Share the everyday childhood memories that make you smile - £300 voucher to win NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

When you think back to your childhood, do you have nostalgic memories of everyday life with your parents that give you a lovely warm glow? Cadbury’s Buttons have asked us to find out about the memories of everyday childhood experiences – the shared moments that put a smile on your face years later.

So, what fond family memories always make you smile? Is it getting a piggy back after a long day, or collecting conkers with your Dad? Maybe it’s learning to bake or having a picnic with your Mum? Perhaps it’s all sitting down to a proper roast dinner on a Sunday? Whatever your childhood memories are, please do share them below.

All MNers who post on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

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Thanks, and good luck!

MNHQ

Having homemade soup for after school snack in winter I was a fussy eater so my Nan used to strain it thru a sieve for me

Remember happy days, growing up we did not have a lot of money,but we did what we could.had happy childhood with my mum and sibling.me and my sibling got on so well.loved days at beach,making sand cables,paddling when young,collecting shells,body boarding when older.loved to walk places,go to woods,spot wildlife.days spend indoors painting,playing shop,making a mess of frontroom playing clothes shops by hanging up clothes on hangers everywhere,playing fashion designer with dolls making them clothes,playing djs with our karaoke machine,recording to tape,laughing when it was played back,dancing,making dens out of bunk bed.the excitement of getting sweets and chocolate as treats or little gifts.the fun of being in on rainy days,on weekends making things,baking cakes,licking the mixture,then decorating them.excitement of birthdays and Christmas is magical when you young,getting up early.the list is endless we had so much fun growing up.now I have children it's nice to see the excitement the simple things bring for them,things that are free or hardly cost a thing,can bring to your children,and the memories live on.

Paddling about in the pond at the end of our road and building dens there.

Sitting in the back of a Datsun sunny in absolute hysterics with my best friend. The punchline was "tomato ketchup" I have no idea what the joke was

My childhood was full of special memories but one which particularly stands out was a tradition we had each Christmas.
My parents had a little nativity scene comprising little carved wooden figurines (Mary, Joseph, animals etc) and each Christmas Eve I would sit and set out the scene underneath the Christmas tree. I would lay out a blanket of snow (cotton wool) and then carefully place the little figures to create the scene. My big sister would help me.

When I think back its even more poignant as my sister passed away 8 years ago and I miss her so much. This memory makes me feel so happy I had her as my big sis.

My favourite childhood memory is waking up at my Nanny and Pappy's house on Christmas morning. They had a very old cottage in a little village and it made Christmas magical for me as a child. They would always put a stocking by the end of my bed and then I would take it into their room to open it. They had a big open fire and there would be more presents under the Christmas tree which was always made from twigs from the garden and decorated with Robins, my mans favourite birds, and tinsel. Magical memories.

Walking into town with my nan, running errands, getting flowers for grandads grave just general stuff.

Thirty years on it still makes me sad that shes gone.

It's the simple things like camping and my dad pretending to be a lion on tent sides in the night, mum always picking me up from school with a bag of penny sweets, watering the garden with my grandad, my nan learning me to finger knit ! No computers or phones back then, just one on one family times stuck in my memory and are the happiest ever

I have very happy memories of our family caravan holidays. We lived in Germany, and went all over Europe in the school holidays, and in all sorts of weather. I remember going up into some mountains in February, and inching along a very steep high street towards some red traffic lights hoping they would change before we got there, as we were worried we wouldn't get car and caravan going up the hill again if we had to stop!
The same holiday we got to the caravan site and the van had to be towed to the pitch by a tractor as we followed behind. How lovely and toasty we were eating our dinner with the fire on in the van that evening though, surrounded by snow!

My grandparents had a sprinkler in their much loved garden and myself and my cousins would put it on on hot days and jump through it. We used to get thoroughly wet and it was brilliant fun.

As a young child in late 1960s and early 1970s, all children were allowed out to play from a young age. We entertained ourselves on hot summer days playing outside on our bicycles, skipping ropes, hopscotch etc and a favourite past time amongst the girls was to do handstands.

Our kitchen overlooked the front garden and my mother had seen me playing in the garden and told me not to do handstands whilst wearing a dress as the boys could see my knickers.

I didn't go and change into shorts, I went back out and played with friends further down the road.

When I came home later I very proudly announced to my mother, "It's ok mum, the boys didn't see my knickers when I did handstands - I took them off!"

I was about 5 or 6 at the time!

