So what about your childhood ?

[seraphim]

I remember when I was just a wee one, Takashimaya and the MRT were not even thought of yet, and we lived in Ngee Ann Building, which is smack on the site the Orchard train station was built on. Between the building and the Mandarin hotel was nothing more than a huge field dotted with little yellow flowers, and I used to run wild with dad's 'coffee sock' (coffee ground strainer) trying to catch butterflies! Dad was not impressed when he realized where the 'net' came from.

Remember playing 'kisscatch' at the playground during break times, and watching the 'big kids' in awe as they broke out of class and got to buy cokes at the cafeteria because they were older (we only had a choice of juice or milk!). Cycling down the street to Laura's so we could go swimming, sleepovers at Sabrina's where we'd sneak down to the pool in the middle of the night for a swim and get busted by the security guard - and her mom, one particularly unlucky night.

Can I be 5 again? Please? Just for the butterflies.

[Shilo2010]

Shilo's Quote of the week goes to Seraphim.

"Can I be 5 again? Please? Just for the butterflies."
Thats just the prettiest thing I ever heard.

[seraphim]

Awww, you're gonna make me blush!

Thanks Shilo

[Vaucluse]

Childhood? I read Mary and matney's and feel kind of as though I missed so much.
My childhood was spent growing up in Asia in an underdeveloped, yet beautiful Bangkok, replete with Klongs and none of the misery that one sees today.

At the age of 4 we were sent to Beirut for four years, though this was cut short after 3 when a few missiles meant for the Presidential palace went astray and hit our house - we were evacuated to Cyprus and spent a lovely 'holiday' (6 months) there.

Next on the list was Nigeria - as miserable then as it is now. A local tribal leader offered my father several cows for my grandmother - the deal would have gone through but for the discrepancy in exchange rates.

The first taste of 'normality' was had when we moved to the US - McDonalds, Little League and the obligatory Pledge of Allegiance every morning - life was great, friends were plenty and the accent gained then still sticks to me like flies to a sheeps bum.

Next posting was HOME . . . Great, except that I didn't speak or write the language, but I was the first to wear jeans and cords; ultra-cool is the word to describe me. (My brother even had a drivers license although he was several years too young to drive here - he was ueber-cool)

Next was the worst - Moscow and a boarding school in an old Abbey run by Benedictine monks . . .
That's enough for one day - reminiscing is like eating durian - little by little is best.

[Em Eye]

Growing up I can remember racing out of the door after Saturday morning cartoons and staying out all day until it got dark

We took vegimite sandwiches and apple and some devon and went yabbie fishing.

Built forts and magic tree houses

Dared each other to look in the window of the local haunted house

rode our bikes all day, cutting a piece of the margarine container lid and pegging it to our bike spokes to create a motor bike sound

marbles, elastics, barbies, dukes of hazards,

walking for over an hour to our local corner store for a packet of chew gum from money we made from raking the neighbours leaves

home made cordial ice-blocks

ride our babie campervan down the hill as a billy cart

I remember being outside all day and not wanting to be inside.

Summer was always at the local pool.

the biggest question was always "can ...... sleep over?" no need to go home for pj's or toothbrushes.

We walked to and from school - 2 hours each way rain or shine. I always read as I walked, how I did it I don't know.

We only did 2 outside school activities. Swimming in summer and Netball in winter

Then my litle brother was born and mum had to work weekends so someone had to look after him. So my weekends were being a little mother, nappy changes, bottles, vaccuming, preparing lunch and dinner and as he and my brother grew up someone had to be at home incase something happened to one of the boys and my life was rapidly different....but I still have the wonderful memories of life before 7...

