It’s 5.30 on the Sunday nights of our childhoods. AIBU to ask you what you are doing?

[StudentProblems]

It is 5.30 on any Sunday night of your childhood. For me it’s approximately 1997. I am having my hair nit combed in the front room, having been told off for not eating all my roast pork. Dad is messing around with the fire because it won’t draw properly. It’s all a bit tense.

What are you doing?

1970s

I would be waiting eagerly for the top 20 countdown on the radio. Tape recorder at the ready !

WaitIng to eat a roast and apple crumble, having been for a forced march earlier. Later on, as a teen, I'll be listening to Annie Nightingale and doing my maths homework. According to my diary from when I was 11, I would have watched Lorna Doone and All Creatures Great and Small.

1994 here...

I’ve given up my entire day to help at my local riding stables for a 10 minute ride up the field while watching all the rich kids have fun with their own ponies...

I’m now been picked up showered and recoding the top 40 while I can hear Pavarotti and smell roast beef cooking downstairs..

Giggle around the table with my sisters (while our DP’s have no idea what about) homemade apple tart and then the pots for us while DP’s disappear onto the living room for Antiques road show.

Having a bath whilst listening to the church bells ringing and feeling desperately sad and down about the thought of school tomorrow.

Trying desperately to record the theme tune to Howard’s Way from the telly onto a cassette deck but some fucker always talked over it! 😂

1997, in my pyjamas having had a bath (and nit comb) eating cheese on toast in front of antiques roadshow having been to my nans for Sunday lunch.

Sunday tea with crumpets, home made cakes and biscuits (having had a Sunday roast for lunch). In front of Antiques Roadshow or Ski Sunday. 1980s.

Late 80s for me. Sunday was the only day my parents were home as they both worked long hours. The rest of the week we would be collected from school by our grandparents and stay there until 7ish, when our parents would pick us up. Saturday we’d be at our grandparents house all day so Sunday was our favourite day of the week.

5.30 my mum would be cooking and me, db and ds would be watching wrestling with my dad in the living room. We’d all fight over who got to sit on his lap, so he’d usually end up with all of us. After dinner, we’d get all our things ready for school have a bath then hot chocolate and read until bedtime.

From the late 60s always ate my tea - sandwiches - at about 5.30pm and left at 6pm to go to Evensong. I was in the choir from the age of 10. Home about 8pm or a bit later, as after I started learning the organ, I used to stay and talk to the organist and we'd chant our favourite psalms together.
Once home I'd do my dreaded English essay that was always due in on a Monday morning. We had an English teacher that had been a journalist and my standard mark from her was B-, no matter how hard I tried, so I used to leave it until the last possible minute. It was a shame, I 'd loved writing essays in primary school. 5 years of hell in secondary school. I used to do it in the sitting room on my knee as it was the only room with a fire, the rest of the house was like a fridge. There'd be tea and home made cake at some point.

dad would be working and Id be ready for bed after having had a roast chicken dinner. I would have been out in the morning exploring and probably be round to the sweet shop two street down to buy some liquorice

@LApprentiSorcier

It's the early 80s and I'm just sitting down for tea. As it's winter there'll be hot sausage rolls in addition to the tinned meat, bread and butter and salad. My mum's telling me off for putting too much ketchup on my plate.

We're allowed Radio 1 on in the background for the charts - the rest of the week it's Radio 4 and 'Just a Minute' and we have horrible casseroles and faggots and things, so Sunday Tea is the highlight of my culinary week. After tea I'll have my bath and wash my hair, and then plait it while it's wet in an attempt to make it look as though it's been crimped.

If I sit quietly reading an Enid Blyton, my parents might forget to send me to bed so I can see the beginning of 'That's Life' with all the rude vegetables.

Ha! Glad to find another That's Life rude vegetable lover. My best friends' parents thought it was vulgar so she wasn't allowed to see it. I was so grateful for my fairly libertarian parents and their dodgy sense of humour!

Late 70s -Antiques Roadshow? Songs of Praise? Boring Sunday telly anyway Then a buffet tea, served on the breakfast bar- salad, cold meat and cheese, bread and butter and possibly the unbroken biscuits from the broken biscuit box.

After that, either table football or a jigsaw, whichever had been set up on the dining room table.

