What our parents did that wouldn't be seen now

No-one ever gave a second thought to putting babies outside for a nap. Mine enjoyed watching the laundry flapping on the line. GC all went for a nap in their cots. What they missed out on!

I did that with both of my children whenim64 - cat net firmly in place and pram placed in the shade but where I could see it. Maybe it is something to do with modern prams now? I had a coach built pram for my daughter but a more modern one for my son (but it was still quite roomy). Awww, happy days

Dingos, peadophiles and man eating foxes... I suppose. Sad. Happy days indeed.

My dad was a real dare-devil. When our local lake froze (at minus 30 to 40C and to a great depth) he used to drive the 2CV onto the lake, tie ropes at the back with our sledges- drive as fast as he could then do hand-brake turns- throwing us into wild rides. It was great fun- and never had an accident. Totally forbidden now, of course.

Thankfully, no dingos in Birmingham. Foxes never seemed to bother either. Peadophiles couldn't get into the back garden - thankfully. It's why we were happy to put the babies out into the fresh air; you tailor your actions to suit your circumstances.

We used to run around with few or no clothes on in the sun. Darling daughter is scared stiff of skin cancer to DGD are allowed only half an hour exposed then, slathered with sunscreen every ten minutes and covered with sun suits which cover them from head to toe.
I'm more worried about rickets than Ca skin!

Same with our little ones Galen! My mother put some vaseline on us before we left to play in the sun all day!

Glad to say that here in Switzerland it is still common to see little ones play in their birthday suits in the garden or even park.

The old prams had a harness so that you could strap the babies in and they couldn't lean over and fall out when they got bigger. Today's prams (at least the one we used for DGDs) don't have anywhere to fix a harness so we couldn't use it once they could sit up.

Dingoes - where am I?

Nice thread Glammy

I have been taken back and remember with so much affection lot's of family and friends 'hay making' and how lovely it was playing and helping out with 'stooking' the hay. Sharing food and drink and going to the pub after for a Vimto and crisps. Disgustingly I used to love dunking my crisp in the Vimto until it went soft and tasted of Vimto . Very happy times and I have a tear visualising mum in her dungarees and knotted head scarf smiling and being so happy.

Yes we did 'play out' and go for miles from a very young age, usually in wellies as our Clarke's shoes were for best. No concept of time and no worries or restraints, unlike the poor kids now. You were afraid of the local policeman and never ever back chatted anyone for fear of a clip round the ear, which never happened but you didn't dare put it to the test.

Women, if they were taken out, used the snug and men used the bar. A meal out for mum and dad was for special occasions only and mum kept a dress and cardigan on a hanger in the wardrobe wrapped in an old sheet to keep the dust off [aagh]. She rarely used makeup so if we saw her in lipstick we thought ooh, it must be something important happening.

Washing was done on scrubbing board and the ringer. Baths were taken in the metal tub,or the 'portable ass cleaner' as my grandad called it. Robin starch was used and sheets were white, white or white, take your pick. Mum used to hitch up her skirt in front of the coal fire or in front of the range in the kitchen and moan because her legs were getting hot, never did work that one out.

Doors were never locked, you made your toys out of anything to hand, milk churns, wood, old scrap and nearly always had an accident which would get the comment' serves you right for being stupid', alongside a big boobed hug that meant your OK and I love you..

I could go on but we all have fond memories and we can only hope our grandchildren can look back at their early years and remember the good things, usually they were the free ones.

I remember that in 1975, when I left hospital with my newborn son, the midwife carried him out of the hospital in.her arms and placed him on my lap in the front passenger seat of the car. Now of course babies are not allowed to be driven home without a car seat. I suppose the roads were much quieter then.

Pogs that was such a lovely post I.have just read it twice

I really enjoyed your post, POGS, some of which I can relate to!

I remember that my Mum had a 'dolly tub' and a scrubbing board, and I remember Robin starch in little packets. Persil and Rinso were the two washing powders. She then progressed to a washing machine which she had to fill with water then light the gas underneath to warm the water! I am sure I remember that - must have been quite dangerous. It had a mangle attached which you used by hand.

