Things your parents did that you wouldnt dream of?

[Frasersmum123]

Is there anything that your parents did when you were younger that you wouldnt do?

Our used to leave us in the car while they went shopping, for what seemed like hours, but in reality was probably about half an hour.

There was 4 of us and we all used to squeeze into the back of my dads car, which had three seats.

Most of mine involve my Dad. Mum worked several evenings a week and Dad was in charge. We would:

ride completely unsecured on the benches in the back of his ex-Army Landrover, usually with a group of our friends and a dog

take advantage of him falling asleep in front of the TV and watch The Young Ones or Spitting Image - I am absolutely positive he knew we were doing this and couldn't be bothered with sending us to bed

accompany Dad on some errand or visit in the evening, which would normally end up at a park, feeding the ducks or collecting conkers at 9pm, or if we were lucky, a fairground. If it was a school night we weren't allowed to tell our mum we'd been

...out.

Drink Driving - my dad used to regularly pour himself out of the car after a 'meeting' at work. He still thinks to this day that he drove better after a few drinks.

Remember clearly a hump back bridge near our house which dad used to drive over at full pelt and we used to jump so high in the air our heads would bump on the roof of the car. Goes without saying, no seat belts on.

Sugar on bread for breakfast.

My mum being ill for a week and having ice-cream and bread for dinner every night, carefully prepared by my dad.

drink driving with us in the back here too ...

Giving me stuff from the bottom of a drawer to sort out on my highchair tray - drawing pins, paper clips, pins, bits of fluff...
The HV did actually freak over that but my mum argued that any child who put drawing pins in their mouth must be really stupid!

Drinking Baileys from age 4 - started by finishing glasses but once I was 6 or so I got my own glass.

Proper C of E upbringing - I was dropped at Sunday School for 3 years and my dad then went home for 'alone time' with my mum. Everyone's parents did it - there was about 150 of us in the Sunday School and about 10 old ladies in the church! Actually I might get tempted by that when A gets bigger...

My brother and I used to roll up in balls on the back seat of the car, or if we were allowed, in the boot of my Dad's estate, and play 'potatoes' where if car turns right, we rolled right etc. Great fun!

We used to sit in the car and have salt & vinegar crisps and a bottle of coke in the car park while Mum & Dad went to the pub.

When we were a little bit older (7 ish)Mum & Dad used to go to the pub and leave us at home, we would turn off all the lights, and sneak around the house with our torches.

Those were the days!

Oh - and sugar sandwiches for tea!!

Mum used to leave us sitting by the check-outs in the supermarket while she went round to get the shopping alone.

"Cured" me of biting by biting me so that I would know how much it hurt

Standing on the back seats of the 2CV with out heads out of the roof whilst the car was being driven.

Smacking.

Being left in the car with crisps and coke while parents in the pub. This only when on holiday as if that makes it any better - especially as the pub was located on the docks at one place we used to go!!

Dressing me and my sister in identical outfits - now I would never, never do that - scarred me for life that one!

Gosh, this thread has made me smile!

One of our neighbours took 8 of us to school and back every day, 3 in the estate boot- and yeah, we had to duck when we saw a police car!

Both parents and all their friends smoked like chimneys.

Dad used to work night shift on a Friday night when I was about 4 or 5, and he often forgot to lock the door when he got home, so I used to dress myself (think inside-out T-shirt, maxi skirt and silver sandals- yup, it was the 70s!) and escape while my parents snored. I used to go round the neighbourhood to find anyone who was up and who might feed me! Mum had to tour all the houses when she finally rose to find me. Luckily it was a nice friendly cul-de-sac we lived in..

I went to my gran's 2 days a week, and had no toys there, but I was given a knife (a real one!) to play with- I used to use it to cut the grass/ plants/ hedges to make "soup"

Mum told me often if I was naughty the angels would come in the night and take her away!

I was allowed to disappear off to play at the local building site, no questions asked, no need to come home until hungry

Had my own key aged 9, as I got home before mum. I was allowed to help myself to one "United" biscuit- would never have dreamed of taking more than one!!

"Ran away" from home once, aged 5- only got to the end of the road before turning back, only to find mum had locked the door and informed me "Sorry, you don't live here any more!" neighbour found me bawling on the doorstep and took me in!

