Essence of an Irish Childhood

Mr E

Saw this before, but I thought it might be appropriate to share here....

- Dave.

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The essence of an Irish Childhood

I'm talking about Hide and Seek in the park, the shop down the road, Hopscotch, Donkey, Skipping, handstands, stuck in
the mud, football with an old can, Dandy, Beano, Twinkle and Roly Poly. Hula Hoops, jumping the stream, building a swing from a tyre and a piece of rope tied to a tree, (if you live in Dublin the lampost) building tree-houses, climbing up onto roofs.

Tennis on the street, the smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.

Hubba Bubba bubble gum and 2p Flogs (the long ones), macaroon, Chomp and Woppa bars, 3p refreshers and wham bars, Superhero chewing gum, golf ball chewing gums and liquorice whips, Desperate Dan and Roy of the Rovers, Sherbit dips and Mr. Freezes, Marathon bars and everlasting gobstoppers.

An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe neopolitan, Fat Frog, Dracula Ice-cream, space-dust, eating paper and rice krispie buns.

Watching Saturday Morning cartoons...short commercials, Battle of the Planets, Road Runner, He-Man, Swapshop, and Why Don't You?, Transformers, How do you do?, Bosco, Forty-Coats, the Littlest Hobo and Lassie, Chucklevision, The Muppet Show, MacGyver, Scarecrow and Mrs King, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, and Anything Goes. Staying up for Knight Rider and Magnum PI, Falcon Crest and Dallas.

When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like going somewhere. A million midge bites, sticky fingers and mud all over you, knee-pads on your jeans, Cops and Robbers, Rounders, tip the Can, Climbing trees, spin the bottle, building igloos out of snow banks. Walking to school, no matter what the weather, running till you were out of breath. Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt, Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights, spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles, being tired from playing... Remember that?

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. Water balloons were the ultimate weapon. Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.

I'm not finished just yet... eating raw jelly, orange squash ice pops.

Remember when...There were two types of sneakers - girls and boys and Dunlop Green Flash and the only time you wore them at school, was for "P.E.", gola football boots. It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends, when nobody owned a purebred dog, when 25p was decent pocket money when you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny when nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there, when it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.

When any parent could discipline any kid or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it. When being sent to the head's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of muggings, drugs, gangs, etc.

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat and some of us are still afraid of them!!!

Remember when.... Decisions were made by going "eeny- meeny-miney-mo." Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do
over!" "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly". The game of life and connect four, atari 2600's and commadore 64's. The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was germs. It was unbelievable that Red rover wasn't an Olympic event... Having a weapon in school, meant being caught with a biro barrel pea shooter or an elastic band. Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better. Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable vitamins, Ice cream was considered a basic food group. Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.. Abilities were discovered because of a "doubledare". Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!

Gordon

Ahhhhhh yes.

And how about potatoe guns and kiss cuddle or torture.

Ahhhhhh yes.

BOP

Wonderfull, I'm quite emotional now:)

Remember Peg guns: they fired the spring bit from a wooden peg. Making bugeys and looking for the highest steepest deadliest hill to test it out.

Scruff

Big Wheelers - The Harley Davison of the tricycle world.
god i was so cool on mine.:p

ozpass

I had a Ralleigh Striker, followed by a 'Team Raleigh BMX' with fingertip brakes and complemented the lineup with a chromed Raleigh Chopper a couple of years later.

Oh yeah- I started out with a Sparky- stabilisers and solid rubber tyres!:D

Gordon

Ahh I always wanted those fingertip brakes but the bikes were too high for me

I had this wee bike that had a screeching back brake which was the same kind as a car (plate brake?). And man I was cool on that, screeching round corners!

Superfurry

Marbles, Michael Jackson cards and football stickers were all legitimate currency, fights and punch-ups were forgotten about by the next day, the toughest choice you had to ever make was what you wanted for Christmas and going to McDonalds and the cinema was a monumental treat.

Every summer you were warned about a 'kidnapper' who was going around and told not to wander too far away from the house. You lived on Mr Freeze cool pops all summer long, and then started collecting wood for the bonfire in September, for Halloween you wore a black bin-liner while your 'Ma drew blood on your face with lipstick and if anyone asked you were a 'monster'.

ozpass

Own up! Who had 'spokey dokeys' on their bike?

BOP

A super delux with "back peddle" barkes. Serious skidding potenial.

gogo

Oh god, that was great, I feel so old now, that seems like years ago.
(wipes tear from eye at ancient-ness of self)

Do you remember catching bee's in jam jars and feeding them leaves, and being devasted when they died, only to forget about them an hour later and go out and catch more.

