Readers share their happiest memories from early childhood in this moving post…
Kate says:
When I was little we lived in the country and I believed that fairies lived at the bottom of the garden. I even saw one, once - nothing will convince me it didn't happen. I used to leave them presents, letters and flowers and sometimes I'd find things left in return. Looking back, you could say I read too many books and had too much imagination, but I'm not so sure. I wish I had that kind of imagination and trust these days. Growing up means losing some of the magic, I think.
Autumn says:
Best memories? Playing in the park with my brother Toby - we'd climb trees, build bridges across the river using rocks, play football. On one occasion we had a mud fight - Mum was furious! I also loved walking home from school with my old cat Mau. He'd walk out to the old churchyard to meet me, and then trot home beside me as I told him about my day…
Abi says:
When I was about eight, my dad took me out to a nice restaurant around Christmas time. The lights were all on and the sky was flushed with beautiful reds and blues, and purple and orange lights were dancing off the canal. It was beautiful. Sadly, my dad died two years after. I love the memory because even though Dad was sick and in pain at the time, he took his eight year old daughter to see something she'd been dreaming of. Miss you Dad, so much.
Soumia says:
Visiting my grandma in the countryside… my sister and I would go outside and pick the berries from the trees for her. I remember there was a wooden bridge we had to pass and I used to get so scared because it was kind of old and I worried it might fall… but it was my favourite adventure ever. I wish my gran were still alive.
Niamhie says:
Best memories… I am stuck between building dens in the hay bales in granddad's barn and tearing my ankles on brambles as I ran through the forest with my friend and watched through the trees to see the tractors passing by. Most of my favourite childhood memories were things we did outside with a few sticks and bits of timber… kids today are really missing out!
Illustration courtesy of Freya, age 9. Awesome stuff, Freya!
Cathy says:
What are YOUR fave childhood memories? COMMENT BELOW and have your say!
When I was little we lived in the country and I believed that fairies lived at the bottom of the garden. I even saw one, once - nothing will convince me it didn't happen. I used to leave them presents, letters and flowers and sometimes I'd find things left in return. Looking back, you could say I read too many books and had too much imagination, but I'm not so sure. I wish I had that kind of imagination and trust these days. Growing up means losing some of the magic, I think.
Autumn says:
Best memories? Playing in the park with my brother Toby - we'd climb trees, build bridges across the river using rocks, play football. On one occasion we had a mud fight - Mum was furious! I also loved walking home from school with my old cat Mau. He'd walk out to the old churchyard to meet me, and then trot home beside me as I told him about my day…
Abi says:
When I was about eight, my dad took me out to a nice restaurant around Christmas time. The lights were all on and the sky was flushed with beautiful reds and blues, and purple and orange lights were dancing off the canal. It was beautiful. Sadly, my dad died two years after. I love the memory because even though Dad was sick and in pain at the time, he took his eight year old daughter to see something she'd been dreaming of. Miss you Dad, so much.
Soumia says:
Visiting my grandma in the countryside… my sister and I would go outside and pick the berries from the trees for her. I remember there was a wooden bridge we had to pass and I used to get so scared because it was kind of old and I worried it might fall… but it was my favourite adventure ever. I wish my gran were still alive.
Niamhie says:
Best memories… I am stuck between building dens in the hay bales in granddad's barn and tearing my ankles on brambles as I ran through the forest with my friend and watched through the trees to see the tractors passing by. Most of my favourite childhood memories were things we did outside with a few sticks and bits of timber… kids today are really missing out!
Illustration courtesy of Freya, age 9. Awesome stuff, Freya!
Cathy says:
What are YOUR fave childhood memories? COMMENT BELOW and have your say!
I said 'best' memory, not "bets" memory. Or...or did I? Now I'm self conscious about my spelling. I'll be more careful! Niamhie's comment reminded me of my old friends, the Barns (yes, that was their surname) who lived near a hay barn. Time and time again, we were told not to play in the hay barn and time and time again, we'd sneak in anyway. We'd pile the loose hay up and hurl ourselves off stacked hay bales onto the pile. In games of hide and seek, a common hiding place was a wooden floor high above the ground that could only be accessed by climbing stacked hay bales like steps. Looking back, this was all very dangerous as hay and old wood are not known for being sturdy. Although no one was ever even slightly hurt in our antics, I do see why the adults were so anxious to stop us.
ReplyDeleteI think my best childhood memory is of playing out in the wood during a really hot summer between 1999 and 2001. I can remember the grass crunching underfoot, because how dry the sun had made it. There was an airfield just off the side of the wood where they used to launch gliders and hot air balloons, and between the two places there was an area of wild flowers, where the grass was almost as tall as what I was and poppies blew in the wind. I can remember running through it barefoot, the dry grass scratching at my skin, the grass hot underfoot.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we would go and hide in the hollow tree, or play army soldiers in the WW1 training trenches, or go paddling in the canal (when we were always told not to because of the grizzly finds that were sometimes there and the sharp rocks at the bottom), and make bashas out of fallen branches and sticks when it was too hot to do anything else but make shelters for shade form the sun. Occasionally, we would go and trek out to the old ruined training house and have a picnic, but it was usually too hot to go that far in the midday heat. As long as we didn't get in Regiment's way, or interfere with any basic training, we were free to roam as we pleased.