I still adore my parents and feel surprisingly unscarred

Just read OP so excuse me if i miss a point

SMACKING AND SHOUTING

I hate both of these with a passion and NEVER do them (Did but that was because i knew no other way)

driving 3 hours with me as a baby on the floor of the front seat of a 1958 Morgan, where the fumes come out;

2 week holidays with 3 kids in the back of a station wagon (no car seats, same as above);

went abroad and left me for 2 weeks with my grandmother when i was 2 years old (DD is 4 and we only JUST spent two NIGHTS away from her - i can't imagine 2 weeks away from her!)

My dp was allowed to watch texas chainsaw massacare when he was on holiday in spain, aged 10! His mum is horrified she let him now!

both smoked in house and car,even though it made us all car sick!
beat us with a slipper/hairbrush
we used to ride in the back of my dads open back pick up, ages 3 to 8!
sit on my dads knee and steer the car
parafin heater in our bedroom, ooh the fumes!
my mum used to bite all our nails
put hot oil in our ears for earache
spit on her hand and wipe our faces/stick hair down.
leaving her "cap" on top of the wardrobe, we used it as a mouth mask.
not putting the buttercup syrup high enough, we went through bottles.
tooooo many more to mention.

forcing us to finish everything on our plates, regardless of whether we liked it, or were already full. As a result, i will NEVER force a meal to be finished, it gave me all sorts of issues.

Also, placing such a huge emphasis on academia. I felt under huge pressure most of my teens to 'perform', regardless of what my ambitions were. I HONESTLY don't care if mine turn out to be plumbers or surgeons, as long as they're happy and kind people.

Oh my, being forced to finish meals - WTF?!

My mum would do a stand-off with me for hours with unfinished meals, literally hours. She treated it as a battle of wills and refused to accept I just didn't like cauliflower (still don't so it wasn't just a childhood fad), or wasn't particularly hungry - no, I was just "being naughty"....

More recently my mum said that back in the day (late 70's), shouting at and smacking your DCs in public showed everyone that you were "in control" of your kids!!!!!

I felt I had to point out it only demonstrated how OUT of control you were.

Mine used to smoke in the car and refuse to open the windows.
Encourage us to throw our rubbish out of car and watch it disapear out of sight from the back window.
Sending us to the shop to buy fags.
When we first got a video player my dad hired out the exorcist and Flesh Gordon for me and my sister aged 7 and 9, my Nan was round for tea that day and sat watching Flesh Gordon without batting an eyelid.

I LOVE this thread !!!

My Dad was in the Merchant Navy and I travelled with him and my mum on two trips until I was school age. My Dad used to hang me over the side of the ship, by my ankles....as apparently I liked to see the waves !!!
xx

hifi, you must be my sister,lol i bet you are around the same age as me, cos that was all normal then.

Absolutely insist that we wore seatbelts in the car - to the point of dad pulling over and threatening to make us walk - but on long, night journeys putting the backs of our seats down to make a big flat bed in the back of the car, pulling out the sleeping bags and letting us all go to sleep without a seatbelt in sight (which we loved)

40 ish , oh forgot poking worms out with a kirby grip. i still have a fear of them to this day.

Didn't even consider breastfeeding me.

Rice powder in my bottle at 3.5 weeks.

My parents threw huge parties, my mother always had shrieking tantrums at us kids for not helping prepare for them (enough). During the party I had to stand at the door and hand out nametags. Until I was 12 I thought that parties were horrrendous experiences to be avoided if at all possible.

My mother would leave piles of weeds all over the garden and it was my job to pick them up and into bin bag. Whenever I couldn't find any weed piles, she would harangue me for being passive aggressive (she reckoned I was just pretending not to find them).

Buried their heads in the sand about the reasons why I was so unhappy at school (they seemed to blame me, and didn't realise I was badly bullied).

Left me being babysat by my brother who was quite nasty to me.

On the positive side, I had huge amounts of freedom to explore and wander around myself (had to take the dog with me, that was it).

Nothing.

My parents were very careful with us. I probably do things they wouldn't have dreamt of

In the early 70's (I was about 3 years old) I was playing outside on the green infront of our house when a couple who we had never met before knocked on our front door.

My mum answered and the women said " Hello, is that your daughter? she is very pretty isn't she? We are keen photographers, would you mind if me and my heavily bearded boyfriend take your daughter away into the woods for a few hours and take lots of Autumnal pictures of her?"

My mum thought about this (as she didn't want anything to make her late for her perm appointment that afternoon) and then said

"Yes, why not? Have lots of fun"

So off we went and they took lots of photo's which were lovely and we still have them to this day and yes, I did indeed look very pretty.

I LOVED the 70's