Things your parents led you to think were 'special' or 'expensive' that you now take for granted?

[VladmirsPoutine]

for the po-faced

Growing up my siblings and I were wary over using too much kitchen roll - we'd get a sheet and fold it in half to tear before using, the faff was a PITA but to this day I still get a bit territorial over my kitchen roll.

We also had 'special' China plates, cups, cutlery, that sort of thing. Only used when we had guests or at Christmas - I didn't carry that into adulthood but whenever I visit my DM I still fondly look at the unit containing all those 'special' cups

My dad died when I was relatively young but prior to this death he used to always take us (siblings&I) to our weekend clubs when we were young, on Saturdays one of my sisters and I attended clubs that finished at similar times and it was always Saturdays that mum worked nights so the 4 us: dad+siblings would always get McDs and think it was basically gourmet dining.

I didn't have a deprived childhood by any definition but I do find those quirks quite funny looking back.

Eating in a restaurant - birthdays & anniversaries only.

And we occasionally had a pub lunch when we were on holiday by the seaside as a very special treat.

Eating in restaurants, ever. We went to a (very ordinary) Indian restaurant as a family once for my mum's 40th birthday and apart from that we had take away fish and chips occasionally and no other food cooked outside the home ever. Luckily my mum was a good cook.

Orange juice was only for breakfast on Christmas morning.
When Charles married Di I got a carton of apple juice as a treat.
On british beach holidays we had a 'special' picnic on the last day which included - the extravagance of it - a packet of crisps and a yoghurt!!!!!

Clothes wise - if you had a pair of jeans you wore them till they fell apart - the concept of more than one pair hadn't been entertained. Same with a jumper - one home knit jumper should last you the winter. Oh the teenage years were great living like that!!!

Not poor but very careful with money!

When my parents go on holiday mum still won't have lunch out my stepdad will get a sandwhich she just gets a coffee saying she willwait for dinner .

And yes to takeaways! We had a Dominoes pizza delivered once to the house and me and my siblings all gathered at the door to gawp at the delivery boy it was practically unheard of in those days (early 90s ish)

And YY to weekly soft play, that’s something we got as a treat once a get. I do tell DD this that she doesn’t know how lucky she is that we do these lovely things regularly but aware how much of an old fart I sound

Days out.... you never ever got into the gift shops at attractions and if you did it was a rubber. So true!

ifi I think as a society we are more scared of saying no to our children & worry about the "damage" it can cause them. Hence why weekends are full of experiences & activities as heaven forbid they are bored.

I think it's important to say no & I often do because I think if you wait for things you value them more.

Most food, really. My mother had an expression she used about any food that wasn't potatoes, bread or mince in gravy, which was 'it's too good for you children'. She actually said that.

She had a facial expression she used when doling out 'better' food which would have looked fitting on a dying martyr.

We didn't get many sweets but My mum used to bake a lot so still had treats we also didnt have fizzy pop often and we would have one bottle of crappy asda orange cordial to last a week once it was gone it was gone vimpto and Ribena was too expensive apparently my parents wouldnt dream of getting a takeaway pizza or kebab maybe a Chinese takeaway on very special occasions and fish and chips pre haps once a year I don't think they have ever been to McDonald's ,burger king ,kfc etc ever.

It's funny the lunch out thing, though - all through my childhood I longed to be able to eat in a cafe on a day out but it was always sandwiches (in the car if it was raining). DH felt the same. So as adults we would always go to a pub/cafe for lunch on a day out. Until we had kids, that is... we soon realised that with small children the hassle of getting small children fed in a busy cafe was just too much and it worked out quite expensive, so we began bringing a picnic and thermos etc on days out. Gives you so much more flexibility too. We would probably not do this if we go into London for a day out, but then it's a real treat for them to have lunch in a cafe instead of a picnic.

Considering colour TVs came out in mid 1960s and princess Anne got martial in 1973 I think we did quite well.
I was 21 and we’d had a phone for 4 years 👍

I also was one who thought Cornettos were extravagant and never bought them in adulthood (unless at the beach as a single cone) until my kids asked for them from boxes in the supermarket. I was shocked to see them at 4 for £1. It feels very fancy having them in the freezer

We only ever went to fancy restaurants with tablecloths if we were away on holiday (not every year) and no other more down-to-earth places were open.

It was special but not that enjoyable - our parents no doubt felt ill at ease and transferred this to us. They were terrified of us 'showing them up' so we had to sit quietly, sit up straight, 'don't talk and get on with your food' - all a bit 'Alan Bennett.
As an adult it took me years to feel relaxed when dining out.

Vienetta, cornettos - only special occasion treats.
I love a cornetto still, vienetta meh.

Get you with your fancy cornettos in the freezer

Eating out, although it is a luxury.

Stopping for a wee on a long journey whenever someone in the car needs to go. My Dad used to say he wasn’t stopping for at least the first 3 hours. I ended up getting really anxious about long trips (GPs and other rellies all lived hours away) and getting a bervous bladder.

Nervous...

nursy1 that's a really good point- I was already thinking that my parents could contribute loads to this thread having grown up in relative poverty in the 60s and 70s with parents who remembered rationing. But I can't think of anything! They had good professional jobs and we had a constantly warm house, nice food, meals out, etc. They were keen that we learned about new technology and we were very early adopters of things like mobile phones.

I was recently visiting my parents for an extended stay and was shocked at the heating and fire being on most of the day, and the volume of decadent nibbles on offer, the "big shop" from M&S.

I went to Home Bargians with my grandma, we were cooing over ten tubes of unbranded toothpaste for a quid and realised that I have skipped a generation and just become her!

Haven't RTFT yet, but I'm sure someone has mentioned Imperial Leather soap.

To this day I think it's decadent! Very Ooh La La. Literally the only person who used it growing up was the solicitors family.

I still feel it's not really for the likes of me. God, I'm a saddo........

On a Saturday evening after McDonalds became popular my mum used to make us a burger (it always fell apart and looked nothing like a burger) from mince meat with a bit of cheese on top in a bun bless her and we had a can of Pepsi cola , ooh the decadence

The heating, to the extent that even at holiday cottages where it's built into the price, they will still faff over putting it on for more than an hour in the evening or morning.

Meat, to the extent where they now live off polish tinned pork for their meat consumption, and then only occasionally. My mum was happily bragging about the 'great picnic' she made - it was make your own sandwiches out of bread, lettuce and tomato! Her face when I brought home steak, racks of ribs, pizza etc for a week holiday at theirs (house swap) was priceless.

Eating out and take aways. I remember the few times we went to the chippy, it was a real treat. My two just take it for granted.

Orange juice and grapes.

I am surprised there wasn't more seeing as we were bought up in a single parent family earning a pittance.

I remember my eyes popping out in envy when my friend bought felt tipped pens to school. Drool.

My childhood luxuries would have been:

Bath and hair wash more than once a week.

Not having toilet paper usage monitored.

More than once piece of fruit a day.

Having a present with NEW gift wrap.

A new bar of soap in the bathroom instead of scraps of old bars squashed together.

Any supermarket food that did not have a reduced sticker because it was damaged/out of date.

The only things our kids are deprived of nowadays are because of health reasons. Will the fact that these things are in short supply in their youth mean that they swing the other way as adults - or will the rational part of their brain kick in and see there is good reason for limiting the more unhealthy stuff?

My mantra is moderation because I've always been worried that saying a blanket no, will backfire.