To wonder if anything from childhood still annoys you?

[Blackcloudsbrightsky]

It's not ATAAT, honestly it isn't!

It is a continuation of that though - I wondered if anyone else remains annoyed at something that happened when they were a child?

I have a strange relationship with food and I know that stems from childhood - won't go into it here.

Two things that do annoy me still when I think about them are the car journeys. I suffer from severe motion sickness (people have tried to 'cure' me in the past by insisting I'll be fine if I look out of a window or suck a sweet HA I will spray your car and it serves you right!) but my parents still used to drive MILES all the time, from the midlands to the south of France and even Italy I spent days hot and nauseous and vomiting and everyone else was miserable too and I was blamed for their misery!

I also remain bitter about being smacked at primary school for wetting myself! Pretty sure it was illegal to do that!

So I am wondering if anyone else has injustices from childhood that grate still

About 4 or 5 was out with some really good friends of my parents and their children. Their dd was 1 year older than me and been into a nt shop and bought this really cool cat badge for 30p. I had 30p and begged my parents to take me there so i could buy this badge. They refused and wanted to get on to next nt place. Their dd showed off about this badge for the rest of the time we were there. Also remember wanted to buy a plastic snoopy and parents refused to let me spend my money my dg had just given us. I think i moaned about it for 2 days ( ungrateful child) and leaving me and my sister at my dg they went out for the day and came back with a plastic snoopy. Trouble was it wasnt the right one id be admiring so i remember having to thank them but hated the one they had chosen. This being the 1980s we had limited toys (any money sent was saved for us) and the snoopy i wanted had skis on (same price for both). Never understood why they bought me one after saying no.

When I was 7, we had to make a dinosaur as a school project. My parents did their best to help, but they worked full time and couldn't afford fancy materials etc. Other children's dinosaurs were ornate and professional looking.

At the open day that week, all the dinosaurs were on display except mine. I found it hidden under the table, as it was really basic. Still remember the humiliation now. Similar incidents throughout primary school.

I'm very short sighted . I'm originally from Ireland , moved to England aged 6.
Was waiting for new glasses to be made ( late 70's, took a couple of weeks) when stared school.All my school reports stated that I had sight problems and needed to be very close to the blackboard. Teacher didn't read my notes, put me at the back of the class and then kept me after school because I'd copied the work down incorrectly and called me lazy.
Luckily my dad came into the school to find me and reported her to the very apologetic head teacher.

I asked my teacher how to spell "circus". She told me to look it up. I spent ages looking under "S". When I eventually went back to her she said "You stupid girl, of all people you should know that you can make "s" sound with "c" ". (My name ends in "ce" sounding "s").

Of all the things that stay with me, possibly the one that affected me most into adulthood and still now is coming home to find my parents rearranging my bedroom and moving stuff. I appreciate it wasn't tidy, but I knew where everything was (honestly!) and they messed it all up and threw some stuff away.

I am consequently really agitated when other people touch or "tidy" my stuff, especially throwing anything away without checking with me first, something DH has just about got the hang of not doing and MIL has yet to fully learn.

Beetroot and porridge. Hated then, hating now. Boak!

On holiday one summer (I was younger than four as my brother wasn't around) I did not want to go in the sea, only the rockpools. One day my dm shouted at me and broke my fishing net in half and threw it away as punishment for my sea-aversion. I was clearly spoiling her of a perfect family holiday but I think it was a little harsh!

My DM would often make promises to take me and DB somewhere like to the zoo or the cinema, and then at the last minute break that promise and get horribly stroppy when we pointed out how upset we were.

I think as a child I can count on one hand the number of times we ever had a nice day out treat somewhere. I still think now it was because she just couldn't be bothered, my DM is a bit of a cold fish and has never told us she loves us and has never hugged us. I know that does but she doesn't know how to express it. As adults both me and DB are very huggy with friends and family and DM just doesn't get it at all.

Continually missing the Muppet Show as a kid due to endless interminable Sunday lunches with GP's who had a crappy B&W telly that didn't work on ITV. (GD thought all telly was brain-rotting rubbish and would only play Radio 3).

Everyone going to sleep after said interminable Sunday lunch leaving 8-year-old me climbing the walls with boredom and cabin fever. (My DM says she hated those Sundays with a passion as well).

