To ask for your 80s/90s childhood memories

[Taptaptapster]

I've been reading the current thread about things that were different about childhood in the past, but most of the posters are talking about the 60s and 70s (I guess the Mumsnet demographic skews older than I imagine it!).

I was born in the 80s, and while some stuff about my childhood was different, it was nothing like as extreme as the posts on that thread.

For example

• we played out, but not far from home and my parents always knew where we were
• we had child car seats and always used seatbelts
• nobody in my family smoked. At primary, I think teachers smoked in the staffroom, but never in front of the kids. By secondary , they had to hide somewhere off site.
• I was smacked if I was naughty, but never experienced any of the crazy violence described on the other thread.

So, tell me your 80s and 90s childhood memories. AIBU to think we were the luckiest generation of all??

I was born early 80’s

my mum never knew where we were, my Dad was always at work. Both parents, all grandparents and family friends smoked. Don’t recall seeing teachers smoke but went to quite a posh secondary school.

I was smacked, occasionally I was slapped across the face for minor infractions.

But yes I’d take my wildly free childhood and teenage years over growing up any time since. The internet and social media have ruined so many things.

Kids still play out near me.

No gratuitous violence for me either.

Boglins, Funfax, hedgehog crisps.

where is the other thread - im too old for this one!

Cherry knocking.

Nicking my dad's fags.

Pogs.

Actual summers.

I was born in the 80s. We played out all the time. Parents had a vague idea where we were sometimes. We wore seat belts unless we were in a car without them (some back seats didn't have them) or there were loads of kids squashed in. We were allowed out from primary school to roam the streets at lunchtime from around 6 or 7, loads of kids walked home for lunch. Every public space had a smoking and a no smoking section. I was smacked but never hard enough to leave a mark.

I remember TV being a lot more crap, but more of a family activity like saturday night we would all watch Gladiators or Noel's house party

I can't remember how any of us managed to make plans and meet up using only landline phones

Buying CDs and tapes in Woolworths and listening to the whole album/ b sides on singles

Born in the 80s too - playground equipment was different then!

Playing out, lived rurally and covered huge distances between friends houses.

My best memories are going absolutely everywhere on my bike, Saturday morning TV as a child as a special treat, my parents had no clue what after school clubs I did in secondary (took myself everywhere), I used to go out with friends from 13 and get up to lots, played out a lot, my parents had no clue what homework I was set and barely knew what GCSEs I was taking, I spent hours on the phone to my best girlfriends from about 10 years old, talking about not very much.
I also remember cherry knocking and water balloon fights and long days at the beach in the freezing cold, but really fun. We went to the South of France on holiday a few times and it was incredibly hot. We saw extended family incredibly frequently. Lots of Sunday roasts.
And yes to 90s summer holidays! Best times ever and no control from any adults either.

Phone cards featured heavily 😆

I loved tv growing up. We used to watch a lot of sitcoms and quiz shows.

Yes Woolworths sweets and pick and mix and teen mags.

I'm one of 5 siblings. We were born from 1970 up to 1986.

My brother is the youngest born 86.

We found his communion book thing a few years ago so would have been from the early 90s.

He had to draw a picture of his family. In his picture my mum and dad were smoking and he had written 'this is my dad, he smokes superkings, my mum smokes Benson and hedges'

😬😬😬

So that was pretty bad lol

I don't remember any adults not smoking around that time.

Another thing we used to do in the early 90s, was 'rough it'

So a big group of friends would all lie to their parents about who was staying at each others house etc., but we would just stay out all night, walking around. Absolutely fucking crazy when I think about it. I must have been about 14/15 so that will have been 91/92.

My parents didn't have a clue where I was.

Getting £5 from your mum and being able to get the bus to the local town centre, get a McDonald’s, the latest CD single and still having change. God I loved wandering around the shopping centre with my friends as a young teen.

I remember spending the whole weekend trying on various outfits in high street shops and buying 1 item only!

The summer holidays were always sunny for 6 weeks and we’d play out dusk until dawn

Boy bands and having a friend being properly in love with a stranger and love sick about it, and top of the pops.

I remember being home alone after school and having jobs to do like prep for tea and walk the dog.

I remember one TV which meant we learnt to share and take turns and kids TV went off at 5:30 with neighbours and then the 6pm news meant we got told to be quiet or go and play elsewhere.

We played outside and roamed and roamed. Built dens with proper tools, built go karts, played in the local river and up trees. Went swimming and into town on our own as we were expected to be able to catch a bus and know how to get off.

I remember getting 10 penny sweets as a treat and that was our treat for the week not a daily bag of chocolates , chocolate cereal, chocolate spread butties, chocolate milk etc.

I remember shell suits, bin bag halloween costumes, parties at home with jelly and ice cream and party games and not being allowed to keep prizes won in party games (as I as the birthday girl had enough so it was rude my mum said).

I got smacked as a kid for being naughty or answering back. I remember my mum being a stickler for table manners - no elbows on the table, no talking with food in your mouth or leaving the table.

