To ask what traditions made your childhood special?

[Bubandbump]

Sorry, bit of a thread about a thread but..

Just sat here with sleepy DD in arms reading the cupcake v fairy cake thread. Someone wrote that they do fairy cake Fridays which I would love to steal think is lovely.

So I wanted to ask what made your childhood special, to give me some ideas for when 10 mo DD is growing up?

Definitely Bub. We were only allowed one bar of chocolate a week on a Thursday night and it was a huge deal.

Eating cold boiled potatoes with a spoon [potato held in an egg cup] while watching 'What's my Line' on Sunday evenings.
Too many more to mention :)

We also rolled coloured hard boiled eggs down a grassy 'bank' on Easter Sunday.

I worry sometimes that our dcs who seem to have and do so much, comparatively speaking, will be so spoilt as adults. My dd is 8 tomorrow. When I was 8, I had lived practically my entire life within a couple of square miles - with the odd trip out. I had a LOVELY childhood - but it was simple and we had a lot more freedom.

Dd is bilingual and has lived in 2 countries, having visited many more. She goes to restaurants, to the cinema, softplay places, theme parks as standard. We are lucky where we live where she can go out to play safely so I do encourage that rather than having lots of planned activities....but she can't wander far - mainly due to main roads. None of the camps in fields stuff I had growing up....She is so much more sophisticated.....

Definitely going to stay over at my grandparents on Friday nights. My Gran used to spoil us rotten. She was wonderful and I'm so sorry my DS won't get to meet her.

My Dad used to sing us "bath songs" which were an odd assortment of Edwardian music hall songs that his dad and uncle used to sing (My Old Man Said Follow the Van and that sort of thing)with a few Tommy Cooper/Monty Python type songs thrown in for good measure. I sing them to my 10mo DD now

Pancakes or cheese on toast for Sunday tea.

And my Mum stroking my head when I was poorly. She would do it for hours.

Lovely thread :)

Getting excited when my dad's alerter went off (he was a fireman) particularly if we were in the car at the same time and racing off to the firestation and being dumped there. Mum didn't drive so if it was expected to be a short call we'd get to play in the firestation which I LOVED!

Sunday roasts with cucumber sandwiches for tea - the only time we were allowed to eat infront of the TV.

My brothers making sweets at Christmas. We had the 'real' advent calendars too and was chuffed to bits when I found them last year for my DCs

Sitting on the arm of the sofa at tea time, waiting for Dad to come home

Watcing dad wash his car on a warm Sunday evening, usually fresh out of the bath with my hair in plaits

The camps we used to build on the local building site with my brothers

Cooking with my Nan, playing draughts while waiting for whatever was in the oven to be done. Being allowed to look through her jewellery boxes (treat!)

Dressing up in my mum's nighties and pretending to be a bride.

Games with all the other kids from the neighbourhood on the green infront of the house - cricket, rounders, football, blockie 1,2,3, Kerbsie....

Gosh, I could go on forever.... Definitely had more freedom, more local places to go, more kids to play with. Not like that for my DCs :(

Getting all wrapped up in the winter to get the metro to the beach with my mam. We'd always walk along Tynemouth beach and then get fish and chips by the priory before getting the metro home.
Sunday lunch at Nana's house. Always ready for bang on 1pm and if you were late, tough!
Ice cream floats made by Nana after lunch (lemonade and vanilla ice cream) or arctic roll... Or if you were really lucky, a neopolitian ice cream sandwich!
Spelling tests on a Sunday night with my older cousin
Watching TOTP with my partially deaf Auntie so we would always have the subtitles on (meant you got to learn the proper lyrics and not just wha\t you thought you heard them say)

Sandwiches in front of Dr Who (I would hide when the Daleks came on)

Playing out every night in the summer time - skipping rope, hide and seek, weird go cart contraptions, marbles, whip and top, cricket, tennis - all carried out in the street or our gardens.

Board games at Christmas

Tea in the garden when it was sunny

Granny giving me and DB a whole tube of smarties each(!) when she came to visit - the luxury.

Saturday pie - just mince, peas, carrots in gravy with puff pasty lid. But it was somehow special.

