To wonder if Sundays in the 80s were restful or boring

[IlovedLadybirdbooks]

Large stores were closed on Sundays. Eating out was a rare treat. No Deliveroo. 3 TV channels to choose from. People got their exercise from a walk or cycling rather than the gym. Children played out rather than being taken to organised activities.

Just pondering ... were Sundays more relaxing or a bit of a drag?

Pubs closed in the afternoon. There was nothing to do. A a kid I didn’t care as I’d play out with friends or read but as a teen it was terrible.

I lived in a seaside town. There was one shop owned by an Asian man which opened on a Sunday. It was quite big and sold everything including an amazing stationary department. I would often get on my hand me down racer bike and have retail therapy in there. Scented pens and rubbers. Coloured writing paper and envelopes
Better than paper chase ever was!!
Then all the scented rubbers etc would get banned from school for giving the girls headaches!

I was a baby in the 80s. Was talking about Sundays in general. Was definitely on on Sundays when I was in school . Sundays were boring anyway . And in the 90s in Ireland most big shops were closed on Sunday . In Northern Ireland they still open late on Sundays whereas here it is just like any other day now

Oh, I've just been reminded of "going for a drive". We never once got out of the car. What a pointless exercise.

The constant unspeakable dread of having left your homework to the last minute. To be honest most of mine was done on the train on the way into school on Monday. I still have that feeling now on a Sunday.

mum would make a roast if the boys were home from boarding school, or we’d go and visit them. If not that we’d go to the local beauty spot with the dog.

there might have been low level gardening, nobody liked it. Now I’d be in heaven if I got a whole Sunday to garden.

then Sunday tea which was toast and things on a tray in front of the telly. Mum was a big rugby fan so at weekends there would be matches to watch.

I went to uni in 1980 so Sundays then were fun chill days hanging out with friends. Then I started working and got married in 1985 so Sundays were fun days doing stuff with DH or friends. I don't recall any of the 80s being boring in the slightest. First child born in 1990 changed all that but Sundays were still never boring.

Church, horse riding, Sunday Dinner, playing, TV. I miss that slow existance.

I loved it. Less was definately more.

Boring.
My parents liked long sleep-ins which must not be disturbed. Fortunately children's TV was good, but I was naturally an early riser so was awake 3-4 hours before them creeping around quietly.
Mum would cook, dad would potter around the garden.
Taking the dog to the park was a nice bit.

If you were lucky there would be an outing to the tip or garden centre.

It was the late afternoon/ evening, especially in the winter that was especially tedious. Douglas Adams was spot-on!

As a child it was boring (this was pre 80s) but we had a roast Sunday lunch, all walked the dog together which was nice (lived in countryside and dog didn't normally need walked), read the Sunday Post. Quite a nice quiet day really.

I loved them. We went swimming in the morning. Had a play/ read. Then went to my grandparents for lunch and the afternoon. Then home for a bath and bed. Charts on the radio.

Saturday afternoons were the killer for me. Friends often doing things. We’d have been out in the day - often to do the weekly shop - and then home with nothing on the TV but football scores and sports.

I do remember loving Sunday evenings though. Apart from the school next day feeling!

Sunday tea was the one meal a week we had a pudding, something fantastically 80s like ice cream and was it called iced magic? - a chocolate sauce that hardened when you put it on ice cream. Or angel delight, a packet cheesecake or Birds trifle. Oh or Cadburys Swiss gateau! and cream. I loved that.

There was usually something for kids on at tea-time. The little princess, the lion the witch and the wardrobe or box of delights type thing. Bath and hair wash - I might be wrong but I only remember my hair being washed on Sunday evening or if i'd been swimming or got something dirty in my hair like play doh.

I remember a very cosy feeling Sunday evenings.

It was fine. Reading, drawing, bike rides, watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly..

Life was totally different then I was in pubs and clubs drinking alcohol at 13. In January 1980 I had just turned 8 years old. In December 1989 I turned 18 and was married to an arsehole 20 years older with a 4 month old baby. Not the best way to have done things!

