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?

we played in the road too! I tried explaining this to a younger man and he just couldn’t grasp it. He kept repeating ‘ you mean in the street, not on the road’. Even when I said ‘ no the road, the bit that cars drive on. That’s the bit we played on’. He couldn’t grasp it.

We just moved out of the way if a car came and then got back on the road. So much more space and freedom for kids then!

I was married and working by the mid 80s, so most of my Sunday memories are from the early 70s when I was 11/12.
I remember my dad getting up about 6ish, as he did every day, and cooking breakfast. This was because of the time he spent in the navy - he found it impossible to lie in, even on a Sunday. The rest of the family, including me, would lie in till later and surface usually around 9ish.
Dad was not the best of cooks and his breakfast offering would be swimming in grease. He would leave ours to keep warm in a low oven, but it would be absolutely cremated by the time we got round to eating it.
I would then get dressed and go out to play with my mates, unless grandma was visiting, which she did every other Sunday.
On those days I would be expected to meet her at the bus stop and help her carry her bags. She always brought some cakes, biscuits or something else with her which she had baked herself.
Problem was, she wasn't the best of cooks either and her oven was ancient and wouldn't keep a constant heat. Consequently, her cakes were usually sunken and heavy and biscuits would either be so hard as to break your teeth or so soft that they bent in the middle.
Dad would go to the pub every Sunday lunchtime and wouldn't get back until around 3pm, after the 2pm closing time. Sunday lunch was therefore always quite late. Mum (who fortunately was a much better cook) would alternate a Sunday roast - chicken one week, roast beef the next etc. and was something to look forward to. We were always expected to consume granny' s offerings for dessert though, so it paid to fill up on plenty of veg and potatoes with the main, so you didn't have much room left for a pudding.
Grandma would leave after lunch to be sure of getting a bus, as they stopped running after 6pm on Sundays, and the rest of the day was then my own. I would finish off any homework - Sunday TV was absolutely dire - and then listen to the Top 40 on my radio. I would then have my weekly bath and hair wash to be ready for school on the Monday.
I don't remember being particularly bored, but it wasn't exactly exciting either. The pace of life was a lot slower than today and we didn't have the constant bombardment of phones, social media and non-stop entertainment that we now have and have come to expect.
Different times - not sure if it's for better or worse!

I didn't find Sunday's boring at all.

My dad would take me swimming in the morning, or to the park to play. We would go to the working men's club and meet family members and I used to get poppets, toffets or crisps to eat. There would often be entertainment or games for the children.

When I was a little older, we would just be out playing all day. We used to disappear all day and roam for miles, along the river, taking a fishing net and a margarine tub. There would be an old tyre on a rope so you could swing over the river.

Sunday evenings were for listening to the music charts, recording the songs you wanted and trying to hit pause before the radio presenter spoke!

“If you still hate Sundays now-why?”

Because it’s like the beginning of the end. The end of your free time before the working week begins I guess. It’s sort of different when you have small children or you aren’t in a 9-5.

My parents were divorced so mum worked while dad had me for the day. I went to visit relatives on dad’s side of the family, so it wasn’t boring.

We had the morning at home, then a big Sunday lunch and then we spent the afternoon at the cash and carry (my parents owned a shop) followed by the garden centre. Most of the time we jus had to sit in the car. It was the most boring thing ever.
In the summer we did get to play out in the evening with local friends (same as any other summer evening).

So, from my perspective, I think the main difference between then and now is that parents actually consider what their children might want to do rather than centring everything around themselves.

I was primary school age in the 80s and although sunday wasn't as exciting as saturday I wouldn't say I was bored - I still had all my toys and books and the garden to play in. I know if the shops had been open on a sunday there is no way I would have wanted to be dragged round them. Deliveroo - I still got fed nice food whatever day of the week and my parents didn't have money to burn so we would never have used it even if it existed then. I think the main difference was the TV - not as fun on a sunday as a saturday, but I think there were still cartoons on until 9am.

In the 80s we had videos so there was loads to watch on the telly if you wanted. I used to go to the video rental place down the road and just hire what I wanted

Are they any different to Sundays now? We don’t tend to do any shopping (mostly buy online), or watch tv (possibly more in the winter), we go out for a walk/museum/usually some child’s birthday party or bbq in the garden.

All I remember from the 90s is them being a bit boring as we usually stayed at home, had a roast (which I didn’t enjoy), and got ready for school. I’m not sure much has changed apart from the back to school ennui.

It was great in the summer when the weather was nice and sunny. We hit the beach. But it was desperately boring when the weather was bad.

In the early 80s, we would unvaryingly would walk to church in the morning. Walk back to my grandma’s house via the newsagent for a Sunday paper, sometimes via the park to see the ducks.

Then the children would play while mum and gran made the Sunday Roast, and the men read the paper. In my memory it was always roast chicken, followed by Viennetta but I suppose we must have had other things too.