Going to the library on a Friday evening, then ice cream on the way home.

Every Saturday going to granny's house, steamy windows, cups of tea, watching airwolf/a team.

French fancies on a Sunday afternoon with a film.

Sweeties after church on a Sunday.

Silly sayings like 'first one to see (x seaside town) buys the tea' . Funny waiting for mum or dad to inevitably do a bit of hammy acting on the approach road. Also stopped lots of 'are we there yet?!' I suppose.

The annual sunflower competition. No artificial fertiliser allowed. Dad's always died.

Bunty every Sunday morning with the Sunday papers.

It makes me sad that my own DC won't put any of the nice stuff we have. I worry what they would put in 20 year's time.

Fish and chips in the car on the way home from visiting people.

My grandfather making sweeties magically appear in the special wooden bowl (my little cousin - who is now 18 - still checks for them whenever he enters the house).

The 'magic carpet' in my grandparents' living room - say 'abracadabra' and you could go anywhere.

Being allowed variety pack cereal on holiday.

Mum listening to radio one in the kitchen every Sunday, cooking dinner in her 'I'm a No. 1 Nut' T-shirt.

Christmas morning, me and my sister waking at 4am and being allowed to go and pick one present to unwrap with mum and step-dad in bed. Then we had to make them a cup of tea before they got up!

A cup of tea and ham sandwiches whenever we got back from a day out.

My Grandad singing in the car on the way to Sunday market and me and my sister clutching our shiny pound coin. Or baking with Grandma on a Saturday and using all the leftover pastry to make 'cakes' for Grandad. He ate them as well - he must have loved us!

Listening to Top of the Pops on a Thursday while mum got ready to go out with the girls - jeez, the hairspray!

Me and my sister washing the pots after dinner on a Sunday - I washed she dried and always we argued about who put away!

Little things but this thread has made me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy =)

Oh and Caramac bars as a treat because they were cheapest and my mum was on her own then. We could make that Caramac bar last ages!

Just remembered we had hellas chocolate bars as a treat, I doubt anyone remembers them though, my favourite were strawberry and mint ones

I remember those - we had them at the local shop and a girl I sat with at lunchtime had one in her lunchbox every day! I was very envious of her as I munched my apple

My childhood was the same as Angryfeet's. The whole playing fields world was my oyster. Glorious sun filled days, my bike, friends and feeding the horses.

Hella's bars were gorgeous. Mint flavour bar and the toffee, they were cheap and huge!

fighting over whos turn is was to get up and change the t.v. channel.

We used to have the old style chip pan, and we all loved chips and would have to be given the exact same amount (we counted them!) or world war three broke out.

Best of all though was my dad cutting us each an 'initial chip'.

That got eaten last. Happy days :)

Eating as a family around the kitchen table.
Saturday morning shopping trips at the local market.
Saturday lunch at my Dad's parents. Steak and home made chips with cauliflower, followed by bread and butter pud or some other comfort food.
Playing in my Nan's front room with my cousins.
Sunday dinner at my Mum's parents.

Playing under the dining room table with my other cousins - pretending it was a great galleon or some other thing.

Sitting on my parents' bed to receive birthday presents.
Going out as a family for birthdays.
Going to the same holiday park every year in the same weeks and meeting the same friends from around the country each year.

We have different routines now we have our own DDs.

Visits (but not meals) at the GPs each Sunday where they play with their cousin.
Birthday presents at the dining table at breakfast - all set up in an impressive pile.
Family birthday tea (on their actual birthday) and a friends party if they want one at the weekend.

Wish list made for days out in the school hols.

I have been discussing this thread with DS1 (13). He said 'I couldn't live in your era, was it the forties?'.

ddddddd dddddd dddddd... match of the day
Sunday morning swimming with my dad & back home for scrambled eggs on toast
Sunday roast
Saturday night TV, usually Bruce Forsyth
Playing cards
Bath & snuggle in pyjamas on soaf before bed

Rainbow cake, neighbourhood water fights, building dens in the woods which we'd spend from morning til dusk in and lasted all summer, holidaying in Devon every summer and being in the sea in the rain!