What did you love about your childhood?

I loved playing with other kids in the neighborhood. TV was the only electronic distraction then. So I was often playing outdoors or interacting with the other kids. Had a fun childhood, even well into my teenage years. The joys of simple living, no complications from technology – like must have gadgets, online presence, etc. The only thing that brings back my childhood are the reruns of tv shows like wonder woman, hawaii five-o, charlie’s angels.

The fact that we used to play in big groups 20+ kids.
The fact that nobody was upset when they weren’t picked for a game.
The fact that we had games for big groups ^^
The fact that our parents allowed us to stay out even when it was dark.
The fact that we had a lot of animals with no owner that were playing with us [ and nobody was thinking that they could do us harm .. still they were our animals ]
The fact that nobody was thinking about diseases [ we were eating one after another / we were drinking from fountains etc etc ]
The fact about clothes. Nobody was pointing fingers after another if he/she had dirt on clothes OR that they were a bit small OR if they were broken.
etc
etc

The fact that we were happy.

And many more.

Travelling.

Going to our summer cabin every summer,
Growing tomatoes in our massive garden,
Playing whiffle ball
Flying homemade kites at the playground
Superdawg hotdogs
Dating my first girlfriend Maria

Just every single thing… No pain No hurt No heartbreak No thinking about the future… just being so innocent

beach get togethers
venturing into the woods
having no bills

I loved going to my grandparents’ house most weekends.

I was blessed. I had a fanastic childhood and as a teenager. I was fortunate to have both parents and I needed the guidance of both. My dad taught me how to shave and my mother taught me how to love and respect other people in life.

Do you remember the tv show, Leave It To Beaver? I had that type of family. My mother did not have to work, so she made sure I had someone to answer to, after school. This kept me out of trouble.

The best times in life were in the 50s and 60s. A person could afford to live and put money back for a good pension and insurances for their children. My dad did this.

Housing and food was cheap.

My parents gave me the necessities as a child. They made me work to earn money for my first automobile. This made me respect the value of a dollar and what I purchased with it.

Did I pass these valuable facts of life onto my children?

Yes.

Oh, only everything…...long may it continue ;¬}

@john65pennington That is so sweet. :’)

I lived on a farm with a few creeks running through. We built a bunch of tree-houses along the creeks. My sister and I would hang out all day in the summer and fish.

Raspberries at my grandparents house and popsicles. I am still a popsicle nut.

Anticipating hearing Christmas carols once the “ber” months started.
Watching cartoons.
Crossing rivers as if we were crossing the Atlantic ocean.
Having crushes on pretty girls.
Catching spiders at dusk and then letting them fight hanging on a stick. Nothing like watching a spider wrap his opponent with his web, to be eaten later.
Chasing, annoying and catching fireflies.
Believing in fairies and monsters.

There is lots I could say was bad, but you know, l loved life. I loved everything about childhood, the whole adventure.

I loved playing in the woods. I used to make “papyri” out of scrolls of madrona bark. I created forts. I played wilderness adventure. I played naturalist. I just love the woods. Always have, always will.

I had a wonderful childhood.

I had two great parents.

My mother was a strong, independent, highly intelligent, and well educated woman and was an excellent female role model.

My father provided an excellent living for our family through his dental practice. Additionaly, he grew up on a farm and was/is a fount of practical knowledge that most these days are never exposed to, much less have the ability to use in the real world, and he was very good about sharing that knowledge with his children.

I grew up in a terrific home that is now listed as “historical”. It still saddens me a bit that after my mom died a part of my dad’s need to “move on” included selling the place. OTOH, my old home town does not really have anything to offer me but memories and the folks currently living there seem to really appreciate the uniqueness of the place.

We had a family ranch that I spent quite a bit of time on which let me have many rare opportunities. At the time I took them for granted (in fact was a bit annoyed at having to play reluctant ranch hand most weekends), but now realize how special they were. I had a couple of ponies. I got to actually “work” cattle, I can fix a barbed wire fence. I drilled a water well. I can fix a windmill. I can operate a tractor. I know how to hunt, fish, and grow crops.

I was and am truly blessed.

I had a great childhood. We played with all the neighbor kids, rode bikes, waded in the creek and caught crawdads. We played board games, jacks and jump rope. Outside, we played tag, hide and seek, statues, easter eggs, and red rover. I feel bad for the kids today who are glued to their computers, cell phones, iPods, iPads, and video games. It is like they are living in a virtual reality world and not seeing the real world that is all around them.

Growing up in the country – having trees to climb and plenty of room to roam. Iceskating on ponds in winter, swimming in them in summer.

I loved the house I grew up in – a big brick house built in the 1800s and it had been part of the Underground Railway (supposedly). It had hidden passages down the old brick spaces on the 3rd floor. The oak trees in the yard were so large the university would send students to measure and study them. They were estimated to be well over 100 years old and towered over the house.

