08/11/2025
Who else can relate…
I was born at the end of the 70’s and grew up in the 80’s. @@
Playing Red Rover or British Bulldog in the playground until it got banned for being too rough. Two sides went to war when you were charging towards the other line. They weren’t breaking through the line whether you broke your arm or not. Also don’t complain about your broken arm, you were silly enough to do it.
The green paper towel. Wet. Fixed everything. Nose bleed? Wet paper towel. Broken limbs? Have a wet paper towel. You’ll be fine.
Unwell? Have some Lucozade from a bottle wrapped in orange cellophane. Or Ribena. Medicine in a bottle.
Permanent scabs on your knees for at least four years straight.
Loo roll that was like tracing paper. Zero absorption here. It all just ran off.
Going out on your bike. Only rule was be back by teatime. Nobody knew where you were. No phones. No tracking. No worries. You were out.
Punishment was being made to stay in. Painful. Worst thing ever.
Marbles. Hours spent playing marbles. Glass eyes. Chipped ones showed you were hardcore.
Getting sent ‘up the wall’ because you’d been naughty. Facing a brick wall for the entire break when you’d rather be playing ‘it’ with your mates.
Fierce dinner ladies. No messing. No sympathy.
School cake. Icing and sprinkles on top.
School nativities where your outfit was an old flanelette bed sheet. Sometimes striped. Tea towel for your head. There were no pre made outfits, lobsters or random camels.
Watching anything meant the big TV being wheeled in from the cupboard. Couldn’t see it. Couldn’t hear it. But it was the best lesson ever.
Scrunchies in our hair with a high ponytail your mum had scraped up in 0.5 seconds like she was raking leaves. Sit still or you’d get poked in the eye with a bristle. Side pony’s even worse-nearly took your ear off.
Socks that had to be perfectly scrunched down.
Global Hypercolour T Shirts that changed colour. Bermuda shorts. Brighter the better. Ra Ra skirts. Tammy Girl. Etam.
Cabbage Patch dolls, Barbie, Sindy, Ken, Gem, The Gloworm, My Little Pony, Fashion Wheel, Carebears, Rainbow Brite. Fisher Price Til. Spacehopper. She Ra, He Man, Puffalumps. Panini sticker albums. Doubles? Swaps? Pogo sticks. Yo Yo’s. Alll the tricks. The Mr Frosty you asked for every year but never got.
Inspector Gadget. Go Go Gadget arms. Button Moon. Number 73. There’s somebody at the door. Grotbags. Danger Mouse. Blue Peter. The A Team. Rod and Emu. Sooty and Sweep. Rainbow. Knight Rider. Timmy Mallet. Going Live. Blind Date. Bullseye. Fffffffun House and wanting to be the twins.
Bros. Kylie and Jason. Walk like an Egyptian. Rick Ashley. NKOTB. The Bangles. Tiffany. Sonia. Mel and Kim. Pet Shop Boys. Madonna. Now That’s What I Call Music.
Neon coloured huge sports bags. Head or Puma. Bigger the better. All had the same ones so had to have your name on. Jelly shoes. And a very practical matching jelly bag that didn’t keep anything in.
Hopskotch, headstands, cartwheels, splits, football against a wall. Elastics. Around your hands or ankles and jump. More elaborate the crosses the better. Skipping rope games and songs. Double rope for the win. Clapping games that got faster until you were basically just slapping each other.
Perms. Tight ones. Or bendy curlers. Bit of glitter spray. Crimping for the win.
Pen Pals and getting letters from friends you’d made on holiday. Holidays probably found on Teletext.
Smash Hits. Cut out autographs for your autograph book of celebrities you’d never met and put posters on your bedroom walls.
School discos. Pop blaring, slow dances at arm’s length and side step. Conga’s that turned into Red Rover.
Rushing home for Neighbours and Home and Away. Gday mate. Wishing you could wear one of their checked school uniform dresses and hang out at the coffee shop.
Kylie and Jason. Full stop. Crying when they got married because you loved Jason.
Making perfume out of flower petals and then making everyone wear it.
Buying records from your local shop. From one of those carousel stands that were too much fun to spin around.
Pick n mix that didn’t cost a small mortgage. 10p got you a whole full up bag. Refresher bars. White sticks you pretended were ci******es. Flying saucers. Cola bottles. Jawbreakers. Woolworths pick n mix rampage!
Jeans with character prints on the knees.
Freezing your drink bottle in the Summer so it would defrost throughout the day.
Milk bottles from the milk man with the lids lifted when the milk froze in the Winter.
Concrete everything. No soft landings here. Have a concreted train to play on. Land on concrete when you fall off. Broken limbs were character building.
PE lessons that were basically just running laps around a field until you couldn’t walk or tossing a bean bag at a hoop. Rounders for hours.
Getting invited to a birthday party at McDonald’s was such a big deal. Ronald McDonald and party balloons in a booth. You’d arrived.
School hymns. He’s got the whole worlllld in his hands. Full blast. With actions. Plus throw in at least one triangle and a glockenspiel.
Rollerskates, bikes or skateboards were your main methods of transport. No helmets, elbow or knee pads thanks. Not concrete fear over here or sense of danger either.
Neon. Everything.
Shell suits. Top tier if also neon.
The Goonies, ET, Ghostbusters. BIG. Back to the Future. Honey, I shrunk the Kids. Beetlejuice. Indiana Jones. Karate Kid. Breakfast Club.
Horrific public service announcements that you still have nightmares about. Never fly a kite near a power line.
Christmas tinsel explosions. On the tree. On your artexed ceiling. Round the TV, doorframes, and you if you stood still for too long. The shiny foil decorations that were blue tacked at random places all over the ceiling.
Knowing everyone’s home phone numbers off by heart. Even now you can remember it. Especially handy if you had to use a phone box and reverse the charges.
The boyfriend/girlfriend you had because their friend asked you if you’d go out with them. You said yes. Never spoke to them and then got dumped by the same friend a few days later.
I had an absolute blast ❤️
What else have I missed🤷♀️
