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Close your eyes and go back in time……
Way back…..
I’m talking about Hide and Seek in the park
The corner shop
Hopscotch, Butterscotch
Handstands
Football with an old can and jumpers as goal posts
Beano, Dandy, Buster and Dennis the Menace
Hula Hoops, jumping the stream, building dams
Bazooka Joe bubble gum
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune
Chocolate or Vanilla or Strawberry or maybe Neapolitan or perhaps a Screwball
Watching Saturday morning cartoons, Children’s film Foundation, The Double Decker’s, Red Hand Gang, The Tomorrow People, Tiswas or Swapshop, and ‘Why Don’t You’?, or staying up for Dr Who.
When round the corner seemed far away, and going into town seemed like going somewhere.
Earwigs, wasps, stinging nettles and bee stings
White dog shit
Playing marbles. Big ‘uns and little ‘uns
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Zorro
Climbing trees
Building Igloos out of snow banks
Walking to school, no matter the weather
Running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for the giggles
Being tired from playing……remember that?
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon
Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle
Choppers and Grifters
Eating raw jelly. Orange squash ice pops.
Remember when……..
There were two types of trainers – girls and boys, and Dunlop Green Flash – and the only time you wore them was for P.E.
You knew everyone in your street – and so did your parents.
It wasn’t odd to have two or three “best” friends.
You didn’t sleep a wink on Christmas Eve
When 25p was decent pocket money
Curly Whirlys. Space Dust. Toffo’s
Top Trumps
When you’d reach into the gutter for a penny
When nearly everyone’s mum was at home when the kids got there
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him, or use them to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid thought anything of it
When being sent to the head’s office was nothing compared to the fate awaiting when you got home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn’t because of drive by shootings, drugs gangs etc…
Parents and Grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of them.
Remember when……
Decisions were made by going “ip dip dog shit”
“Race Issue” meant arguing about who ran the fastest Money issues were handled by whoever was the “banker” in Monopoly
The worst thing that you could catch from the opposite sex was germs,
And the worst thing in your day was having to sit next to one.
It was unbelievable that ‘British Bulldog 123’ wasn’t an Olympic Event
Having a weapon in school, meant being caught with a catapult
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better
Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable aspirin
Ice cream was considered a basic food group
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED.
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