I was just reminiscing about the good old days, those carefree days of childhood when everything was so different…Thank God, some things do change for the better!

  1. Who remembers that awful scratchy toilet paper (or was it tracing paper)? that didn’t wipe anything at all, instead just spreading it around. Not only that but it was so rough and got into all those tender places making them sore. This was all we had at school so we had to like it or lump it!
  2. The note from Mum. I love this one, it was like a magic ticket in some ways that NOBODY questioned. It got you off PE (well it would if it were genuine, I tried forging it once and got found out straight away)!  Your Mum would send you off to the shops with a note for 20 cigarettes or Dad would want some beer, If you had the note, it was fine! I can’t believe looking back that I travelled back from Germany on my own at 14 years old on my own, via train and Ferry with just a Visitor’s Passport and a note from my Mum saying I was not a runaway
  3. Buying a single cigarette from the shop. This might not be common everywhere, but I do remember buying one or two single cigarettes on the way to, or home from school. There was also a cigarette vending machine at the end of our road which sold 7 cigarettes for something like 20p.
  4. Another one about school, corporal punishment  I remember when I was at school there were various forms of this, the cane, the slipper, the strap and the ruler being the most popular If a child was unlucky enough to get punished at school then the chances are they would get another clout when they got home for being in trouble as they always knew!
  5. Nitty Nora the bug explorer! Otherwise known as the school nurse! Although there are still school nurses, they don’t go through your hair looking for lice (nits), as they did when I was at school. They were quite heavy-handed as I remember, and would go through us one at a time in a room. The door was left open though and everyone knew if you had them. You would then be sent home in disgrace to get yourself treated before being allowed back.
  6. Another thing I remember from school is having to back all of our books. I used to hate doing this, especially if we didn’t have any brown paper or anything. I have used rather garish wallpaper before now when there has been nothing else!
  7. Doing PE in just a vest and knickers! When I was in primary school girls and boys would do PE in their underwear! It seems odd now, but nobody thought anything of it.

I have had fun looking back at this list from my childhood, but I am sure there are many things I have forgotten. Can you think of any? Please let me know in the comments,

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