10 Things That Shaped My Youth
I’m bored and I just saw this on another blog (which can be found here http://kloipy.wordpress.com/ ) and thought it was a cool idea.
The Things That Shaped My Youth
1. Kylie and Jason
When I was a kid my Grandad bought me Kylie’s ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ on tape when it first came out. My grandparents had this mahoosive stereo and I had it on repeat for pretty much the entire day. I even remember sitting in the dining room having tea while it was playing in the background. Then I got bought her album, then Jason Donavan’s and my six year old heart was in love. I had a Jason T-shirt and was front row at his Hammersmith Apollo gig when I was seven thanks to an amazing nurse at Great Ormand street who took me after she’d looked after me on the ward. She’d won a competition which meant we could go back stage. Now instead of bragging that I saw Jason Donovan being interviewed for Going Live, I now brag that I saw Philip Schofield interview him. Pip is a legend.
2. Disney
My favourite movie still remains to be The Lion King but my first Disney movie was Snow White. I adored them and still do. It astounds me that a lot of children now haven’t seen many proper Disney animations. They’re still so entertaining, I know because I have taken them in to work and the kids were still enthralled and giggling along. So sad that some kids just aren’t exposed to them anymore considering I was introduced to Snow White a good 50 years after it was released.
3. Bicycle
This actually doesn’t resemble my bike in the slightest (It was yellow for a start) but I did have streamers on it. I also had spoke clips and reflective monsters that you got in the Monster Munch Bike Kit when you collected the tokens off the back of the crisp packets. i was looking for pictures of it and found this on the net http://monstermunchcollection.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/mighty-monster-bike-kit.html I had the lot on my bike. My bike took me everywhere when I was a kid. The park was our usual haunt but when I was a bit older and allowed to venture further we used to bike down to the river in the summer or bike down the old railway track or up to the post office to get a 50p mix (which by the way, was a shed load of sweets then, it would buy you bugger all now).
4. Letters and home phone numbers.
I went to a school that was out of my area and often when we broke up for the summer I wouldn’t see 99% my classmates until the next september (and that’s a long time when you’re a kid). So we used to exchange addresses and sometimes (if parents would allow) home phone numbers. We wouldn’t have been in contact any other way. There was no internet when I was a kid and mobile phones were something only very few people had. We used to write to each other or have the odd phone call and when I was older we would call to arrange going to each others house. I went to an army school too which meant friends were often moving so to stay in touch you had to write, a phone call to Germany was pretty pricey. It was just the way it was, I can’t really imagine what my childhood would have been like with texts and Facebook.
5. Mr Bump and Miffy
Miffy and the Mr Men books were some of the many books I remember from my childhood. This Miffy book (Miffy in hospital) in particular because I was going to the doctors and hospital quite a bit when I was very young so I think it was a handy book for the ‘rents to have around. I recently bought a Miffy soft toy and took it into hospital with me when I had my operation a couple of months ago as I’ve clearly never grown up. I also had the Mr Bump book which I used to like as I used to think I was a bit like Mr Bump. I also needed bandages when I fell over and I looked a bit like him, just not as round….. and I wasn’t blue. It was probably another handy one for ‘rents too when I think about it.
6. Mrs Mouse.
This is a poor excuse for a ‘Mrs Mouse’ but it’s about as close as it gets to the soft toy I have. My Mum made Mrs Mouse for me before I was born and she’s a little worse for wear now. She lost an eye a few years ago and I’m pretty sure the button Mum replaced it with has left her with limited sight. Her limbs aren’t what they were either but she still did a ruddy good job when she came with me to hospital. I think everyone has a soft toy or comforter that they’ve had since they were a baby. I don’t think you ever grow out of them. It’s a bit sad if you do.
7. Jacqueline Wilson
It was quite difficult to keep me reading when I was a kid. I found sticking to a book pretty hard and I sometimes do now actually. I did read a few of Jacqueline Wilson’s books though, my favourite being ‘The Suitcase Kid’. It’s still a cracking book that I’ve used at work recently. It’s a belter.
8. Take That
I was in the fan club and still have the membership pack with my card and ‘signed’ photo’s. I used to change my mind as to which was my favourite each week but mainly it was Mark. Robbie usually came a close second. When I went to the first gig on the reunion tour it was hilarious as my sister was with me and I was ridiculously giddy to the point she said she’d never seen me like that before. I did revert to my 9 year old self, it was a sight to behold I’d imagine.
9. Maths
Maths was actually the bane of my existence when I was at school. When I was in primary I used to pretend I needed the toilet. I had a little bit of improvement when I was in secondary and got bumped from the foundation to the intermediate class but I inevitably failed and had to retake in sixth form college…. twice. The sixth form I went to wasn’t attached to a school and you needed at least 6 A-C’s including core subjects, you could fail one core but you had to agree to retake it otherwise you wouldn’t get in. So when I did eventually pass I finally got shot of it. Then what do I do? Get a job helping to teach it. Brilliant.
10. Saturday Morning Television.
Saturday morning TV was one of the best things on TV when I was a kid. ‘Going Live’ was the first Saturday morning TV show I was aware of with Emma Forbes and Andy Peters. I remember them crying on their last show. Then it was ‘Live and Kicking’ which I remember better, particularly the morning they had Take That on after Robbie had left. They had a phone in and I remember Mark Owen bursting into tears. I was only about 10, it was devastating!! They used to have shows on during it too. Rugrats, The Racoons and Clarissa Explains it All were my particular favourites. They also had those dodgy phone in games which were a bit of a rip off of Pac Man in which you had to guide a snake and eat as many apples as you could by shouting “left, right” etc. down the phone. Or, even worse, the games where they blindfolded a popstar and they had to be guided by the caller in the same sort of game. Then Zoe Ball married Fatboy Slim and it all went down the crapper. The BBC kind of lost it after that finished and SMTV took over on ITV. Ant and Dec were genius! Instead of the cartoons etc shown in-between, their sketches were the highlight I reckon. ‘Chums’, ‘Dec Says’, ‘Captain Justice’, ‘Wonkey Donkey’ and my absolute favourite; ‘Animals That’d Knack Ya in a Fight’. After that Saturday morning TV for kids was non-existent. They did try with MoM with Holly Willoughbooby which wasn’t bad but I think it got cancelled pretty quickly. Now Saturday morning is full of bloody cooking. I know I’m supposed to be a grown up now but it’s pretty sad there’s nothing like that anymore.