I don't think we ever went to the pub. We did go to The Bell in Hurley with Auntie once for lunch, must have been nearly 60 years ago; walked in and it was all white starched tablecloths and silver service. Mum and Auntie looked at the prices on the menu and we had to walk out again and get something from the shop nearby.

Grandma60 I had a similar experience in 1977! Yet in 2010 when DD left hospital with GS1 they were not allowed to go unless the baby was in a car seat and the straps has been checked. However they were sent out at 7pm in January in a snow storm and GS1 had been in special care with breathing difficulties for the first few days of his life. Different priorities I suppose.

grandma 60. rose quartz.

Roseq

Ah, the mangle. Grandad had a fun take on life, although he kind of dismissed the 'yung uns'.

He used to say to nan or mum 'You on the Nellie my love'. It was a take on the old song When Nellie caught her t--s in the mangle, she began to shout'.

Have a good day.

I must have been about 6 when I used to walk home with a friend from my school, Oakington Manor, in Wembley. One day I was kept in after school because I'd been chattering too much in class. So my friend and her brother had gone. It was about a one and a half mile walk and when I got up to the busy main road, the lollypop lady had gone - I still remember how frightened I was crossing the road on my own. It seems incredible now that a 6 year old could be kept in at school without a parent being told and without checking how she was getting home.

I was in charge of two younger girls to take to Brownies, so I must have been about 8 or 9 and they were 7. We had a long way to walk and there was a main road to cross, sometimes dark in the winter evenings. I think one of the Dads would cycle over to walk us home afterwards.
I still remember the horror of my friend dashing into the main road and me yelling stop; she was knocked over by a car, luckily only injured but in hospital for quite a while.

Rosequartz I think my.Mum had a "washing machine" like the one you described but we called it a furnace. The mangle was a big wrought iron contraption.with wooden rollers. By the time I.was about 7.a launderette had opened down the road and it became my job.to take the washing there in a wheeled trolley.

MIL's mangle is in BIL's garden, all beautifully painted and looking lovely as a garden feature!

Although my mum did tell me about menstruation, she didn't tell me about sex - until the night before my wedding when I was 29. Little did she know...

I was expecting my second child and my mother was visiting. She asked me to shut the door so DH and DD would not hear. I thought that at long last I would have the birds and bees conversation . She then handed me a five pound note and told me to buy a shopping trolley as I shouldn't be carrying heavy loads in my delicate state. I'm none the wiser.

My mum was from an Irish Catholic family. The thought of talking about sex or periods was a no no. When I started my periods she handed me a towel and said 'you need this'. That was it! When I was married and pregnant she could hardly look at me. I would say to her 'when the baby's born, we can take it to the park and stuff can't we?' Her reply was 'I must clean these windows' ! She had 7 children herself

I remember my mother being astonished to learn that I had no qualms about picking up a pack of Tampax for my fiancée/wife when shopping. (1960s)

I was embarrassed buying sanitary stuff almost up to the time when I didn't need it any more; and yet I was ok if I was buying it for someone else [as if the shop assistant knew who it was for ].

Not the case with me- but for many of my friends. Get a clout or two if coming home complaining that the teacher had punished them or been 'picking on them'!

They wore corsets!

Thinking about that in this hot weather makes me feel faint!

I went to 19 schools but have no memory of my mother taking me to any of them. She must have taken us there for the first day but after that we were on our own. I went to school in Hong Kong and what a journey that was. We lived on the mountain next to the Peak on HK Island, but the Forces school St. George was at the back of Kowloon on the mainland. A car would pick me up, or my father would drive me, to the Star Ferry. Over HK Harbour to Kowloon to catch a bus to our school. Actually it was a wonderful way to go to school. We got to know every liner, battleship and freight ship that came and went. A rather exotic train spotter.
We lived all over the world and had so much freedom compared to today's children. There weren't less paedophiles then just that nowadays they are more mobile and have more access to nasty material.
I went to the cinema on my own from an early age, went around to friends' houses to see if they could come out to play. When we lived in Ealing a group of us used to catch the 65 bus to Richmond. We'd literally spend the whole day in the park. Mum would give me a packet of sandwiches and a shilling for fares and a drink. I feel sorry for today's children. What with the increase in traffic and their parents' fears, they are prisoners of their own home.