What our parents did that wouldn't be seen now

Not only were there men's and women's staff rooms at my grammar school, but the head teacher had an inner sanctuary into which certain elite teachers and sixth formers were allowed to join her for tea! Manchester 1959/60.

I was at school a few (!) years before you, bags. Remember that this was quite soon after WW2. I am sure that when they rebuilt the school there would have been integrated staffrooms.

Same here, bags - but there did seem to be an awful lot of smoking going on behind the closed doors of both! It used to waft out when anyone came in or out...

You had separate men's and women's staffrooms, anno? Blimey!

There were two staffrooms at my all girls school but bothe male and female teachers used both. One was for working in and the other was for relaxing with cups of tea and chatting.

Our childhoods were largely as they were as a result of what our parents did (or did not do)

A bit confused Glammy- your title asks for a comparison between our parents' lives, but your post compares our childhood to that of our children...
my parents were born in the early 1910s, me in early 1950s and my kids in early 1970s- the difference between the three generations is VAST.

In the 50s, we all walked to school on our own- and after school we went off to the woods or the park to play until supper time- same at week-end and during hols- as long as we were back on time for meals, it was fine. We had penknives and axes to make play houses in the woods too- and matches to make a fire to roast a few sausages on. Same for the 1 month a year we spent in a tiny châlet by the lake, no electricity (remember those gas lamps with a mantle?) a tiny gas stove and outside toilet (we had the lake right in front and spent most of the day in it- so washing was not a problem)- we were out with the other kids from morning till night- all ages, and only came to the châlet for a quick feed and water...

We cycled on out own to the swimming pool for the whole day, or were at the skating rink for hours and days... My mum had a 2CV, and we did all the Swiss mountain passes with the roof open, and my brother and me standing on the seat holding on to the middle bar, waving to those who finally managed to overtake us. No child locks or safety belts of course.
I could write pages ...

Everyone smoked everywhere in the 40s and 50s. If we had to take a message to the men's staffroom at school, smoke billowed out of the door! We walked to and from school twice a day - in our case, home for lunch; played out in the street and in the foundations of houses being built in our street; climbed trees and picked wild flowers.

I walked to school alone too. I remember I must have been about 6 years old and I fell down in a puddle dirtying my relatively new coat. I was terrified to go home and hid for what seemed like hours. Someone (perhaps a neighbour I can't remember) found me and plonked me in their car and took me home. My mum was mortified and I got into serious trouble for "making everyone think that my parents were ogres"

I remember going on holiday to Butlins holiday camp and being left alone with my sister in the chalet while my parents went to watch the evening entertainment. This would have been in the late 60's early 70's . They employed "baby listeners" who patrolled the chalets and they had a screen up on the wall that displayed the number where there was a "baby" crying. Just imagine it these days. I would never have let my children out of my sight.

Yes I can certainly remember being left outside a certain pub in East London to play in the street on a Saturday evening while the family foregathered within. Everyone smoked in the house. Children and babies if they went in a car (only a couple of uncles had cars) travelled on parents laps. We walked to school on our own and often went to a neighbours house to be looked after, went to the park on our own, played on bomb sites. I was born in 1953 but the East End of London was pretty deprived but we thought normal as we didn't know anything else.