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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it's a bit unusual to have absolutely nothing from childhood!

118 replies

VoppityHoosh · 01/08/2020 12:42

As in not a single thing? No special teddy, first baby shoes, the blanket knitted by granny?

My husband and his three siblings (all in their 30s) have absolutely nothing left from under the age of about 15 (when they got weekend jobs and were able to buy their own stuff) not a sausage

There is no physical record of their childhood left, apart from a few packets of photos- I've only ever seen about half a dozen photographs of my husband as a child/teen

Pils have nothing stashed in their attic either (I know because I helped them move house) DH says they never did.

They have plenty of ornaments and knickknacks on display, so it isn't minimalism, they were comfortably off and lived in a big house with loads of storage, including a massive attic, so it wasn't a space issue, so I can only assume they aren't sentimental that way (though they have loads of pictures and items that belonged to their own parents/holiday souvenirs on display)

It only really struck me as unusual when I was boxing away some of toddler DD's baby things - I've kept a few outfits, a silver baby bracelet, her baby book and a special blanket, which seems about what most of my friends and family seem to keep (apart from one friend who kept every single thing in the garage for years!)

AIBU to think it's a bit strange? Friends of mine have Lego sets that are being played with after spending a few decades in the grandparents attic, and I've also kept some doll's house furniture for DD when she's older - I don't like clutter but it's nice to pass on one or two special items and keep a few bits for memories.

OP posts:
squeekums · 01/08/2020 13:56

Nothing here
I was estranged at 15
It was only a couple years ago an aunt contacted me and gave me about 12 photos of me, my mother, brother and father
Last I saw of any of my childhood stuff was when I was 15 and my brother had put handwritten for sale signs on everything, he was 12 at time. I assume it all got binned many years ago

Poptart4 · 01/08/2020 13:57

Another one who has nothing from childhood. I have 3 photos of me as a child. I dont care about not having old toys or clothes/blankets. But I would have loved to have more photos. Not just of me but the whole family.

TBH I dont get why people keep some of the stuff you've just listed. When you hand these things to your daughter in years to come, what do you expect her to do with them?

Toddlerteaplease · 01/08/2020 13:58

I was gobsmacked when I mentioned that I'd seen a big yellow teapot in an antique shop. And my parents gave me mine back. I had no idea they'd kept it. I'm amazed that they did. My mum loves chucking stuff out!

BreathlessCommotion · 01/08/2020 14:03

I don't keep stuff, neither of mine had a baby book. I have their hospital bracelets somewhere cos I knew it was sort of the thing to keep them.

I dread a visit from the in laws and associated tat that they bring from dh's childhood. That's said my mum kept a few toys, like duplo that my dc played with.

I'd keep practical stuff like toys, but not other stuff just for sentimental reasons.

Poptart4 · 01/08/2020 14:04

@Toddlerteaplease

I was gobsmacked when I mentioned that I'd seen a big yellow teapot in an antique shop. And my parents gave me mine back. I had no idea they'd kept it. I'm amazed that they did. My mum loves chucking stuff out!
OMG I loved my big yellow tea pot Smile
Feralkidsatthecampsite · 01/08/2020 14:06

I have nothing from my childhood.
Not even my dps as I am nc!!

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 01/08/2020 14:08

My children play with my big yellow teapot at my mum’s.

Floralnomad · 01/08/2020 14:11

I don’t think I have anything from my childhood in my actual house but I think there are some things in my sisters attic , we do have lots of photos . I’m not remotely sentimental and can’t abide clutter but we have kept a few toys from when ours were small and we don’t get rid of Lego . I do have a selection of our 10yrs old dogs puppy teeth but I’ve none of the dcs baby teeth so that probably sums it up really . I do have the children’s hospital bracelets . I fail to see the point in keeping loads of stuff that you in likelihood are never going to see unless you move house and empty out the loft .

NewKittyMeow · 01/08/2020 14:12

I don’t really have much. My mum probably had, but she died ten years ago and I suspect my less sentimental dad may have chucked a lot of stuff when he downsized a few years ago. I do have some books from my childhood, and my treasured favourite doll (whose head unfortunately has fallen off). I don’t even have photos from before I went to uni!

Rebelwithallthecause · 01/08/2020 14:13

I don’t have anything left from my childhood after leaving it behind in a rush when I left my exh in a rush one morning after waiting for him to leave for work

I never went back and he never passed anything on

I had my first teddy that my grandparents bought me that I took everywhere and childhood Christmas decorations that I miss the most

If I think about it too much I get sad still 5 years on

safariboot · 01/08/2020 14:15

It's uncommon but please don't pry. There could be reasons behind it they don't want to discuss.