A Film in the afternoon, usually some sort of war epic, (I don’t remember children’s films ever featuring), and perhaps a visit to the playground afterwards. Or in nice weather, a walk.

Then tea - I would help make the cake, there was always cake. Plus sandwiches, jam tarts and a big pot of tea.

Then Ski Sunday on the TV before walking home - not far, we lived on the same street.

Those sound like they would have 0 impact on my Sundays now… I like my Sundays.

Utterly boring.

Nothing was open, TV was shite.

I hated Sundays as a kid/teenager. Worst day of the week. Yup, I would rather have had two Mondays.

I was born in 1969 and came of age in the 1980s. Sundays were great. We hung out with friends. Read books. Played cards. Went out for walks / picnics etc. Probably quite gentle stuff but i remember it fondly.

God, Sundays were deadly. Always had to stay in until after Sunday roast, which I hated as my dad insisted on having Bisto with big slimey lumps in it. Then my parents would have a huge argument.
Sometimes my mum would give me a pound if I did the ironing! I used to play out a lot which often degenerated into minor vandalism. I lived in the country so we roamed for absolutely miles. None of us had any money
Then it was the dreaded Sunday night. I hated school so ,much I can always remember hearing the opening bars of That's Life from the sitting room and feeling my stomach sink

Very boring…have you ever heard the song “everyday is like Sunday” ir described it well

As a child and teenager you just went with the flow. Visiting grandparents on Sunday, Sunday roast, eastenders omnibus. Out with friends. Watching more tv or reading. Walking the dog, playing tennis. I can recall being too bored but I probably was.

Born in 1980, so grew up throughout the decade. Definitely would have been bored shitless on Sundays as a teenager, but I remember it being broadly okay as a kid. At that age you're happy seeing Nan and getting 50p for chocolate, and going on long bike rides or drives with no particular purpose, or fending off boredom with books or toys. Enjoyed school, so didn't have homework until much later on the decade, so no existential dread. TV was crap though, especially in the evening, and I still feel a weird sense of foreboding every time I hear the Antiques Roadshow theme tune.

Sunday morning: church
Then roast dinner, often with guests or round at someone else's house (usually people from church)
Maybe a walk.
I was always very happy to read or play with my toys so preferred Sunday afternoons at our own house with mum's roast dinner rather than having to politely eat a dinner that wasn't quite right, particularly if the hosts didn't have children as that could be a very dull afternoon indeed.
Sunday evening was TV and cheese on toast or tinned salmon sandwiches.

This is making me really sad and yearning for the 'old days' Myself and my sister were in the church choir for a few years so sunday mornings were choir practice and then church service. On the way home we stopped at the newsagents for a 10p mix and a panda pop. When we got home dad would be cutting the grass or washing the car and mum would be preparing a sunday roast. I remember lots of reading (mainly Enid Blyton) and listening to my extensive cassette collection. Happy days, i would go back in a heartbeat though i wouldnt like to have to go back to school again, that wasnt fun!

Shops apart from newsagents and maybe DIY shop and pubs were only open til say noon on Sunday or certain times. If it wasn’t delivered your dad got the paper from the shop, sometimes the supplements were interesting. We had the Observer, grandad had Sunday Mirror. Fry ups. In morning.

My mum worked Saturdays so Sunday was our only family day, and my parents would make the effort to make su day great. We would go swimming or go out for the day for a picnic or spend time with family or friends. Sundays were the best!

Sad that people rely on shopping or TV to enjoy their day.

Boring. Had to go to mass, then home, then eat a roast dinner (which I didn’t appreciate at the time - I thought it was just the same boring food every week), homework if I had t already done it, Songs of Praise, bath, vague gloom about the forthcoming Monday.

Sunday memories of growing up in Ireland, always mass and if I was lucky in the church nearest school so a chance to meet friends. Then to the shops for the Sunday papers. After dinner a spin, maybe to the beach where dad would listen to the match on a little transistor radio. On a wet day we would lounge around at home reading and listening to top 30 countdowns.

Life for teens became exciting when a programme called MT USA started to air on Sundays .. it was about three hours of music and music interviews hosted by an Irish Dj in New York.
Evening tea with one man and his dog on the tv in the background.
And of course the evening farming soap Glenroe. The closing music of which signalled the end of the weekend and the scramble to finish homework!

1970s for me. I was carted off to Sunday School because I was a bit of a mare (ADHD). There I wavered between asking awkward questions as an agnostic, to being more religious than the pope. Then we had Sunday Roast and would go out for a walk or, after Dad learned to drive, we would drive out somewhere, often to my grandparents for tea.

I wasnt bored but I wouldnt say it was a halcyon time. It wasnt an easy time for my parents although I digress from the question which was specifically about Sundays.