I didn't think Sundays were boring when I was a kid in the 80s. We didn't know any different! We usually had Sunday lunch and grandparents would often visit. After lunch, we often went for a walk over the common, skimmed stones on the lake or picked blackberries. My dad would make crumpets or cheese on toast at teatime, we'd have a bath and get stuff ready for school the next day. Sometimes we'd play out with friends, sometimes I'd just lie on my bed and read. We'd all watch tv together in the evening. It was pretty chilled. I actually think life is too hectic for a lot of people now!

It definitely wasn’t boring, it was a calmer day. No post to deal with, no power tools being used all day by neighbours, no consumerism couched as the vital need to shop. It gave one a chance to breathe, before the next week of busyness.

We played outside, helped our parents, enjoyed bath night, did jigsaws and board games after dinner, had a lot of just gentle laughter and togetherness.

I don’t really remember the 80s much but Sundays in the 90s were boring. Church in the morning, a crap roast dinner and then “resting” my mum wouldn’t take us to the park on a Sunday because “it was a day of rest”.fuck all on the telly, I wasn’t allowed
to knock for anyone so all there was to do was fight with my siblings who were as bored and frustrated as I was.

I only ever remember eating a Sunday roast whilst watching Antiques Roadshow because my dad wanted to!

people were generally happier and calmer!

Sorry this is rose tinted spectacles at its finest. There was much to be unhappy about in those days. First half of the 1980s the economy was awful. People lived in daily fear of nuclear war. Women had far less freedom, flexibility and money than today. There was far less in terms of available leisure opportunities.

The nostalgia for the 1980s is so overdone.

1970s into early 80s. Sundays were tedious with a dread of Monday to come. My general feeling was one of dreariness.

I mostly played in my bedroom trying to be out of sight and out of mind. Otherwise being pulled into endless chopping and peeling for a heavy Sunday lunch. This was then followed by washing and drying up. Then I would go back to playing in my bedroom.

Sunday tea, Songs of Praise, The Onedin Line/Poldark/All Creatures Great and Small, bath, bed.

My parents didnt go out much, DF would mostly be reading a book, DM would be in the kitchen doing something and feeling unappreciated about it.

I was born late 70s. As a young child, I liked Sundays - swimming,Sunday School for a few years, playing out with neighbours’ kids, roast and visiting family.

As a teen in early 90s, I was boooored. Got a job in a shop in about 1995 when Sunday opening started. Liked that. Coincided with the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice on a Sunday evening and my day was near/perfrct. 😆

Now I look back on a calmer Sunday with nostalgia.

A bit of both.

I grew up in 1980s Ireland so Mass was absolutely a staple of everyone’s Sunday, dinner was in the middle of the day (a starter, roast main, dessert), then tea later.

For most of my childhood we didn’t have a a TV either, so most of my time was spent reading, which I loved.

I did find it boring at times and wish we could do something; we didn’t have any relatives nearby like most people did. As a parent myself, I tend to pack weekends full, we are always ‘doing’ and I’m actually unable to relax. Which I’m always wishing I could.

Restful and not too different to my Sundays now. Then: go to church, breakfast (bacon and egg) , go to my grandmas house, parents went to pub, wed sometimes go with them, occasional meal out (italian restaurant), reading was a constant for me in the 80s, catch up on homework , bit of TV, bed.

Now: go to church, generally catch up with church friends for an hour after taking me til lunch, then breakfast often eaten at local cafe (bacon and egg) a walk in the park with DH and kids, sometime see a friend (also for walk), kids catch up on homework, meal out in Italian restaurant (most weekends lately but the service was bad last week so I'm going to go back to cooking for us), tv, bed.

I think the feeling I got on Sundays as a child has spilled over into adulthood. I remember the day just being a boring nothing day just waiting for the dread of Monday and back to school and the weekly grind. Sundays were tidying my room, not seeing anyone but my parents and sister or doing anything other than keeping out of parents way. When you heard songs of praise on the telly it was a kind of trigger to tell you Monday was closer! Subconsciously I still feel like that and remind myself that it’s still a weekend and not to waste it or snap out of that feeling of boredom waiting for Monday.

Are people looking through a contemporary slant?
I don’t remember Sundays being boring as a child, the shops closing and no activities made life difference as we wouldn’t really have done activities on a Saturday either.