I was thinking about all the things I did as a youngster, and don’t do now (good/bad).
Go on, what did you do as a youngster?
Prolly loads more.
[quote=“Buttercup”]1. Hide in the coal hole.
2. Get up early so I’d get the top of the milk on my porridge.
3. Ballet & riding
4. Rule the school
5. Walk over fields every day.
6. Draw pictures and sing songs.
Prolly loads more.[/quote]
“top of the milk”…that takes me back…pre-homogenized days.
1). Catch frogs, newts and sticklebacks and put them in white plastic ice-cream tubs.
2). Make dens in the spinney and walk down the stream, trying not to get our trainers wet.
3). Make tree houses out of abandoned planks and builder’s tarpaulins which the local council would eventually take down.
4). Play in the abandoned train tunnel.
5). Throw snowballs at gritting lorries. Somtimes the drivers would get out and throw some back.
6). Shoplift penny sweets as a dare from the village newsagent. The manager always knew, he disclosed to me in more recent years.
7). Lie before the fire and note the familiar smell of the carpet, while watching BlockBusters with Bob Holness.
8). Help my dad take bags of rubbish to the tip.
9). Hate cleaning out the rabbit’s cage on cold winters’ mornings.
10). Wait at the window for my father to return home, his clothes usually smelling of fumes, burning rubber and smoke.
That stuff reminds me of playing with my sister and my two cousins. Lots of broken bones, black eyes, stitches, and other stupidity-related injuries related to home-made vehicles, trees, windows, sports equipment, bicycles, my cousin’s mini-motorbike thingy, Mountain Rescue, waterfalls, cows, electric fences, concrete pipes, air guns, experiments with the humble Soda Stream, tow-ropes …
Basically, you could get them to do anything, if you attached the word ‘dare’ to the idea!
Played hockey, Monopoly, rode my bike all over town, picked blackberries by the bucketload, took my dogs for runs, read like a fiend, played in the dirt, hurt myself severely enough and often enough to raise suspicions at the hospital. 
its so hard to pen down just a few. I’ll write what I miss most. I grew up in a middle class suburb of Mumbai and summer vacations used to be long, dreary and exciting all in one. Every night at about 9.30. we used to have a power cut foryears and years during those summer months. It ws fantastic. We were all prepared for it and post dinner, we used to wait for the lights to go off. And as soon as that happened. Everyone, I mean Everyone came out. There was a grandma corner in the playground. A mom’s corner, the dad’s went on a walk with torches (flashlights) in their hands and we kids played…for an hour. Those were really fun times. Playing in semi darkness, the park lights used to be on against the darkened buildings. When we got tired running, we’d just play dumb charades based on movie names and ofcourse sing songs. It used to be great.
Mushrooms, speed and underage girls. But then, I was underage meself, so it doesn’t count.
Surfed, surfed, then surfed some more. When there was no surf, I either went spear fishing or sat about picking the scabs on my sun cracked lips.
HG
Awww, it must be weird to have grown up in the time before E’s.
Climbing up precarious cliffs and getting stuck.
Walking to the variety store to buy a candy bar and soda.
Putting on Wellingtons and wading through the culvert under our neighborhood.
Going on camping trips and waking up to a pancake breakfast made by my dad.
Placing a brick of firecrackers in a tire, lighting it and rolling it down the hill.
Man my childhood was quite deprived. I grew up in a city. We didn’t climb trees or played with fire crackers.
I recall being a nerd, scoring good grades and being really skinny and pimply. That’s about it lol. I like being a nerd though, so it is all cool.
Awww, it must be weird to have grown up in the time before E’s.[/quote]
But WE had Slade!
I am a little disappointed that neither Buttercup not sandman said they had to sweep the lake or get up before they went to bed.
You still do that.
swam with a 30ft whale shark.
I was able to stand on its back, lift my hands above my head as I striked a yoga pose with my foot resting on my left leg while shouting, “Look mom, no hands!”
bonded with dolphins
from sharing the same waves whilst surfing - having dolphins breach in front of my surfski - getting pulled off my surfboard due the dolphin snagging on my leash - paddling long distance whereby the school of dolphins have assisted me by swimming in front of my surfski enabling me to ride their wake etc,
played with lion cubs
at one stage I sat down to take a photo of a cub, only to find another sinking all its claws into my ribs and lower back
hid from lightning
got covered in red clay while hiding from lightning strikes that were detonating on the adjacent ridge
halfpipe daily
best friend had a skateboard half pipe in his back yard. Fond memories of skateboarding in the rain
took part in club, national and world champs lifesaving competitions
enjoyed the training and social aspects of the squad
backpacking Europe (incl. Turkey)
heaps of adventures
Go fishing and get some nice bass to deliver home before the bus came
Once killed a deer, gutted and delivered to grandpop before the bus arrived. Blood on my clothes at school was a badge. Of course, back then, we depended on wild meat for our families subsistence. Not so cool anymore.
Anyone recall when you could have a deer rifle in the rack in the rear window of your truck while parked in the high school parking lot?
Shit, now, you are a terrorist if so found.
I lived in a dark old house with Scottish grandparents in the north of England in the 70s. My grandfather was terminally ill and my grandmother nursed him and ran two convenience stores. I saw my mother and sister once a week. My school was 45 mins walk away. We had a TV, but nobody turned it on.
So when my father and huge brood of cousins showed up, there was MacDonalds, films, playing in the park, fizzy pop, and all sorts of fun.