Never being allowed to watch Grange Hill. Because again, TV was the work of the devil.

My mum accusing me of being responsible for kicking in my boater when I was about 14. I had nothing to do with it and didn't even see it till I came home. When I told my mum this she said I should have tied it tighter to the coat peg.

I was bullied horrendously in school.
Bullied to the point of attempting suicide with the tie from my dressing gown.
Luckily for me it snapped, but not before I had done enough damage that I had burst some blood vessels in my eyes.

A teacher asked me what happened and I broke down in tears and told her.
When she said she would ring my mum I begged her not to because I was scared she would be angry with me. She then said "I don't think you really tried to kill yourself did you, you just wanted the attention"
And she didn't ring my mum.

She should NEVER have said such a thing and she should have called my mum and someone should have gotten me the help I needed but was too scared to ask for.

Picked some daisies off the school field when I was about 5 for my teacher as a little gift. She screamed at me not to go picking flowers! The field was full of them, not like there was a national shortage if daisies ffs

In terms of late childhood, I still think about what subjects I had to take for GCSE 20 years later. I really wish we hadn't had to do Design and Technology as I was rubbish at it and got a low grade, despite my dad working in a related area. I think they changed it soon after and people didn't have to take it. I also think I underperformed in Maths and could have done better if I had worked harder, and the teaching could probably also have been better.

I wonder if my parents could have looked into sending us to a grammar school around 6 miles away and probably reachable by bus. (I don't recall it ever being mentioned by teachers either). I remember my mum saying that she didn't like that particular school, but I have no idea why - I don't think she'd ever had any dealings with it.

When I was 12 and on a school trip to France I vaguely remember there being some kind of disco and I wasn't dancing - the coach driver said that if I did not go up and dance he would slap me around the face - what an awful thing to say to a child.

to all those with much worse things to recount.

My mother met my step father when I was 6 and she was 36 and moved him in the next day...he was 17. My brother was the same age and she kicked him out because he was upset about it. What really hurt was his birthday is a day before mine he would get cake, lots of cards and presents then the next day all I would get was a card. Even now I don't celebrate my birthday and hate birthday cards. He was horrible to me but lovely to my sister (5yrs older). I remember being about 8 and it was Boxing Day we went to his mothers house where all his brothers and sisters were there with their children. All the children had a pile of presents to open including my sister except me I just sat there desperate to cry.

When my sister turned 18 my mother threw a huge party and paid for her to go to Australia for a month, again just a card on my 18th. When she left for university I wasn't allowed the big bedroom it had to be kept for my sister.
My mother paid my sisters rent/food all through university and sent her 'pocket money' every week which meant I never had new clothes or went anywhere.

Good grief, some of these are horrible.

I suspect DD's complaint in 20 years' time will be 'I really really wanted a dog and you said you'd think about it.' (I've thought about it and I think it'd be ill-advised!)

When I was 6 our elderly neighbour asked me to go to the shop with her. I told her I'd ask my mum. She told me she'd already asked and it was fine. So off I went happily. When we got to the shops she spent an interminable amount of time talking to various people and told me to shut up when I said I needed to get back She was quite nasty actually. When we did come back the police were there and my mum was crying. I told her what the old woman said. When the police spoke to her she flatly denied saying it and said that I followed her! When the police went I got battered off both of my parents. (Seemed quite common in those days to physically assault a child for speaking up). As soon as I was able to talk to my parents without fear of physical assault I told them about the lying woman and how upset I was to have been accused of lying and then beaten. My mum at least had the decency to blush and murmur something about "different times back then".
As a child she wasn't the only adult I came across to make an innocent child out to be a liar so I sure as hell don't believe that there aren't still grown ups that do this now. My kids don't seem to have encountered anything like this though. Maybe because adults know there's less chance of getting away with it?! I don't know.

I wanted a pound puppy. We were in smiths, there was a pound puppy, but we had to go for some stupid reason. It will be here when we come back. It wasnt. I was so upset as i had wanted one for ages.

Also, at brownies. I had to keep a houseplant alive for 6 weeks. My mum planted it in the garden. When brown owl asked what had happened to it and i told her she sneered but it was a house plant. I think i growled through gritted teeth: I. Know.

