It’s that time of week when another blogger is going to be sharing their childhood memories. This week’s Remembering Childhood comes from Hayley from Devon Mama.
Which decade were you born in?
I was born in the 80’s, 1986 to be precise. I find it strange to think that my child was born in an entirely different millennium to me!
What is your earliest memory? How old were you?
My earliest memory is playing in the front room of our first family home. My best friend lived two doors down the road and so we were always at each others houses. I remember dancing along to Kylie’s ‘Locomotion’ with her around the lounge, obviously we knew all the moves. I’d have been about four then.
What was your favourite toy at 5 years old? At 10?
I was pretty obsessed with my bike when I was five, it was pink with white handle bars and streamers coming out of them. I remember thinking it was the bees knees! By the time I was ten, I was all about my cat. I know it’s not a toy but I’d drag him everywhere, that and my younger sister who would have been two. It was like having a real life doll. Our favourite thing to do was to put on ‘shows’ or play ‘shops’ and make my mum watch them or buy things. Poor mum.
Do you still have any toys from your childhood?
I still have the teddy that was in my cot when I was brought home from hospital. He now sits in my son’s room. We also still have all the Brio and wooden toys from when we were younger, I can’t believe what good condition they’re in having been stored in my parents loft for a good twenty plus years!
Who was your favourite pop group/artist as a teenager?
I was never really in to boy bands thankfully, instead I was the prime age for the rise of Girl Power. I was a big Spice Girls fan. Then later, Eminem… so practically the same!
What was your favourite TV show(s)?
My favourite show when I was slightly older was ‘The Bill’. I used to beg my parents to let me stay up and watch it! I also remember the highlight of our week being ‘The Simpsons’ on Sky One on a Sunday night. We used to sit as a family and watch it whilst eating our dinner in the front room. Sunday nights would always mean snack foods – plates of crumpets, mini rolls, crisps that we were allowed to eat on our laps. It was such a treat!!
What was the first film you remember seeing at the cinema?
I can’t remember!! It was quite rare we’d go to the cinema as it’s a good 45 minute drive for us to get to one. The first film I properly remember watching was Jurassic Park at my friend’s sleepover. The rest of the girls wanted to watch it with the lights off, it was about 9pm and I hid under my sleeping bag and cried because I was so scared!
Do you have any dodgy haircut/ outfit memories that you’d rather forget?
YES! Would childhood be complete without them? My mum went through a stage of dressing us all in matching jumpers, there’s four years between me, my younger brother and then my sister. All three of us were dressed in jumpers that had NEXT written across the front for about three years! Hideous! As for hair, I’ve always had wild hair. Just before I started secondary school, I went to my mum’s hairdresser and he cut it shorter than I wanted. With the weight of it gone, it turned into full on ringlets, too short to tie up. I was so rude to the hairdresser my mum marched me back in to apologise. It meant the first term of secondary school I looked like the poshest girl on the block!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a doctor or a hairdresser. Funnily enough, I’m neither of those now!
If you could go back to being a child again what age would you choose and why?
I think I’d choose about ten years old. I remember long summers spent playing in the garden. My parents run their own business and at that stage it was far smaller. They’d spend all summer putting together a catalogue whilst working at home which meant we’d see them but in strange phases. The moment they finished, they’d pack us in a car and we’d head off on holiday. In the evenings we’d sleep in a tent in the garden and my Dad would come out for a ‘midnight’ snack (at about 9 pm!). We were given a lot of freedom to do what we wanted and encouraged to be creative so we’d spent days building go-carts in the workshop and then attempt to race them around our field. I have a major case of rose-tinted glasses but it was a wonderful time before secondary school and growing up!
Thanks for sharing your memories Hayley – being 10 does sound like a fabulous age to go back to! We used to camp in our back garden too, such good fun.
If you enjoyed this post then please do come back next week when another blogger will be remembering their childhood. You can also read all the other posts in the series here.
