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

[VoppityHoosh]

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.

I have nothing but photos from my childhood. My Dad had hung on to my favourite soft toy, it was really moth-eaten and decrepit and when Dad died it went in the coffin with him. Seemed more fitting than just binning it.

I only have photos and my Coronation glass

I have nothing from mine I want nothing from mine.

Redrumthehorse More likely she kept the worse reports.

She had them all.

My siblings and I threw everything out when our mother died and dad moved to near my sister. We didn't want it. He didn't want it. It was all a load of old crap so went. Why would you want to keep old crap from when you were a child if you are an adult? It's something I don't understand.

Oh and that includes all photos as well. Dumped the lot. The past is over and done with and only the present matters.

I wouldn’t have dreamt of keeping any clothes, blankets, first shoes, etc, for my children. I do have the red books. And we are cluttered and tend to hoard!

Goshannah, a realive in-laws side did the same, I thought it was strange but no-one on that side of the family did.

A burglary and fire disposed of anything from my childhood, so it's not always a choice.

I have my teddy bear and school reports. I don’t think it’s weird to have nothing. Some people keep stuff, some don’t..

I don’t think it’s unusual at all. I have nothing from my childhood.. but it was a very happy one!

I have nothing, DM put it all in storage and they couldn’t afford to pay the costs so left it all there.

My wife was an Army child.

Her parents moved regularly, both round the country and the world. At 8 she went to boarding school and on occasion left for a new term from one house and returned, at the end of that term to another. (This was usual then, the Army paid)

She has little from her childhood as her Mum had to pack light when her Dad was posted again.

A bit weird but she knew little different as many of her friends were in the same position.

I haven't anything except a couple of photos.

All of my toys were handed down, given away (I was the oldest) and that was that.

I have bits, mainly stuff I boxed and kept/took with me when I left home.

What I don’t have is anything, bar one 40 year old photo, to remember my dad. He died when I was 12, my mum cleared the house immediately and then moved 3 months later.

I had a pair of socks I wore until about 10 years ago until they got to holey to repair.

I don't find it unusual either.

If I have a few things it is because I have kept them, not my parents. They are not sentimental and neither am I. I used to find first opportunity to put school projects and paintings into recycling bin as they used to stress me out, probably as there were 3 of them all coming home with bits to display. Not sure what an adult is supposed to do with their first blanket/ shoes / outfit etc?!

I have nothing other than photos and have kept nothing of the dc other than photos.

I’m really not interested in objects.

Thankfully I kept my dolls house stuff and books, which dd has now. Oh and some photos. But all else gone.

I have pretty much nothing. My Mum had some emotions around THINGS and generally threw everything out. The only reason I have anything belonging to her (well, my Dad does - he refused to give me any of it) is because she died so fast she didn't have time to bin everything!

It makes me sad, not least because my Dad knows nothing about my childhood (worked long hours), and my Mum died before I had children and realised that funny little stories about my childhood would be valuable. I have almost nothing of my early years beyond my own memories.

I don’t think I have anything either. I haven’t especially kept anything for my kids either

I only have a handful of photos from my childhood that family have emailed me, so in digital form. My parents have all the photo albums and a few keepsake items of mine. I have nothing. It's safer for them to keep things as I tend to use minimalism as a coping mechanism from time to time. I should give them things from when DS was younger as he is too much like me, he has little attachment to anything but he might like to see things again when he is older.

I don't have any toys or clothes - probably because they were handed on to other people when I'd done with them, or they were taken to school (my parents were teachers). They also have moved from my childhood home. There are lots of photos though and mum kept things like school reports, certificates and other mementos like first shoes.

Do we think that photo hoarding will be different in the years to come?

I hardly have any from my own childhood and not exactly thousands of my DC, all born before smartphone photography really took off.

As a contrast, a new arrival in our family is about three months old and her loving parents and grandparents must already have 500 photos of her between them on their phones.

Only a few photos and a teddy. Then nothing until I left home (18) and started building my own memories.