Oh Nantucket that is horrible. Who would ever think it is a good idea to make a 17yo the step father of your children, a male who is barely older than childhood himself? It sounds like you are worth ten of them.

I've got too many to mention, usually featuring my mother not backing me up to the advantage of my brother or cousin or friends' kids. I recognise a lot of what people have put. Anyway here are some of mine:

My dad coming back from work unexpectedly early to hear me and my brother arguing. When he asked my mother who started it she said me - it wasn't - she did it to protect my brother which she usually did, thinking he'd be softer on me than my brother. I got a backhander for that so hard I hit the doorframe and fell to the floor.

My cousin staying over, 2 years older than me, ganging up on me with my brother who was the same age. I got sent to my bedroom for reacting. My mother's response - well I could hardly send your cousin to bed. No, but you could have told her to stop.

Ganging up on me with my grandmother to belittle me, or saying nothing in my defence when remarks were made about how stubborn, naughty, miserable, unhappy, awkward and unfriendly I was while my brother's nicknames from my nan were sausage, chick, sunshine - ooh isn't he so happy and easy going. I had 15 years of that - being the one that's not quite as good as the other.

A teacher one: accused of copying which I didn't do. The girl next to me and I got the same answers which were correct yet I was asked continually Did you cheat, I'll ask you again did you cheat, this is the fifth time, did you cheat, until I said yes to shut the bitch up.

Bought an ice cream by my mother's friend along with the other kids. She didn't ask what I wanted and got me chocolate which I don't like. Mother told me to not be so ungrateful and when I said I really don't like it she ate it so everyone had ice cream but me. Fucking lovely.

Brother got £500 for his 21st. I got a card. I was away at the time and had promises of we'll get you something when you're back. Never happened.

Loads of other stuff. I don't talk to them anymore. Don't miss them either but I miss a sense of family.

growing up I remember my step mother (who hates me)'s parents would give my brother money, gifts & cards for his birthday, Xmas, Easter etc and take him to posh restaurants & events with my dad and step mum but I didn't even get acknowledged. I just grew up thinking that was normal. When I turned 18 everyone in my family went away on holiday leaving me on my own at home. My friends and boyfriend didn't even acknowledge it was my birthday. I was in bed in tears by 8.30pm :( My uncle did post a card through the door when I had taken the dog for a walk so I missed him.

Some of these are awful. Mine isn't so bad.

If I didn't do well in a test at school and told my Mum that everyone else did badly too, she would always say she didn't care about anybody else. Well yes I get that, but if the whole class did badly then surely it was either a hard test or had been badly taught.

I once made a little book about my hamster, I was maybe 6? I gave it my mum, while they sat in the living room with a few friends and left.....only to hear my mum taking the piss out of the spelling mistakes ang generally mocking my effort for laughs! My face was burning, and I realised then that any love or care shown from her was an act.

Having the foul-mouthed, bullying 15 year old sister of a friend threaten me when I was about 8. She accused me of not allowing her sister to play with us.
I had literally just come out of my house after lunch so didn't know what she was shouting about and every time I tried to tell her she roared "BULLSHIT!" at me. I was so angry that she didn't believe me.

I hated that my mum had very little patience and I spent quite a few years tiptoeing around her frequent bad moods. I still remember that pain in the pit of my stomach when I'd realise she was in A Bad Mood and we'd have to stay out of her way. I realise now she had an atrocious perimenopause and horrific mood swings but it was rough to be small in my house.

I am deaf, and as a child no-one realized (pretty horrific home situation). One day at age 7-8, after spelling many words incorrectly (teacher read them aloud, we had to write them), I was made to stand in the bin in front of the class for being "stupid."

French teacher, Mrs Jackson at Medina High School on the Isle of Wight in the 90's, said I had "selective hearing" and made me do the same oral French G.C.S.E exam as everyone else. I got a D.

Having had a cochlear implant last year, I hardly think I was inventing things and deliberately ignoring the teacher.

Was generally written off as having behavioral issues. No one thought to ask what life was like outside school (looking after 3 younger siblings, taking them to and from school, alcoholic, violent parents, sexual abuse by neighbor that resulted in a court case at 16).

For all that, I have two degrees from an RG uni, and have my PhD Viva on the 16th Oct. So, not very eloquently, fuck em all for writing me off.

Godstopper - best of luck for your viva!