There was nothing like vinegar and a Mr freeze to take away the pain of a bee sting.

gogo

Gordon

Originally posted by gogo
Do you remember catching bee's in jam jars and feeding them leaves

Hehe... No!

I used to catch ants meself. Ahhh, and what about snowball fights and having so much fun you took off your gloves and eventually got so frozen your hands hurt the next day from over-freezing/thawing. (suppose that happens to kids these days though.)

Superfurry

Do kids still collect bees? I was an expert a catching them and once had a jar full of nothing but 'red arses'.

Superfurry

I used to catch ants meself. Ahhh, and what about snowball fights and having so much fun you took off your gloves and eventually got so frozen your hands hurt the next day from over-freezing/thawing. (suppose that happens to kids these days though.)

Or wearing socks on your hands because you ruined your only pair of gloves, and having Dunne-stores bags over your runners so they didn't get ruined.

Gaz

Anyone remember those bikes that had a built in radio and other "futuristic" stuff, like a digital speedometer ... they where the dogs bollox as far as i was concerned.

And the was always some lucky git who had one and he was the only one with one ...ahhh what where they called ??

Anyone remember them ? Or was it all a wonderful dream ?

Gordon

Haaha! Yes remember them, they were featured as a prize on a TV show Live and Kicking maybe and I put in so many applications for it but I still lost. I so wanted one of those just to see how fast I could pedal.

It was around the time when they had those little robots that made you coffee and you could remote control speak through them.

Superfurry

God I remember them! Big white things, Raleigh Vector, or Vectra or something like that. Time for some googling......

gogo

Am making a show of myself in lab from laughing, oh so many winters spent with daddy's old odd socks on my hands.

What about pudding bowl haircuts???
Or was my mother the only one to inflict that on us?

gogo:D

Gordon

I got an apparently trendy at the time "Step" haircut by my "Hairdresser" at the time. It was a normal bowl cut type do but half way down the back it was full length and the rest was shaved to nothing (practically). I got such a rip taken out of me at school I got my mum to talk to the "hairdresser" the next day.

I got such a fear from "hairdressers" ever since, I do my own hair now - ala bic.

Scruff

Originally posted by gogo

Do you remember catching bee's in jam jars and feeding them leaves, and being devasted when they died, only to forget about them an hour later and go out and catch more.

i never did that. but i used to catch flies and then throw them into spider's webs so the spiders would feed on them.

and no i haven't grown up to be a serial killer

gogo

My sister, went to the hairdresser on for her confirmation and the hairdresser suggested the new layering style. (new at the time).
But the hairdresser forgot to add that she didn't know how to do it, and gave my sister a lovely three tiered step.

My sister cried for fout hours solid and my mother had to bring her back to another hairdresser(so as not to offend the first one you see), and gave my twelve year old sister the height of fashion....the perm.


gogo.

gogo

Oh god scruff!! I used to cry for hours because my brother used to pull the legs of spiders.
(although killing bee's was fully acceptible)



gogo

Gordon

Originally posted by gogo
My sister cried for fout hours solid and my mother had to bring her back to another hairdresser(so as not to offend the first one you see

I just love that old "don't offend the hairdresser" thing! I used to leave many a hairdressers red faced and hating my hair because I didn't want to speak up and/or offend them! hehe... does this still happen??

gogo

Does it still happen, I waited three weeks for an appointed at well known hairdreser in laois.
I have very long hair and just usually get it trimmed, but this guy cut about three inches of. Thats not bad in itself as they all do that (cut more than you say), but one side was exactly an inch shorter than the other. He kept tilting my head to the left thinking I wouldn't notice.
But of course i did, and what did i say.."It's pefect, thanks, it's so healthy looking now, you did a great job"

More fool me. I can never complain.
I had to go another hairdresser the next day.

gogo:rolleyes:

ozpass

Hehe just laughed out loud when I read about the jamjar full of 'redarses'! Quality!:D

I remember those techno bikes all right. I petitioned madly for one off my Mum, but had to make do with a little horn thing that bolted on to the handlebars. You could select 'cops', 'ambulance' or 'fire brigade' but they all sounded like someone farting in a pipe and the batteries (9V) lasted 3 seconds.

My fiancee is a haidresser, and she's definitely one to avoid upsetting!

Nevyn

oh gods i had one of those , it was a tourch a radio and had something like 6 diffrent horn noises.

damn you never see kids out playin skipping with a lenght of clothes line now days