My DM has very little from my early years because most things were stolen when a removal van went to the wrong address, and were not recovered. Fortunately not everything was on that van.

shallpoetwake · 01/08/2020 14:15

I have nothing, my parents got rid of everything except my diary and my school reports. My mother made a big show of having read my diary repeatedly so I didn't bother keeping it when she presented it to me, as for my school reports they were clearly written to wreck any child's self esteem so they went in the bin too.

Slippy78 · 01/08/2020 14:16

I have nothing. None of it was of any practical value.

okiedokieme · 01/08/2020 14:17

Not a lot pre teens. Clothes were handed down then passed on. The teddies were so moth bitten I had to throw away. I have one doll (got when I was 6) and a couple of ornaments.

eatsleepread · 01/08/2020 14:19

I have nothing. Working class, Glaswegian parents in the 70s. Sentimentality wouldn't have been high on their list! My mother was never particularly maternal.
I have a 'memory box' for each of my children though, despite all the house moves we've had since they were born.

TempestHayes · 01/08/2020 14:21

No, I think most people prefer tidiness and don't keep useless items around. Toys get moved on so other children can play with them. My family never did special blankets or clothes. I had some big clear-outs as a teen to get rid of schoolwork that was piling up, though I kept some schoolbooks for fun. Clothes go to charity.

Yeah, not very sentimental. Plastic toys don't really do it for me. I like photographs and memories, not boxes of stuff.

NewKittyMeow · 01/08/2020 14:22

I do have some keepsakes from when DS was born - his bracelet, the little blue card they put in his cot with his bane and weight on, plus a lock of his hair from his first hair cut. I didn’t purposefully set aside his going home from hospital outfit or anything, though we actually have all his clothes and toys in boxes in the attic because we wanted another child and thought we’d be able to pass them down. Unfortunately that’s now very unlikely so I suppose I should get rid it all but I can’t bring myself to yet.

TempestHayes · 01/08/2020 14:23

In contrast my ILs attic is stuffed with boxes of their 4 adult children. It's not some sort of vintage treasure trove, it's motheaten Barbies and faded Disney tat. None of the adult children are remotely interested in it all, and it's rarely touched.

SantaClaritaDiet · 01/08/2020 14:24

It's the contrast that is mainly unusual.

Having a house full of tat but nothing belonging to your children is weird. Being allergic to clutter of any kind and having streamlined everything would make sense, or having tat AND memories.

SantaClaritaDiet · 01/08/2020 14:27

I have kept and will keep all wooden toys, fisher price, lego, playmobils , books everything that is good quality and will be used again.
They survived in the past, they will be used again. Why getting rid of perfectly good things if you have the space.

LakieLady · 01/08/2020 14:27

All I've got is a few photos and some old school reports, one of which is especially treasured because of the comments of my German teacher: "Lakie could do well if she came to lessons occasionally"!

(She was an old bat, and she hated me, which is why I didn't go, and she was really grudging when I passed my German o-level first time, with a B).

My parents were hoarders, and I have definite hoarding tendencies, so I try and make myself be ruthless when it comes to chucking stuff out. I don't want some poor sod going through the nightmare I went through clearing out their house after they'd gone. If the council tip had given air miles, I could have had a round-the-world ticket, I went there that many times!

MamaGothel · 01/08/2020 14:29

I don't have anything and very few photos. My mother isn't the sentimental type and even now, she would never think to just pull out a camera/phone and take a picture. My OH has his baby blanket but nothing else, I've only ever seen one picture of him as a child.

Lockdownfatigue · 01/08/2020 14:29

I don’t think it’s unusual. I don’t have anything but I don’t need anything. I haven’t kept baby clothes or anything for my dc, it didn’t occur to me. It certainly isn’t that i’m not sentimental or that their childhood moments don’t matter to me. I just don’t feel the need for stuff. I have memories of their childhood and those are the important things.

RedRumTheHorse · 01/08/2020 14:31

@shallpoetwake

I have nothing, my parents got rid of everything except my diary and my school reports. My mother made a big show of having read my diary repeatedly so I didn't bother keeping it when she presented it to me, as for my school reports they were clearly written to wreck any child's self esteem so they went in the bin too.
More likely she kept the worse reports.
Shinygoldbauble · 01/08/2020 14:35

I have nothing from my childhood. We were poor so I never owned much anyway but my parents moved several times so nothing was kept.
I'm a very sentimental person. I'm keeping things for my dc. I have a tiny baby outfit each, some books and toys and art work. I have special cards they've received over the years.
I also bought a couple of my favourite toys from the past on EBay but that was morw for me than my children.
My DH doesn't understand it at all but then his mother still lives in his family home and still has things from his childhood.
I think it depends on the type of person you are.