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?

Playing 'Kerbie'
Saying "im just playing out"...not many kids get to say that nowadays.

My girls played out today for the first time today, it was lovely, they were so pleased with themselves . I had a little sniffle to myself at how quickly they were growing up, and then cuddled the baby and made her promise to want to always have a cuddle.

Special cake Thursday, only day we had shop bought cakes.
Bacon and eggs on Sunday am, and lying in till 9.00!
Going to see every church in the vicinity on holiday .
Fighting with the tent to get it up, and stay up. That was Dad's job,didnot always go well...
(May seem slightly gross, really was not) sitting with my Grandpa in the space where his amputated leg would have been. Was really a very snuggly time.
Trampolines by the beach.

Scrablet we did the church/graveyard thing on holiday.

Swimming on a Saturday morning, followed by a pub stop on the way home. Then being dropped at my nan's, where I stayed every Saturday night (through choice!) We used to play badminton in her lovely big garden and then have tea before settling down to watch you bet, generation game, blind date etc! I would then sleep in 'til about noon on the Sunday and only emerge when the yorkshires for Sunday lunch were ready so that I could snaffle some early and eat them dipped in salt!

Also, holidays in Norfolk and our trips to the 'magical snail ride' at Yarmouth (snails used to trundle through a tunnel with lots of little windows with scenes in to look at). We also went to pleasurewood hills, which we thought was the best thing ever, especially if we got a hug from one of the people in bear suits!

Birthday party food like pineapple & cheese hedgehogs, twiglets etc, served on the table that had been pulled into the middle of the room with 'emergency chairs!'

My mum used to sing me a song every night before lights out, and in December each night it was a different Christmas carol. 'You Are My Sunshine' was one of our favourites, though when I try to sing it to DD she doesn't like it .

My dad used to take me and my brother swimming on Sunday mornings and we always had a Toffeecrisp from the vending machine afterwards. Then we went home and he made kippers for breakfast/lunch (it was most definitely not called brunch back in the 80s...). Have never thought before what a very odd food combination that was...

"You Are My Sunshine" keeps cropping up, doesn't it? I used to sing it to my DS but as he's got older, it makes him get tearful! He says it's the line "you'll never know dear how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away". Bless him, he's 8 and would be very embarrassed if his mates knew!

These are so fab

Redexpat, that is so strange ? we had an almost identical ?Fred Quimby? alert! Funnily enough, over the years we have assembled quite a big collection of Tom & Jerry on DVD, and the dc are able to identify the ?good? Tom & Jerry?s within seconds :)

Every time family visited in summer, mum & aunts would stay at home while dad and the uncles would take the kids to the pub, where we would sit on the bench outside with pop and crisps.

Any time mum was out, dad and I would invariably stage a ?teddy war?, which involved dividing my small soft toys into 2 piles of ammo, and basically hurling them at each other around the house, whilst attempting to hide behind various bits of furniture. Then frantically tidying them away when mum was spotted at the top of the road. I?m sure she was well aware of what we?d been up to, but the subterfuge was part of the fun :)

Big yes to picnics in the car, particularly on a rainy day at the coast. When I was much older, mum developed the tradition of bringing a small bottle of wine, so we were well posh. Mum was always on the lookout for the perfect picnic storage, so we had an array of odd trays and stacking boxes.

Visiting my nan and granddad on Boxing Day and being taken to see the Christmas display a neighbour always set up in their garden. It was only small, but magical.

Sunday drives with no destination in mind, just pottering around the lanes to see what we could find.

Pottering generally really. I?m a great fan of a bit of a potter

Mum listening to the radio in the kitchen, and breaking off cooking to teach me ballroom dancing steps.

Having my (long) hair dried in front of the tv on a Sunday, while watching Black Beauty. Hairdryer packed away as the theme to Aquarius started.

Watching classic old films, film series like ?murder, mystery and suspense?, disaster movies, Doris Day movies and almost every detective series known to man. As a teen we had a tradition of a Saturday night film with cheese & pickle sandwiches made in the sandwich toaster. And a shandy :)

Playing card games at weekends, particularly crib.

