Childhood disappointments

How many ears has Dr Spock got? 3 the right ear the left ear and the final front ear

I was disappointed seeing a dead mole at how small it was, the illustrations in my Wind of the Willows led me to believe at least a 10 year old child size.

Not me but my son when he was about 7. I was surprised when he was suddenly desperate to go to church (we’re not a religious family) He was so disappointed when he couldn’t see the bells ringing in the roof!

I was seven and waiting outside the church hall so that I could join the Brownies. The girls who were already enrolled brownies suddenly began saying 'Brown Owl's coming. ' I looked along the pavement in expectation of seeing a life size owl. Imagine my disappointment when all I saw was a woman, wearing a navy blue uniform.

Me & my brother had been begging mum to buy some Findus crispy pancakes (as seen on TV), & Dad decided they sounded nice too.
Eventually she bought & cooked them OK, even bought Coke to go with them which was another first, but we were all so disappointed. They sounded so appetising, & they really weren't.

I was about 9. It was nearing Christmas and my Aunt in Scotland had sent my Xmas present which was under the tree. It was obviously a large book and, as I was a great reader, I was very excited.

Turned out to be a Helen Shapiro Annual. I had never heard of her and was very disappointed.

As a wartime child bananas were something of a myth and I was told “just wait until you taste a banana”, meaning I imagined something like pineapple or peach. The real thing was a floury, tasteless disappointment which I have never quite recovered from!

When I was seven I went to London for the first time. I was disappointed by almost everything. Buckingham palace didn’t look a bit like the fairy palaces of my imagination and my picture books. 10 Downing Street (you could walk along it then) didn’t look grand at all, and didn’t even have a front garden. Worst of all was Piccadilly Circus. Where were the dancing horses and the clowns?

When I returned home I went to tea with a friend, and her mother teasingly asked me if I’d enjoyed the clowns in Piccadilly Circus. I laughed with her and pretended that I was far too sophisticated to have expected that, even though in fact I had done.

I became aware that my parents had supper every evening at about 9pm. I felt I was missing out on this grown-up event and one evening came up with some excuse to venture into the sittingroom at supper-time. How disappointed I was to discover them drinking a cup of tea and eating a Rich Tea biscuit.

We went to a neighbours house one Christmas/ Boxing Day evening, I must have been about 10.

I was so excited as the grown ups would be having some Sanatogen Tonic Wine and I was going to be allowed a taste.

What a disappointment! It was awful. I had imagined it would be a really upmarket ‘pop’, but no. How could they drink this stuff?

When I was about 7, I was very disappointed that my paternal grandmother didn’t have eyes like a hawk! That’s what my Mum had told me.

When we first had a record player Father brought home records for each of us. Mine was "She loves you" - but sung by Pinky and Perky!