[Gaia]

[quote="Shilo2010"]When I was a kid we lived in a national park just north of Sydney.
Our house was built on stone piers right out over the water.
Sometimes we fished right out the lounge room window. I would wake early in the morning to the sound of water lapping gently against the shore and perhaps the slow cry of a Currawong ringing out through the mist from the distant bank. There was a great diversity of wildlife, Kangaroo's, wombats, Koalas. I spent my days running along the rocks and swimming across the tide pools. If I got hungry I would eat Oysters right off the rocks. There was a cave on the mountain behind the house, many thousands of years before another young boy had left his hand prints on the wall, In many ways we grew up together. It was beautiful country and a terrific childhood. If any of you remember the TV program “Skippy the bush Kangaroo”

[Shilo2010]

Smarties !....smarties!
You lucky bugger.
When I was a lad we lived in a shoe box, middle of a lake!

hehe. just kidding.
Where did you grow up Gaia ?
Sounds lovely.

I’m seeking counseling after reading your post Vaucluse !

You mention home, where was home ? you mean Sydney ?
Its really interesting hearing about all your childhoods, what has become really obvious to me is that race and even social background is no barrier and that all kids are esentialy the same no matter where they grew up. I think age tends to group them more than anything else.

Rhys.

[sputnik]

I grew up in Nairn, Scotland, and remember running about in primary school playing Star Wars...I definitely remember Luke Skywalker, as I had a 'real' crush on him (at the age of about six). I believe that I ended up being Darth Vader rather than Princess Leia though.

I agree with Bubbles...it was great being outdoors all day and coming home when you were hungry. Now you see all the kids running about with mobiles - probably being phoned by frantic parents most of the time.

I loved building dens; rollerskating with four wheels and a stopper on the front; ice skating being the perfect excuse to hold hands with someone you fancied; all those skipping games; British bulldogs - oh my giddy aunt...

...Blue Peter, The Wombles of Wimbledon, The Flumps, Sesame Street, The Muppets, Bagpuss, The real BBC Narnia...

[Em Eye]

Fraggle Rock!

[sputnik]

The Moomins!!!

[seraphim]

Fraggle Rock!

Yes!!! Another Fraggle lover!! Fraggles rule!

[Loops]

I was born in Wirral which is in Merseyside (UK). We lived near the sea and spent loads of the summer down at the outdoor 'baths'......which is what we called the swimming pool. It was a great pool - seawater and had good slides - one was called the 'killer' and it was really scary. You knew you'd hit a milestone when you had the bottle to slide down it.

We lived in a small fishermans cottage until I was about 9 years old. It had really thick sandstone walls and was supposed to be about 400 years old. We had no bathroom and an outside toilet until I was 5 or 6 when the chimney fell through the roof one stormy night and my mum and dad got a loan to do the house up. We used to go around the corner to my grans for a bath! It was a great house though - really small. I remember sitting there with candles because of the 1970s electricity strikes .....I was too young to understand what was going on, but used to love having candles lit and felt disappointed when the electric came back on.

we spent our time down the pool or the beach or Hibre Island which was an island you could walk to out in the estuary. You'd take a picnic, walk there and ideally the tide would come in when you were there and then you could walk back late in the afternoon when the tide went out. You had to time it well though because there were strong currents and people could drown. We found a dead dog there once, washed up in a cave - that was a bit of excitement!

The good thing about back then was, like others have mentioned, we were just allowed to roam around. There were tons of places to play and always loads of other kids to play with.

When we got older we used to have beach parties and have a bit of a raucous time - it always rained at about 10pm though and put the fire out

Good memories

[tiki]

Spent a significant load of my pre-puberty time amongst the Maoris, moved on to live within the Seminole Tribe of Florida during my (thank god) pimple free teenage angsty years...spent chunks with the North American Haida community during my student 'The world is run by oil-cartels' days...(and getting lost on 'Dallas' - don't make me start on Charlene Tilton).

Devotion to understanding the Hmong tribe of Thailand quite recently...

Didn't quite cut it as a troubled kid but boy, I was one 'tribal(ed) child'....

I luv Fraggle rock and those little construction dudes-the Doozers(?). They're the reason those Fraggle folks were diabetics...