Driving to the seaside, and competing to be the first to shout ?I can see the sea?.

Listening to the football results with my back to the telly so I could tell who?d won or lost by the tone of the reader?s voice. ?West Ham United 2, Arsenal 1?.

Having the 'not so portable' TV put upstairs on a Saturday night so my sister and I could watch Starsky and Hutch while parents enjoyed peace and quiet downstairs (I realise now it was prob more for their benefit than ours, but felt like a real treat).

Squashed flat tuna sandwiches wrapped in foil for any long journey.

Proper sparkly advent calendars (my kids have only ever had them too as they seem more festive, and I bulk buy direct from the German manufacturer about 3 years worth at a go!)

Sunday visits to the garden centre (nothing else was open in those days). It seemed boring at the time, but helped to fill in the loooong hours of a Sunday afternoon. I love to potter round a garden centre now with the kids - but I think they're a bit more interesting these days with so many things to see!!

Love this thread, have read it all through and it's brought back so many memories.

My Dad is Irish and very proud of his "literary heritage". He used to give us each a poem to memorise every Sunday and my sister, brother and I would then have to recite it to the rest of the family and any guests we had over for lunch the following week.

Those poor guests.

Wednesday was an awesome day - swimming after school, followed by Mandy comic and a quarter of hapenny (!!) winegums from the paper shop on the way home.

Saturday mornings at the library to get your books for the next week.

Why Don't You in the holidays.

The Blue Peter Appeal bring and buy sales. (Do these still happen?)

We walked everywhere. So many of my childhood memories involve walks. We wouldn't drive to somewhere picturesque, get out of the car and walk - we'd just walk until we got there.

When driving down to see my grandparents, we always stopped in the same pie shop on the way down, who did the most AMAZING pies

When we got towards Durban, we would have a competition as to who saw the sea first, and we'd start singing "I can see the seeeeeeeeeea I can see the seeeeeeeeeeea".

OMGBFP I remember hellas chocolate bars! My dad was a lorry driver and used to come home with a box if they were on the lorry.

new pjs on christmas eve.great for the photos!

Having our first "peas and new potatoes" dish in the spring - the first thing to be ready from the garden. Growing flowers in a little flower bed and entering bouquets into the local fair (along with little loaves of bread).. I think I won ribbons due to lack of competition, but I didn't know that and my heart swelled with pride!

Going to church on a Sunday in our best clothes, then coming home to change into our jeans and t-shirts to go berry-picking.... I was nominated to squeeze through this tunnel in the brambles and pop into the middle of the patch because I was the youngest/smallest!

Long summer evenings bathed in yellow light while I ran about in the street playing with the neighbour kids - made up games, regular games and just running around getting filthy and tired and happy. We had no internet, no telephone and most of the time no telly and I'm very grateful for all of that.

Jumping into piles of freshly raked leaves, and spending time as a family preserving fruit and vegetables from our garden's harvest - jams, relishes, sauerkraut, and endless jars of apples, plums, pears, peaches, etc.

Christmas isn't Christmas for me without the smell of a real tree and gingerbread wafting throughout the house. Fortunately, my son loves gingerbread and loves baking, so we have continued this tradition!

*Picnic tea's on a saturday after shopping with mum and Dad in tesco
*making peppermint creams in the kitchen at my grandparents house at the same time blue peter was making them at christmas

• Finally being able to open the roses tin on christmas eve and all have a few

New pjs at Xmas
Library on a saturday afternoon
A crab to share with my ds at my NANs
Using all said NANs perfume when we stayed, it was tweed!
A bath fri and Sunday if we needed one or not.
Hair in curlers for a special occasion
Stopping at a certain forest on our way to skeggy,seeing a broken down school bus and knowing we were nearly there.
New clothes at Easter,nan bought them on the tick.

