Football, snow and shopping (Childhood Memories)

Member Name: fooyoo

Product:	Childhood Memories
Date:	21/02/03 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice memories

Disadvantages: I still hate shopping

Looking around the site tonight I was searching for something new and different to write about, and this is where I ended up. Now that I am a father, watching my child experience so much everyday, I find myself reminiscing a lot about my own childhood. At first I was sure I would be able to fill pages and pages with interesting anecdotes from my childhood, but when it comes down to it, I am struggling to find some that I think will interest you, but I hope the ones I have chosen are ones that you find interesting.

I am the younger of two brothers, my elder brother is 18 months older than me, but we were always quite close in size once we became toddlers, and my mother loved to dress us the same. The choice of clothes in the 1970's seem to have been limited to orange and brown velour with a lot of Aaran cardigans thrown in for good measure, but the outfit which seems to feature in so many family pictures comprises of navy blue short dungarees with a white t-shirt underneath, and to make me look extra cute, it is finished off with white ankle socks and sensible shoes.

Holidays were never trips abroad, and as neither of my parents were drivers, each journey was an epic. My parents loved to take us to The Isle Of Wight, and it comprised of 2 train journeys, a ferry and then another train journey, all of which took best part of a day, but it was so worthwhile when we got there. We always used to stay in Ryde, and I am determined to take my own family back there in the near future, but whilst the Isle Of Wight was the best option for families who could not afford jaunts to the various Costas, nowadays it is equally as expensive as your standard package holiday.

Saturday afternoons in the winter. Staying in the house whilst the snow came down outside, and feeling the warmth of the fire against my face as I lay on the floor in front of the television watching the wrestling. At that age, around 7 years old, I felt so protected from the outside
world just by sitting inside my house. In a lot of ways I miss that innocence and the trouble free approach to life we have at that age, and it is something I will try to preserve in my daughter for as long as I can.

Saturday afternoons in the summer were a different matter, and as a whole I loathed them. My brother and I would rarely get the chance the watch any cartoons on the television, before we had to get ready and go to catch the bus into the centre of Newcastle. I was and still am a very bad traveller, and the feeling of the bile rising in my throat is still so fresh in my mind over two decades on. The 30 minute journey always felt like a lifetime, and most of the time I held in the vomit until we reached our destination. As if that was not bad enough, we were then dragged around a place called The Greenmarket and The Grainger Market. My mum believed in doing her grocery shopping here, and it was a crowded hot place with sawdust on the floor, and I hated it with a passion, and every week I got a clip behind the ear for lagging behind my mum.

My first time watching my beloved Newcastle United play. I was 9 years old, and I am sure the team we were playing was Everton. At that time the grounds (certainly not the stadiums they have become) were standing, and my dad took me to The Gallowgate end, where we stood underneath the scoreboard. I still get butterflies in my stomach everytime the players run out onto the pitch at St James' Park where my father and I have season tickets in seats next to each other. Some of my best times have been experienced here, but also some of my most disappointing.

All of those memories aside, my strongest memory is of feeling safe, feeling loved and feeling special. I wish every child could have those memories and experience those feelings throughout their childhood.

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