Were you left in the car while parents went to the pub?

[ruru1981]

Sorry didn't know where else to put this.

I've just seen this meme on Facebook and so many people are saying this used to happen to them.

Quite a lot said they would sit in the car for hours. Some said they shared a drink between 4 kids. Some said they didn't get a drink. Most are laughing about what would happen if it happened these days.

Did / does this really happen?

Am I lucky that this never happened to us growing up or is this unusual?

Holidays were cool.. On our 'own' on canal boat with one mother whilst others went to pub, other mother came back early, men crashed about the boat when they came back. Puns seemed so mysterious, and 'late' was about half past ten... Then menfolk awake at 6 doing locks, and boat silent.. Very cool alt reality..

But remember being Freezing in beer gardens on hills, as adults inside drinking..

I was left home alone Cinder from a similar age. After school till 6.30 every day and all day all holidays. There wasn't any kids to play out with and I'm an only child so I sat and watched telly all day. Sometimes I was so lonely I would call the speaking clock. When exH opened my board games from my childhood he said he felt like crying - on all the score sheets was Me, Myself an I, where I would play scrabble and monopoly against myself. I remember my childhood as one of loneliness and boredom. Having people to play with really makes all the difference I think.

Some of these posts are so sad. Then some just mention holidays and days out

No.
My dad loves a pub trip and often took one or both of us, and sometimes mum too. Though often it was just me and him as a special treat while mum stayed at home with the baby. A coke and a packet of crisps or twiglets was a massive treat back then!

We were never left outside, if he took us it was to spend time together so we went together. We would either go to a pub that allowed children in one room (often the conservatory) or that had a garden and we would all sit together. We were only ever left alone if we visited an unfamiliar pub when my dad would pop in and ask if he could bring his daughters in, always accompanied by a promise that we would sit down and behave.

Same drill nowadays with his grandchild. Good training for us all

Not really, I had many a Vimto and crisps in the car, but my dad would also be in the car too. I now suspect he had one in the bar too, but we were never left for long.

No, I was never left in a car anywhere and I don't know anyone who was. I think of it as a mn myth!

MrsKoala Mon 12-Jun-17 22:44:02
I was left home alone Cinder from a similar age. After school till 6.30 every day and all day all holidays. There wasn't any kids to play out with and I'm an only child so I sat and watched telly all day. Sometimes I was so lonely I would call the speaking clock. When exH opened my board games from my childhood he said he felt like crying - on all the score sheets was Me, Myself an I, where I would play scrabble and monopoly against myself. I remember my childhood as one of loneliness and boredom. Having people to play with really makes all the difference I think

I'm really so very sorry your childhood was like that Mrs Cinders - I had siblings so never felt lonely as such.

Sometimes I was so lonely I would call the speaking clock

That breaks my heart - to be so lonely as a child to do that xx I do appreciate that I was lucky with parents who put their childrens needs first.

It used to be a thing in our family, we would go out for a drive, usually with my grandparents on my dad's side and they would go into a pub at some point and yes we would get the drink and crisps in the car, much preferred the pub near my mum's relatives where we sat in the foyer, we could look in and see them in the bar. Sounds horrendous now, but we didn't know any different. Oh and can remember being in some very grim family rooms in pubs, usually a tiny room with nothing but a few chairs in it, no bar, and no access to the bar, parents had go back outside and into the bar to get the drinks.

In the 60s coke and crisps were most definitely a treat.

Well for me in my northern two up two down they were.

No, I was never left in a car anywhere and I don't know anyone who was. I think of it as a mn myth!

Certainly not! Plenty of people in their 50s and older will remember this. I also remember the kerfuffle my Dad went through of putting seatbelts on the front seats of the car, none on the back of course.

I blame it all on Thatcher the Milk Snatcher. Everything went downhill after that.

gottaget freedom? You're locked in a car for hours with a packet of crisps...not convinced.

