To wonder how many people think that they had a better childhood than their children are getting?

[Joysmum]

I was chatting fondly about my childhood and it made me realise that the things I most enjoyed, my own DD hasn't got to experience because times have changed.

So what do you remember fondly and will your child's memories when they are an adult match up with yours?

Mixed- the potential was there. Outside, I probably did, went outside a lot, lived in a small town, surrounded by family and people we knew, small school, a lot more freedom all in all, played out on the street. But the home was unhappy, dad left and sister killed herself when I was a kid, there was more tension by far. DD now lives in another country (UK), in a city, probably won't ever play out, quite removed from family, not much of a community feel, but we are better off, the house is happier, she has a lovely soon to be step dad, I make sure she is properly cared for and I think she gets more too, not in a spoilt way, but she's treated more. I think she definitely has a happier home and life currently, but I do wish she had some of the experiences I had, like being able to just go out and play, or having the house filled with relatives and people down the road and so on.

I am determined to do everything in my power to make sure my son is happy and doesn't have to endure what I did and my sisters did. Determined.

I am determined to do everything in my power to make sure my son is happy and doesn't have to endure what I did and my sisters did. Determined

^^^ exactly this!

We had tonnes of freedom to roam. My mum didn't really have to keep us busy in the holidays. She could get on with her own thing. My dad worked long hours and wasn't that hands on. My mum didn't work until I was ten We seemed to play more imaginative games then as not as much tv comp games etc. though mine do play games it's for less time than I did

My dcs do a lot more with us as a family. We have more holidays.

My dh is home a lot earlier than my dad ever was and I'd say they eat better. We had a lot of cheap early processed food mixed with home cooked I work for myself but am home for the kids pretty much as all the time or dh or gps have them.

My kids do not have the freedom we had which is very sad but when I'm out with a group of friends we are trying to give them more freedom as a group It's hard though. Which is mad as it's no more likely to happen now

On paper they are. Married parents, bigger house, more money, more stuff.

I don't know if that actually translates into 'better' though.

I had a much better childhood than mine are getting. I didn't have a sibling who died when we were little and bereaved parents.

I think my DC have a better child hood than I did.

I've made a conscious effort to give my DC what I longed for as a child.

Mine are having a much more stable homelife than I did, which I am glad of. Though my childhood was in a wide extended family, my DC only really have DH and I which makes me sad for them a little.

It was my friends that made my childhood.

Mum used to send us out with a packed lunch and really didn't see us till tea time.

I am determined to make memories that I am in for my DC

There are some things I wish I could have given my DS that I had, and many experiences that I went through that I am glad my son has not.

And things I wish I could have protected my son from - most likely as my parents wished for me.

I hope, as my parents did, that I am doing the best I can, and that my son will see that as he gets older as I have

You do the best you can, with what you have, and hope that is enough, even while feeling there is more that you could have done.

I love my son, my parents love me. That may not end all inequalities or stop unfortunate incidents but it is enough, and I am very grateful to my parents for their care of me, as a child, as an adult, and their support of my son now.

Its hard raising a child in practical terms, much more so in emotional terms, I hope I have passed on the best of my parents care, minimised the worst, and that my son can do the same for his future children.

DS will have a better childhood beause we live in a different more child friendly more egalitarian society, but his schooling will not be as good as mine. Although he wont be as anxious about school as i was.

Mine do because its not a disaster zone of drunken df and trapped dm.
And I talk to them, run the house as a democracy not a dictatorship. We talk about everything, discuss everything and love each other very much, openly.

Its better recently as they grew up in the ME, and now they are in the sticks in the UK and enjoying being dc with next door dc, running wild in the fields and building dens etc. I did all that too, but I didn't have parental support. My dc, I hope, will want that for their dc, if they have them.

I read once that you always try to recreate your own childhood. I have, but without the shit dh.

Reasons why my son's life is better...

Definitely better off financially
Breastfed and co-sleeping into toddlerhood and beyond
Likely to stay in one are and make lifelong friends

Reasons why my son's life isn't better...

Too much shit food
Absolutely no space
Will not be able to tramp through fields and hedgerows for hours on end.
Probably going to to end up in a fairly shit school

I think my dd's would love the freedom I had when I was young. She'd love to spend all day riding up and down the road but there's no kids ever play out even though the roads are quite quiet.

Definitely better. We live in a beautiful place in South America, they play out, have the oppurtunity to be bilingual, are loved every single moment and know it, get more toys, games and attention, and also have better discipline. The food is better than my home country if I'm honest and society as a whole is much more child friendly imo.

I think my childhood was the best. My parents think theirs was. I'd put good money on my children thinking they had it best. They'll love today's modern technology, pity my Megadrive and grow up to lament whatever scary new things their kids are into in the 2040s.