I collected wuzzles, keypers, sweet secrets, He-Man, garbage pail kid cards and rubbers!

80s baby here! Grew up in the 90s mainly - used to play outside in the summer holidays from morning until night, it was Scotland and it didn’t get dark until after 10pm! So we just used to pop in now and again for meals or to check in to show we were still alive. Often didn’t go further than our street or next street, but our parents usually didn’t have a clue where we were if we ventured out further like to another side of our town or one of the many forest areas in our town.

Many of my teachers smelled of coffee and cigarettes but they didn’t smoke in front of us - only in the staffroom! No one in my family smoked but many of my friends parents did smoke inside and I felt sorry for their kids as some had asthma and/or hated it.

Didn’t have much supervision in the playground and anyone could walk into the playground /school. We didn’t have those security gates and buzzers all school do now.

Spent a lot of time on my bike cycling to see friends and just getting around. Also had rollerskates and then progressed to roller blades.

I wasn’t allowed sleepovers but most of my friends were and they would always be at each others house and their parents didn’t really know each other and had often not ever spoken!

I loved the library well into my teens and it used to be open until about 9pm when I was in primary school.

They were amazing times! There was a lot wrong with the 90s too but overall I think kids had a better time then than now.

I was born at the end of the 80s. I loved my childhood we walked home from school and stopped at the local park with most of the other kids from school and our parents didn’t worry. The weekends watching live and kicking and then off on our bikes. My mum would give us a pound to get a pack of crisps and Freddy and a bottle of panda pop. you weren’t allowed back in the house all day but had to be back before the street lights came on which was sometimes up to 10pm in the summer. We used to drink from a hosepipe when we got thirsty 😁 if you did go back home you would get one warning to go back out or you had to stay inside. I remember people smoking in restaurants and there being a smoking and no smoking area even though the smoke was everywhere. My dad use to smoke in his chair in the living room next to a window that was opened to let the smoke out.
water balloon fights and knock down ginger.

We played outside and roamed and roamed. Built dens with proper tools, built go karts, played in the local river and up trees. Went swimming and into town on our own as we were expected to be able to catch a bus and know how to get off.
I remember getting 10 penny sweets as a treat and that was our treat for the week not a daily bag of chocolates , chocolate cereal, chocolate spread butties, chocolate milk etc

Yes. All this!

You have described my childhood 😊

I was born late 70s. I didn't play outside much except for the garden though would sometimes have neighbouring kids play in our garden. I spent most of my time reading or playing barbies in my room.

Birthday parties were usually held at home and involved party games, jelly and ice cream, cheese and pineapple sticks made into a "hedgehog".

I am just old enough to remember the seatbelt law being introduced. Before that we didn't really wear them in the back. I remember they were uncomfortable when I was smaller. There weren't many booster seats so I used to sit on a cushion on the back seat.

Also, kids tv was great. When I was very little I loved Mr Ben, Pigeon Street, Chockablock, Button Moon. When I was older we had Dogtanian and Willly Fog. And Phillip Schofield in the broom cupboard with Gordon the Gopher.....

Grew up in the eighties too - born in 81.

• My parents smoked but v rarely smacked me, did happen a few times but not so often.

think the biggest differences to how my kids are growing up are:

• more freedom to roam - grew up in a village and we roamed all over the village and surrounding forest, parents didn’t know where we were, had cats and a dog too and they roamed freely too!

• No mobile phones! Again, freedom! But also, so much more confusion and missed appointments, right? Calling someone’s house and not getting hold of them, leaving a message and family members forgetting to pass it on. Meeting someone somewhere and if they didn’t turn up or were late, no way to contact them. But also, remember how in a way we were more involved in each others lives? People would call and kids would pick up the phone and take messages for their parents and vice versa.

• no social media, flow tv and no streaming services, so everyone watched the same things so more sense of community

• people traveling less abroad - most people has holidays in counties closer to home or even didn’t go abroad - so less awareness of the wider world but less pressure to keep up too!

• less awareness of mental health/psychology. This was a bad thing! Adults didn’t usually consider kids feelings a lot.

• more stereotypical gender roles and NO awareness of sexual harassment! All the stuff we girls event through that girls today thankfully wouldn’t put up with.

• a more relaxed approach to academic performance than what is the case today. More space for kids to be kids and not already aspiring for a career from primary school.

so on balance, some things were better and some things worse.

I think my kids have a great childhood in some aspects and some aspects less so. And was same for me!
no time is better than another. Just different. (Expect if there is war or natural catastrophe etc of course).

Ordering practical jokes from catalogues.
A young Rik Mayall reading out George’s Marvellous Medicine, with lots of energy, imitating Grandma’s screeching voice.
The Crystal Maze.

I was born late 80s and didn't know any close adults who smoked.

We always wore seatbelts, i could play on my road but not cross it.

My grandad would come into school to tell wwii stories.

My mum was very chill and i would watch satc age 14 with her as my tv in my room only played videos. But at some point i got a signal and watched eurotrash.