Happy Memories (Childhood Memories)

Member Name: Leolover

Product:	Childhood Memories
Date:	08/08/02 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: summer seems endless, haven't learnt to be cynical or pessimistic yet, no money worries

Disadvantages: have no say in what you do

What an indulgent, thoroughly enjoyable topic to write about! Reading everyone elses childhood memories has brought back loads of mine, things I haven't thought about in years, and I thought I'd share some of them with you.

*** The Allotment

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a house which backed out onto about half a mile of allotments. These days, they're pretty well maintained by the local residents, including my Mum and Dad, but back when I was a child, they were overgrown and wild, and us kids claimed them for our own. A group of up to ten of us would play out there for hours in the evenings, all day at the weekends and school holidays, and our parents didn't have to worry about us getting into trouble or being hit by cars like the kids you see playing in the streets these days.

We'd build 'camps', catch butterflies or play elaborate role playing games, pretending we were lost children growing up on a wilderness planet, or hunters tracking down a dangerous wild animal.

We learnt loads about nature while we played out there - there were many different species of birds, animals and insects to see and I acquired a love of nature from the time I spent 'out the back'.

In the Summer my brother and me would beg Mum to let us take a picnic lunch out with us, and we'd sit in the long grass, munching sandwiches and reading, or watching the world go by.

*** Reading late at night

I was an avid reader from an early age, and read whenever I could - which included late at night, when my parents had gone to bed, either under the duvet with a torch or crouched under the light switch by my bedroom door, ready to flick off the light and dive into bed if I heard my parents getting up. My feet would turn cold and numb, my eyes would burn, but I didn't care - I would be totally lost in whatever book I happened to be reading (usually Enid Blyton).

*** The Du
ck Pond Park

There's a huge park just down the road from where I used to live, with a large pond which is home to about fifty ducks and a few swans. I loved that park, and could often be found there either feeding the ducks with stale bread or fishing for sticklebacks in the lake. I'd cycle up there on my little pink raleigh bike with my friend Linda and we'd spend hours chatting by the pond and eating endless ice-creams from the ice-cream van at the edge of the park.

*** Holiday Camps

From the age of about 8 upwards, we started going to holiday camps twice yearly, usually in places like Yorkshire, Cornwall or Great Yarmouth. Now I'm an adult, my holiday destination is usually somewhere exotic like the Caribbean or the Balearics, but I swear I never have as much fun as I did at those camps - my brother and I used to have such a fantastic time! We'd join in all the organised games with gusto, enter as many competitions as we could and usually won quite a few, which was the best feeling in the world. In the evening, there would be a kids disco and more games, and during the day we'd spend hours in the adventure playground, the amusement arcade or down on the beach. Come to think of it, we didn't actually see much of our parents at all, which was probably a nice welcome break for them!

*** Make believe games

My brother and I invented and acted out our own little world of make believe games, which seemed so real and were such fun to play. We'd pretend that my brother was a wandering stranger in a magical land, and I'd play all the characters he'd meet along the way, such as an evil hag, a beautiful princess, or a mischeivous goblin. There were so many different games it'd take all day to list them, but they all seemed very real and I'm sure that's where my love of drama and acting stems from.

*** Great kids films

They just don't make kids films
like they used to, do they? I remember being enthralled by The Neverending Story, Star Kid, Krull, Labyrinth, Legend, and of course, the legendary Star Wars trilogy. In my opinion, only Harry Potter comes anywhere near these for entertainment value out of the kids films that have been released in recent years. Then again...I'm not a kid anymore, so what do I know?

**********

There are so many other childhood memories I could talk about - my cat Tinker, the only cat I've ever liked; keeping and breeding hamsters - the excitement of the baby hamsters being born and finding them new homes. Penny sweets from the local sweet shop, Christmas - the thrill of waking up to a full sack of presents at the bottom of the bed.

School aside (and anyone who has read my op on bullying will know just how bad a time I had at school) I had a great childhood, and I'd love to live it all over again. When you're living it it seems like you'll be a child forever, but how quickly the time speeds by and all of a sudden you're an adult, looking back wistfully at the great times you had.

Bye bye little me, I miss you!!

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