Random childhood stuff you have no explanation for.

[Wheelchairbarbie]

This can be either something that a lot of us will remember like "where did white dog poo go", or something specific that happened that you can't explain.

Maybe we can also all explain each others wired stuff!

I'll start. How come most people I know remember that now and then a random dog would get into the school playground and just run around and everyone would get excited and run to the windows? Where did these random dogs come from, were there just more strays back then?

My kids haven't experienced this at all.

@Snooples I loved Puddle Lane. The overbearing Mrs Pitter-Patter would have loved Mumsnet!

Mrs Pitter-Patter to the sleeping Magician: Wake up and do something useful!
Magician: Very well, I’ll do something very useful. (Makes her tiny)

Cattle grids. I remember the explanation that they were supposed to stop animals wandering, but I never did see an animal stuck in them.

It was an enigma to me what the point of games like Pin the Tail were. Why would you try to pin the tail when you couldn’t see to do it? I remember trying to “use my mind” to develop X-ray vision, or that the adult would fail to cover my eyes properly, but it was no good - when I had the tail in my hand, I couldn’t see a thing! But I liked the game “keeper of the keys”, where I was blindfolded and had to point in the direction of any sound I heard, while someone crept up to steal the keys - there was skill in that game, and I had great directional hearing.

Bikergran is not wrong, though!

That’s a little bit rude and sarcastic. Predators have always existed, and walking down the street, you don’t get wolf whistles etc anymore. Safeguarding wasn’t really a thing growing up so you could argue the world is safer now. Just think of all the historic sex cases - Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris etc Not saying it doesn’t go on today, it does, but children are believed and listened to more today, and there’s more measures to prevent it happening.

@SowWhatNow I used to have to clean the leaves of my mum's rubber plant with cotton wool balls dipped in milk. One day I found my poor dried up goldfish curled up on one of the leaves. He was in a tank with no lid and must have decided to jump out one day. I was convinced he had died and been flushed down the loo but my parents swore this hadn't happened. We were all mystified by the missing fish until I found it.

Yes. I have a photo of me and sibling posing with a monkey (in a jumper I think) at Southend. Would probably have been early 70s. I have also seen pics on Facebook of monkeys in the local high street but I don't remember those myself.

It's weird to think about it isn't it? We used to play out at all hours with random children from the block. We also just used to go into their houses - my parents had no idea where we were.

My mum would also leave me in the library and go shopping. I think I was about 7.

Funny thing is, she is really anxious if I don't reply to a text immediately even though I am an adult!