I loved that we had a pool. Summers were spent waking up, putting on a bathing suit and then getting in and out of the pool all day long. I can think of lots of days that I only ever wore a bathing suit all day.

I loved our yard and neighborhood. I had apple trees to climb, pine trees to hide under, a nearby ravine to play in..and nice neighbors all around to visit. Plus my aunt & uncle’s house and my grandma’s house were off the same ravine—so I could easily walk or ride my bike to see them anytime.

I loved that I had a savings passbook and I could do little jobs and deposit money in the bank and then when I wanted a new book the library didn’t have I’d ride my bike back to the bank, make a withdrawal and walk two doors down to the book store. This was at like age..8. Made me feel SO grownup to do business with a bank teller that I could barely see standing on tip toes at the bank counter.

@geeky_mama Your description of your house gave me goosebumps. I just LOVE historic old homes.

We had a pool, too. We would swim until we turned blue, and then go inside and put on nice, dry clothes and have a bowl of bean and bacon soup to warm us up.

@Skaggfacemutt – your description sounded familiar to me, too – we had crawdad’s in the creek in the ravine and a favorite activity was to go catch ‘em. :)

My childhood was generally terrible. The best part was when my Mom rented a trumpet for me in the 4th grade. I played it all the way through 4 years of college and beyond. I have many great memories from that and more fun times are likely to come.

My mom taught me to read very early. I fondly remember sitting in the living room floor, the bathroom floor, or the kitchen countertops, loking at my homemade flashcards and saying B-AT. C-AT. D-OG. H-OG. She spent so much time with me, helping me learn new things, but she mde it a LOT of fun. She would teach me things while we made a game out of cleaning, or made a game out of cooking.

My dad did the same thing with math. He taught me how to add and subtract very early, and then moved to multiplying and dividing. Then he started teaching me fractions, while we would all cook together. It was really cool.

@WillWorkForChocolate Awwwe
@geeky_mama It seems amazing !
@Skaggfacemutt I definitely love yours too. :)
@gondwanalon At least you had great memories, right? :)

My childhood was interesting, because I had a severely disabled sister. Much of my childhood was spent caregiving and helping my parents juggle 2 healthy young children, and one that was not very healthy. There were a lot of spoon feedings, diaper changes, g-tube care and seizure protocol. I didn’t mind it, because it was very normal to me, but it did give me an incredible opportunity to bond with my sisters in a way that I don’t think would have happened otherwise.

Although I had a lot of responsibility in my childhood, there was no shortage of fun. Some of my favorite memories include picking currants at my grandmother’s house, playing piano with my grandfather, running amok with my cousins. I liked riding my bike (or my big wheel in earlier years) with the neighborhood kids until the street lights came on. My sisters and I would hike through the woods and play in the creek, looking for crayfish and then walk to the park and play on the swings.
On clear summer nights my dad would take me outside and I would lay on the picnic table and he would teach me the constellations.
I could probably go on and on, I had a happy childhood.

@ANef_is_Enuf Is your disabled sister still alive? Seeing someone with those kind of disabilities really makes you appreciate your own health. I used to park as close to stores as I could get, until I witnessed many of my co-workers get hip and knee replacements and struggle with scoliosis. Now I leave those spaces for people less fortunate than I and gladly walk the extra distance.

@Skaggfacemutt she is no longer with us, no.

@ANef_is_Enuf Sorry to hear that. Just shows that everyone has a special purpose in life. Sounds like she brought your family closer and that is good.

Living with my grandparents. I learned what feels like all the most important stuff from them, the things others say are the best parts of me.

Being naive, and it not mattering.

Technically today is still part of my childhood, and what I love about it is having the freedom to be who I want to be. I have friends whose parents don’t particularly appreciate their strangeness and creativity and I feel bad for them. My parents support me in whatever I do, and I’m very grateful for that.

Running and letting loose at the city park across from our apartment. My mom would take me almost everyday after school and I loved it. I remember insta-friendships with anyone who showed up, developing bonds with the regulars, and just running, climbing, swinging—

My mom didn’t work when I was little. I always got to be with her, and she was a ton of fun (still is), and she was always babysitting her friends’ kids that had to work, so there were always people my age around. We had a trampoline, and it was the typical neighborhood where everyone played tag and….oh my god I can’t even think of the games anymore!!!....and climbed trees and built forts and it was really safe and beautiful and pleasant and ahh. :)

Several decades ago in what was then a far-flung suburb of LA, kid’s weren’t watched like hawks then and parents weren’t expected to spend continuous attention on kids who were old enough to find their way home. I felt fairly enabled.
I got sent to the liquor to get my mom cigarettes. And to the grocery for a bagfull.
I could go to a friend’s house on my bike and we’d go for a run on the fire roads.
If I fell out of the tree in the backyard well that was just something that happened sometimes.

Also my folks made a point of exposing us to all sorts of cultural forms (museums, perfomances and music of all sorts). They were both smart and curious and it was just normal for us all to check out something we hadn’t done before.