what do kids nowadays not have that others think is normal?

[8268768xc]

Piggybacking on the other thread about childhood — what do children today not have that we all considered completely normal growing up?

I sometimes feel that my kids have a lot, but we do live in a flat, and they seem a bit embarrassed about that. For us, it was a conscious choice. However, I wonder whether in the future they might feel that it singled them out or made them feel different.

A bicycle (or at least one that was used as a regular form of transport)!

I remember having a bike as a source of freedom - I rode it to school and to friends and clubs etc. - it was a regular mode of commute, and I loved the freedom it provided!

I agree with this. However, there is hope. I was on the bus with a lady and a toddler. The toddler was standing on the seat and mum was pointing out all the things we passed. She got him to count how many birds he could see, and told him to look out for yellow flowers, etc.

I felt like congratulating her.

Blockbusters 😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣 and the panic when you realise your going to be late returning it so have to dash to the letterbox to post it through.

99 ice cream being actually 99p

the ice lollies split in 2 on sports day

pick n mix actually being a penny a sweet !

spud guns

This made me laugh and brought back memories

What I'm seeing is a lack of secure housing, housing that isn't financially crippling their parents, social housing and dentists. SEN schools, appropriate educational settings.

A house phone. I'd ask my Dad if I could call my friend, and was told 'they're only 200 yards up the toad, go and knock on the door' 😆

And the little local video shops - God help you if you hadn't rewound your rental VHS 😆

It’s one think I really miss 🤣🤣

like I feel there is so much chose at your finger tios now it’s actually more stressful picking a movie to watch !

DGS aged 2 goes to the library. DS2 and DDIL registered him there within weeks of his birth because that’s where the HV is for weighing etc. It’s also where there’s toddler and music groups he goes to. He picks out books every week and if he particularly likes one then we’ll buy it for him, although he’s got a lot of books at home because he doesn’t have screen time.

In our village our library is well used,too. I go to a crochet and knitting group. They have a French lesson group, a literacy and IT group, lots of toddler and pre school group and they run a charity stall from it.

I do appreciate that we’re really lucky to have our libraries still, I wish more people had the same opportunities we do.

Or squeezed in the footwell

Some of these made me laugh - blockbusters, travelling in the boot of a car… I hope they don’t have strawberry custard at school dinners.

House phone, video player, CD player (though physical music has made a comeback), ice on the windows (pre central heating, but I know some still do), single glazed windows, school books covered in wallpaper, grills at eye level, remote controls that have a cable, tv aerials attached to the tv, TV’s that you have to manually tune in, those shiny concertina Christmas decorations that you hang across the ceiling, blue eyeliner, giant cans of ozone destroying hairspray.

A library card. Ok, there are still some libraries, but as an avid reader in the 70s/80s, I took books out every week, no heaving bookshelves of children’s or YA books at home.

School meals cooked in the school kitchen by the dinner ladies (I sure some still do, but around here, meals are shipped in).

Being surrounded by smoke indoors. I had a conversation with DS the other day actually, he finds the concept of a smoke filled room completely alien.

The anticipation / delayed gratification of a sweet treat/eating out somewhere.

For some, having to look after siblings (from a comparatively young age) while parents worked.

Again, just for some, being bored or having to fill hours of time under their own steam - no jam packed itinerary of activities.

Boredom

One that really surprise me, fire. My childhood was mostly after fires in houses, though some relatives still had them. There were also frequently barbecues, fires on beaches, chimineas on patios, fires to get rid of garden waste etc.

One bonfire night we lit a tiny fire, in a camping fire box to tost marshmallow. DS was 8 at the time and equally parts fascinated and terrified. Turns out he'd never seen fire before that point. I hadn't thought about it until then, but it blow my mind a little bit how something can go from a fundamental part of life for the whole of humanhistory, to an entirely foreign concept within 1-2 generations.

I can still taste the incredible taste of warm tea in a bottle 🤣🤣🙈

it’s funny isn’t how many of these things would get you slaughtered now.
shoving kids in footwells of cars and boots now we are scrutinised for a seat belt being slightly wrong.