It’s the late 60s. I’m down the Prom (on the Thames at Gravesend) and we’ve taken a radio to listen to the Top 20. It’s a nice warm summer afternoon and we’re currently listening to ‘Dock of the Bay’ by Otis Redding 😊😊

late 1980s; we'd have had the radio on "Evensong" - not actually a service broadcast like radio 3 does, but a programme of church music. My mother probably singing along (and maybe us a bit at times too). (I didn't grow up in the UK)

I think Gladiators was on on Saturday nights

5.30pm?

Is that News then Antique Road Show whilst making sure you avoid Songs of Praise at all costs, Time? Then watching Countryfile.

Not a lot has really changed.

BBC schedule for the closest Sunday night to Now but in 1985

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1985-02-03

And the charts

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio1/england/1985-02-03

Me and my Dad would have been dancing in the front room for at least two hours by now, then bath, hair wash and begging to stay up to watch That's Life!

Early-mid 80s. Sitting on the floor, listening to the charts with my sister in the billiard room. Eating sandwiches made of crisps and cheese (the only time we were ever allowed to eat early, and not at the table, having had a full Sunday lunch at 1PM with grandparents in attendance, too). Had a finger poised over 'record' on the great big cassette player bit of the "hi fi system", in the hope of cutting off the DJ and just getting the music. Arguing with DSis (if she wasn't letting me have Duran Duran on the car-cassette, I wasn't going to let her have Agadoo).

Then waiting for the big highlight of the week - Annie Nightingale. I remember the first time I heard Two Tribes on her show - the 12" version. God, I was excited.

Then bath and hair-wash.

I did the bath and hair-wash routine with my DC on Sunday nights when they were little. They were bathed every day, but Sunday bath was a bit different. It was the five minutes of the week when DD's hair wasn't all tangly.

Probably just finished bread and butter tea, waiting for water to heat up so that I can have a bath and hair wash. It would take hours for my long hair to dry! Would be allowed to watch a bit of ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’ as I got older.
Once a month we would travel by car to see relatives who lived about 50 miles away, the return journey was always freezing in the winter as there was no heater in the car!
When I went to bed I loved reading Enid Blytons Famous Five books, snuggled up in bed under blankets and a floral feather eiderdown. Waking up in the morning there would be lovely ice patterns on the inside of the bedroom window! This was the 1950s.

Late 80s, would have been antiques roadshow and a Sunday tea, my mum always made a pot of tea (every other day we just had mugs ) and there would be crumpets, sandwiches and cake. I loved it but that bloody antiques roadshow music still gives me that horrible end of the weekend feeling!

Squeezing the water out of my American Tan tights .

It's the 70's. Just had a bath and dressed in nightie, dressing gown and socks and slippers. I will wrap myself up in a blanket in front of the fire and watch the Onedin Line later with my sister Mum and Dad. There's a fire in the grate but hardly enough to warm any of us. We don't eat or drink anything after 'tea' at five O' clock.

Mid - late 90s. Watching stars in their eyes after bath with sister & 3 cousins!
Mum would be ironing school uniform including socks & knickers!
We used to have all the family over for a Sunday morning walk followed by a Sunday roast then bath & tv.

Whod of ever thought Sunday’s spent with family would be a thing of the past.

Oh watching antiques roadshow after having dinner. Exactly as we’ve done tonight 35 years on. And I’m happy.

I'm remembering c1965. I am 8. We have had our weekly bath (2 older sisters so I am 3rd in same water) as it's winter the only bit of me remotely warm is the bit under water. Above water 100% goosebumps.

The Black and White Minstrel Show is on TV. I didn't understand why blokes in black make-up and short curly wigs were singing to white ladies in Gingham dresses. Was perplexed then, let alone now.

After bathing we are all dressed in clean vests, pants and nightgowns. Nice and toasty from the airing cupboard.

We all reassemble in the lounge (or sitting room) to watch the Morecombe & Wise Show. When we are sent to bed we can hear our parents wetting themselves lol'ing over something called "Monty Pythons Flying Circus". I cannot understand why we are not allowed to watch a circus!

The bed is freezing cold when we first get in (single bed, two at top, one at bottom). Mum puts some coats on the bed to keep us warm.

When we are settled down we all call out "Venus in Blue Jeans" (a popular song at the time), which was the signal for Mum to come back upstairs and kiss us goodnight.

I can hear that call now. I would call it tonight, but she cannot come and kiss me goodnight anymore.