My brother reminded me that when he got married in 1970 they went from the registry office to the pub. I was only 13 so had to sit on the bench outside with a drink and some food!

gottaget freedom? You're locked in a car for hours with a packet of crisps...not convinced

We were not locked in a car....we didn't have one. We played outside! It was never for hours either!

We weren't allowed coke as it was bad for our teeth. However we were allowed lemonade. On good days we were also given a Mars bar to share.
As we got older we were allowed to sit in a corner with other kids.
No idea how long we were left.
Gardens were also popular for us to be left in but we had to stick to one area.

My parents owned a pub when I was a kid and I can always remember one boy regularly sitting in the corridor outside the bar with his panda pop and crisps. We used to go regularly with our mum and dad but either sit in beer garden or inside if family friendly (rare back in those days). Now we take DS about once a week usually for tea but would never leave him in the car

I think some posters belittling other posters childhood experiences is bloody rude actually.

You can hold your hands over your ears and pretend everyone had the same magical childhood as you did but sadly that's crap.

I remember kids in cars outside pubs regularly in the 70s. Maybe those not bekuvibg this are too young to remember.

We were left running around the pub garden and we lived it but my parents knew we were happy and ok. The minute we got bored or tired they took us home.

Some parents put themselves first and the kids last and that has happened since time began and happens now. That's the sad thing.

Yes , every single week without fail, even when it was cold . On my own ( they took my brother inside because he was a cute baby) , it was shit , and always for hours and hours.

As someone who has never heard of this before now, can someone enlighten me?

If parents were the neglectful type to leave their children unnatended in a car outside a pub, then drive home drunk, them why not leave the children at home? Surely it's safer for children to be home alone, and not be driven home by a drunk parent?

My parents weren't pub people but this was quite common round our way.
A few years ago on the overnight north sea ferry, a girl of about 8-10 attached herself to us, she was very sweet, she asked about my daughter's disability (nicely) and appointed herself her guardian in the ball-pool. She was away with her dad who was in the casino/bar bit until late at night. He gave her bags of crisps but left her wandering around. Very sad, we looked out for her as she seemed quite vulnerable, not at all sophisticated and clearly desperate for company. Thinking back I wished we'd said something to her dad or the crew 😕

I don't know why , he used to do a sport all day first and we were expected to be there and help, he was too lazy to take me home or just too eager to get in the pub. It was just what happened , ax a small child you don't have a choice. Often it got quite cold as it got dark too, the fire would be put on in the pub if it was cold but I was in the car, often in shorts and a t shirt if it had been a warm day and in the dark too ( there were street lamps but still).
If you asked them about it now , they would think I was being silly and find it a funny little family story.
Yeah, not actually all that funny when you're on your own as a child though.

As for drink driving , he just didn't care , he thought he was invincible and that rules didn't apply to him. As far as he was concerned he could handle his drink, was a big bloke ( therefore his reasoning was he could drink more then everyone else on the planet and it didn't affect him) , and he was perfectly in control of the car. My mother wouldn't dare go against him, so that was how it was.

If parents were the neglectful type to leave their children unnatended in a car outside a pub, then drive home drunk, them why not leave the children at home? Surely it's safer for children to be home alone, and not be driven home by a drunk parent?

hibbledobble It was classed as a day out. We'd drive out into the country then get dumped in the pub car park if there was no beer garden. In those days beer gardens were a rarity.

I think I would have coped better if I'd had a sibling to keep me company or even other kids to play with. I just felt so awkward being surrounded by (mainly) blokes in their 40's, not knowing what to do or what to say. I spent most of the time in silence whilst my Dad just indulged himself for hours on end.

As I got older, from about 13 I refused to go to the pub with him and he was always quite bemused, as if he couldn't believe that I would rather stay at home on my own than in the company of twats, surrounded by clouds of smoke and the stench of warm beer.

hibble

The 70s were pre drunk driving enforcement and child centred ethos of parenting. Also no real health and safety rules. Think of all that and you might get the 70s way of life and parenting.

Some things are much better now for children but not all.