Not really traditions, just flashes of memory:

Playing with mums button box, such a treasure trove
Sitting under the willow tree in our garden looking up thru the leaves to the sky
Going swimming, then for really salty vinegary chips from the chipper opposite the pool, they must have done a roaring trade!
Being amazed at the fabulously long daisy chains my mum could make
Findus crispy pancakes and angel delight being a treat tea!
My dad making me a little wooden boat to sail on the park pond, and making me a pair of wooden stilts, I adored them

Painting hard boiled eggs for Easter
Sunday walk along the river
Being dragged out for a beach walk on boxing day, then actually enjoying it
Earning my pocket money by cleaning all the shoes on a sunday night
Hanging up my brothers rugby socks as our stockings on Xmas eve

We grew up in Jamaica where my dad had his own business. He would save up in a box torn and worn out dollar notes that were likely to be taken out of circulation. A week or so before Christmas he would hand over the box to us and we would merrily patch up the torn ones, count them all up and give them back to dad for taking in to the bank.

We of course would get the equivalent sum to share between the four of us - it was often a very nice amount. I remember how we use to leap about when we saw that box coming.

Don't think dad was sentimental or a man of tradition but that was one thing he seemed to really like to do.

On Christmas Eve we would have mulled wine (even kids allowed a bit) by he fire and sing carols. On Christmas morning we would all take our stockings and climb into bed with mum and dad to open our presents. Then would have a walk before lunch and then opening other presents.

On Sundays we would have scones for tea and watch whatever drama serial was on. First one I remember was Jane eyre with Timothy Dalton.

Bouncing on my parents' bed (like on a trampoline) listening to Ed Stewart on the radio.
Sausage sandwiches or sardines on toast for Saturday tea.
"It's Friday, it's 5 to 5 and it's Crackerjack!"
The Bananasplits on TV during the school holidays: I'm sure that was the only time kids tv (apart from Watch with Mother) was on during the daytime.
Annual outing to go to see Father Christmas and Mr Holly in Selfridges, with AMAZING Christmas window displays.
Being forced to spend ages on a Saturday morning in the huge fabric hall of John Lewis and being really relieved when the store closed at 1pm.

Dad creeping into the bedroom on the morning of a holiday and whispering 'Who wants to go on holiday?' to wake us up. Oh, the excitement!
Going for a dog walk every Sunday morning with the family, often meeting up with grandparents too.
Playing cards with my parents and sister every Saturday evening (Happy Families when we were small), (and every nightif we were on holiday) before bed. We still play cards and other games now when we get together.

a couple of years ago, i bought some ladybirds to eat the aphids in the garden. i released them and they flew away.

Now EVERY time we see a ladybird DD brings it to me and asks me its name. when she says how do you tell them appart? i say the same as humans, they are all different.

only downside to this i have to think of girls names for every blummin ladybird we see!

Sweets on a Friday (30p each!) and croissants for breakfast every weekend

I love this thread, it's bringing back lots of happy memories.

Going to Nana and Grandad's house for a roast dinner every Sunday along with the rest of the family. We still do this, although Nana is no longer here.

Grandad singing Waltzing Matilda to us before bed whenever we stayed over. He sings it to my DD now.

Watching Match of the Day with dad every Saturday night. We still both watch it every week and phone each other straight after to discuss the matches.

Auntie taking us to a theme park once a year in the summer for a special day out. My sister now does this with my DD.

Dad bringing us home a copy of the Beano and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps whenever we were ill. He did this until I left home when I was 21!

Mum taking us swimming with a group of her friends and their children was a rare but much anticipated trip. We always went for a macdonalds afterwards and a browse around the Disney store.

Grandad driving down to our house with his racing pigeons in a basket on the back seat, and letting us release them on the green in front of our house. He would then drive us back to his house and we would watch to see how long it took them to fly home.

Sleeping over at Auntie's house and her letting us have a takeaway pizza for tea. This was the only time apart from birthdays that we were allowed a takeaway!

Baking soda bread and scones with Nana on a Saturday afternoon.

Going for long walks in the woods with dad and being allowed to climb trees and get our knees dirty, and basically run wild and do whatever we wanted. Mum would never allow this!

Going to see Father Christmas at Selfridges every year, having lunch in the Selfridges restaurant and then spending ages browsing the toy department. I do this with my DD now, though the toy department is rubbish compared to when I was young!

Now that I've written it all down, it is lovely to realise that so many of my lovely childhood traditions have been passed down to my DD.