobblersYou have perfectly described my childhood Sundays (although I didn’t have a sister!). I got sent to the ice cream van with a big mixing bowl that would get filled up with ice cream to go with the crumble.

What a lovely post. You have a lovely style of writing and I've been listening to 'Disembodied Voices' on a loop for an hour and it's absolutely gorgeous and very, very evocative so thank you also for that.