We were allowed cakes every Saturday lunchtime. I always licked the biggest one to make sure my brother wouldn't nick it.
Watching Saturday morning tv.
My mum's pineapple upside down pudding.
Going out for a drive on Sundays - we usually got lost, the picnic would be cut short because of ants/wasps/rain and the music in the car would be either Neil Diamond or the Carpenters.

on sunday evenings we'd be allowed to eat our tea in the front room watching TV. We usually snacked on cheese, biscuits & Mum's homemade pickled onions.
This was a real treat for me & my sister as every other meal we ate was at our dining room table

My childhood with my parents wasn't happy, but I adored my grandparents, who I stayed with regularly.
One of my favourite pastimes with them was to race to fetch the free newspaper when it was delivered on Friday evenings and we'd pore over the pics of the big houses and imagine what life would be like living there, how warm the pool would be, my grandad would have a ride-on mower and Nan would have a fancy built kitchen with an island hob.

My brother and I spent a lot of time playing our game 'copy cat' we just followed our at (who didn't much like us) and copied everything he did, until he once chased us into the bathroom where we stayed for ages as he kept shoving his paws under the door whilst doing this demented meow.

When I got to 13 my poor little brother had to endure my makeovers where I curled his hair and did his makeup.

What I remember most is the summer holidays playing with friends in the garden, having ice pops and running through the sprinkler. We had lots of friends of different ages living nearby; we would all meet up on the green outside. We used to tie a pedal jeep to the back of our bikes and pull each other along the road!

Time with my mum when my elder siblings were at school - passing her clothers to iron; going for a walk around the neighbourhood and insisting we walk past a stone garden ornament ''The Boot'; copying her by pushing dolly around in a 'Bishy Bam' (pram) laden with bags. I really hope my baby daughter has good memories of the little things we do together when she grows up.

Staying overnight at my grandparents house when I was around 3 years old and climbing into their warm bed between them in the morning - sinking back into my nan's V shaped support pillow (which I believed to be the height of luxury) - then going downstairs to enjoy a weak tea and my grandfathers perfectly golden grilled toast with 'best butter'. Ahhhh...

Gosh, that was 33 years ago! Every time I snuggle into my very own support cushion to watch TV or read a book I think of my nan x

My grandparents and how dotty they were. Holidays visiting them - just fun times. My grandma starting a farting competion, aying board games with my grandad who always cheated, eating grandads cabbage cheese bake (amazing) and his very odd banana curry sauce with meatballs (also amazing!)

Nagging my mother for 20p everytime we passed a sit on ride when we were out and about, still a running joke now. Although I would need about £1 to use one now!

I loved the Indian style Poori Masala when I was a child and I still do! So, Everytime when we go to the city from our countryside, the moment we were close to that restaurant, I used to question my mum "Aren't you feeling hungry!?!. Now, DD1 loves the same and there are days we had good laugh talking about it.

And, over the weekend, I get to watch chickens laying eggs and would be camping near them for hours quietly and really wished they lay eggs only on weekend as I don't get to watch them on school days :)

Summer holidays spent at my grandparents with brother and cousins. Playing games, going over the park or to the supermarket with 4 of us squashed together in the back of the car.

I am so lucky to have had a very happy childhood but strangely one of the memories that makes me 😀 most is of our family holidays, always a caravan at the seaside, and coming back to the site in tears every night, both my sister and I, because we didn't want to leave the pier and the entertainment. We must have driven my parents mad.

Now my children do this and whilst it does drive me mad it also makes me smile thinking of the great family times we had.

I was lucky - most of my childhood was filled with happy memories. My dad died when I was 3, but I was too young to remember. My step-father moved in with us when I was about 6.

I have memories of holidays spent on farms in Devon and if we went at Easter time I used to get up early to help feed the orphan lambs. Later on we had our own caravan and visited all different places.

In the village where I lived between the age of 8 - 11, there used to be a fish van come round on a Sunday and we would often buy prawns, cockles and mussels for a treat for Sunday tea.

My sister, who is 10 years older than me, emigrated to Canada when she was 18. I remember the excitement when we received a letter from her, updating us on the latest news. When it was somebody in the family's birthday, we used to take turns to phone one another on the nearest Sunday to the birthday in question. We all used to have the chance to speak with my sister for about 5 minutes each and I still remember looking forward to those calls. Nowadays I am in regular contact with my sister via email/Facebook and speak to her every month, usually for a couple of hours - how times have changed!