in thinking that kids don't get to enjoy the simple things these days,

[2shoes]

like taking bottles back to the shop for 10p ,or by 4oz of sweets in a paper bag

we have founf a shop locally that does penny sweets. kids are begging to go there now lol.

also on holidays we foound a sweet shop where you could buy sweets from jars by weights.

you could get loads of those little teddies for 4oz as they were only about 1/2p each!
also milkmen. where have they all gone?

I've just been thinking the same thing myself as recently we went to a country show where the DCs could run around safely, enjoy the simple pleasures of lucky dips and hook a duck and enjoyed a morning of unsupervised fun.
I told them afterwards to remember those kind of days as they are few and far between.
It made me quite nostalgic, it was like something from the Darling Buds of May.
YANBU

I sort of agree, we are currently living in Belgium and DD is thrilled at being able to go to the shop on her own. she sets off on her bike and goes about 700 metres to the baker. She comes home and goes back to the general shop and buys milk. small stuff like that pleases her no end. She could get it all in one go, but it prolongs the length of peace and quiet I get.

We have a milkman, and a village shop which sells penny sweets (although most of them cost 2p each these days) which the DC walk to by themselves to spend their pocket money. On the way they pass through a field and climb trees.

Happy days :)

Why can't they? It's no less safe on the streets than it was when we were children.

Why can't they buy some sweets in a paper bag? Do shops not sell sweets anymore?

I'm not being snarky, I'm genuinely confused. All those things exist here.

We have a milkman, and a sweetie shop up the road, and strawberries to pick in the garden, blackberries in the parks, dogs and cats to pat. Bikes to ride. Bread to eat....

My DS is certainly not pining for a bygone era where everyone ate fish and chips on a Friday and there was only one "coloured" family living on the street, or whatever.

We still have all those things here. Today we are going to the annual tug-of-war over the canal. Great fun.

Shops sell sweets, they're just not in paper bags. Not sure what the fuss is about.

tortoiseonthehalfshell you can't buy 10 fruit salads/blackjacks for a penny now, and you can't get money back on pop bottles now

Why can't they enjoy the simple things?

FWIW I have never returned bottles for money, we weren't allowed fizzy juice as kids and I don't let mine have it unless at a party or a treat. I do think that my local shop does both of these things though.

But we regularly go for walks along the river or in the countryside, and live less than half a mile from the beach and the best icecream shop in the world!

I am trying out this SAHM business and so we are a bit skint just now, but still take the kids out for the day all the time. They had 'one of the best days ever' when we went on the open top bus and stopped for a picnic then walked 3 miles home. We saw a mushroom bigger than a frisbee, fed a horse and saw some baby ducks, played hide and seek in the long grass at the beach, paddled in the sea, dug a hole in the sand to try and find some lava and had an ice cream. Cost me about £15 all in, and they fell asleep at half 6. I got a glass of wine early. Everyone had a great day

Ok the cost of sweets have gone up, but you can still buy them in paper bags (well you can round here!)

We dot have much money, so the simple things is what my DC's childhood is made of. MUCH better than parking in front of the tv or being inside all day. They climb trees an make forts in the backyard, go riding, an occaisional 99p cone from the mr whippy van, etc.

They also love putting the cans in the can recycler for Tesco points!! LOL

I think this is a myth. My 5yo DS is never happier than standing throwing stones into a stream or just going for a walk up a hill. He would be thrilled to take bottles back to the shop too, but we haven't got round to it - we have a stash of irn bru bottles (DP drinks it)

DS does also have a handheld computer game thing and likes telly, but he doesn't rate those any higher than other things. I can chuck him out in the back garden and he will just mooch around for ages, poking things with sticks and making space-machine type noises.

Kids only don't enjoy simple things if they don't get a chance.

Lol at poking things with sticks! One of DS favourite things too.

This summer my ds2 and ds3 spent the hot weather mucking around in the local river with their friends - there's a bit that's deep enough to jump into and swim, which was great when it was sunny. Sadly the weather broke pretty much as soon as term finished, so they didn't get to spend much of the holidays there, but I was so pleased that all these kids were having such fun, with not a screen or a playstation to be seen.

You can still get money back on soft drink bottles. Certainly here in Scotland where a bottle of Barr's sodas are worth 30 pence.

And you can still buy sweets in a paper bag.

Those things are still around but I agree fewer children get to do them - my friends DC's are often heard to cry 'I'm bored' - they do seem to need more entertaining than I ever used to. Maybe they expect more - too much choice I reckon.

Personally I always hated taking back bottles.

I loved getting a mixture of sweets though of course.

H and I take the children out into the country where they play for hours in a stream. We have a picnic and also do nature trails. I write a list of fairly simple things for them to hunt for and then when we return home they make a picture out of them.
I am keen for them to appreciate the great outdoors as they can get alot of pleasure from it and it's completely free!

DD age 5 is outside catching butterflies right now :)

Wish it was still 10p for a dozen sweets! All the 'penny'sweets are a diff price in the cprner shop, and as ds2 is still little , we go by the amount of sweets not the price. They are allowed to choose 6 sweets each as ds1 is 6! But sometimes that comes to 30p per bag . They do love picking though!

We went to see Stevie Wonder in Hyde Park in June and ds (7 yo) spent half the concert collecting plastic beer bottles for 10p a go. He made a packet .

Yes, you can take back Barr's bottles. And the 30p would still buy you a few "penny" chews.

Mine love going up chimneys and will shortly be off to India for a sequin-sewing holiday! What larks!

Why on earth is taking bottles back fun?