Laughs, Freedom and Chocolate (Childhood Memories)

Member Name: yummy87

Product:	Childhood Memories
Date:	22/08/03 (687 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Innocence

Disadvantages: It's all so long ago

I'm sure we can all look at our children if we have them, or other people's, and wish we were young again. Wouldn't it be lovely to step back in time and have no money worries, not have to work every day, and not have to do housework?

I grew up in the country, and although my Dad was pretty strict, my brother and I used to get up to all sorts of tricks if we thought he wasn't about, or if we thought that we would get away with it. Mum was more of a pushover!

I have really fond memories of my childhood years, and the following list represents the things I miss most.

10. Toffee Treats ? Why on earth did they stop making these? They have got to be the most gorgeous sweets on the planet. I can remember going to school and buying these on occasions when my Mum had a few spare pennies. They were little toffee balls, smothered in chocolate and wrapped in a crunchy coating, similar to the coating of Minstrels. Incidentally, can anyone remember when Minstrels were called chocolate treats? I hate change!!!!

9. School ? believe it or not I do miss school, even though towards the end I discovered boys, so it took a back seat to some extent. We had some great laughs there and it was a time when my best friendships were forged and a lot have lasted to this day. I never felt the need to ?play ill? in order to get some time off as I always enjoyed it, well most of it!

8. Our back yard ? we lived in a large house, which fronted onto a main road. As well as having a huge garden, we had a back yard, which was home to five garages, which my dad rented out to people. I have vivid memories of my brother throwing a can of aerosol on a bonfire in the yard to see what would happen. The butcher was delivering some meat at the time, and he very nearly crashed his van into the wall due to the explosion. I do remember my brother was grounded for a long time. My brother used to have a motorised go kart that he used to use in this yard,
and one day I pleaded with him to let me have a go on it. He was reluctant as I was "a girl" but eventually he gave in and gave me instructions. However, I lost control of it and ended up careering up the yard and onto main street, with a petrified look on my face. Needless to say, I was never allowed to use it again. He also had a moped that I really wanted to learn how to ride and after spending half an hour teaching me what to do, he said "Right off you go". I revved it, let off the clutch and promptly went over the bars, and ended up in casualty.

7. Gangs - no I don?t mean gangs who tortured and fought. We had a gang, which was really a club, with other kids in our street and we all used to meet up on a Saturday. We were lucky enough to have a shed in our garden, which wasn?t used by our parents and we took it over as our gang headquarters. We used to do different things each week, such as silly challenges and games, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We once made a raft to take down to the river at the back of ours, and literally spent weeks on it. We got it to the river, sat on it, and the damn thing totally collapsed.

6. Texan Bars ? another chocolate bar that disappeared. This was a chewy nougat type bar, smothered in chocolate and used to make your jaw ache like crazy. Reisen bars are similar these days, but not the same. I used to eat one of these and have jaw ache for about three hours afterwards.

5. Being able to show your knickers ? I?m sure a lot of other people will remember doing handstands and headstands against the wall in the playground, just so the boys could have a glimpse of your knickers. I can?t somehow see me getting away with it now if I did it in the playground when I took the kids to school. Everyone would flee, vomiting as they ran.

4. Living with my brother ? that boy was such an idiot and managed to get us in so many scrapes (I?ve already pointed one out in 8). From a young age, he
was interested in electronics, and making things. He once decided to take a car battery to pieces in the front room and the acid splashed all over the three piece suite and burned holes through it. My mum was furious as it was quite a new piece of furniture. Another time he decided to dry his hair with the hairdryer and it exploded, burning a hole in his pyjama bottoms. I miss him a lot, but not the trail of destruction he left behind him!

3. Quality time with my Dad ? When I look back on my childhood, I realise what a great Dad mine was. He took my brother and I out a lot, on our own, I presume so Mum could have a break. We used to play squash a lot, and he also used to take us to the Masonic where we would play bar billiards. He encouraged me to take up snooker when I was about 16, as we had our own table. We formed our own team and I had so much hassle if I used to thrash the men in the pub teams. Dad always stuck up for me and told them not to be so sexist! We also shared a love of horror films, and would sit watching the old Hammer Horror films late at night, while my Mum hid behind a cushion. We don?t seem to get that one on one time these days, he seems to spend it with the kids instead!

2. Weeping Willow Tree ? We had a fantastic weeping willow in the garden of our house and when I was young, I would spend hours sitting under it playing with my dolls. I?d love to have one in our garden so Amber could do the same. It used to be a place that was mine, and I relished the time I played under it.

1. My grandparents. My Dad?s parents both died when I was in my teens but they spoiled me to death as I was their first grandchild. I used to spend a lot of time with them, and my grandfathers shed was always a source of wonderment to me. It was filled with totally useless items, but I found it interesting!! He always smelt of putty when he?d been in the shed for a long time, and I used to love snuggling up to him. My grandmother was always ba
king, and made the best gooseberry crumble. She always had a cupboard full of chocolate digestives and a tray of toffee, which we used to break with a special toffee hammer. She knitted endlessly, and kept us in a supply of revolting jumpers for years! Hers was the first death of a family member that I experienced and it hit me really hard as I was only 12. My grandfather died when I was 16 and I still miss both of them.

Well, that's it. This has bought back so many good memories of the great childhood I had, and I really enjoyed reminiscing.

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