Independence in childhood

[mondobongo]

I have just turned 40, from the age of 9 I was put on a train at Liverpool Lime Street to go to London Euston where my Auntie would meet me and we would have a whale of a time visiting museums etc for 4 or 5 days. I would then be put back on the train to Liverpool where my Mum and Dad would meet me.
What an Adventure that used to be did this till I was about 16.
As I was typing this my Mrs looked over my shoulder and asked about it she was absolutely gobsmacked and to me it just seems normal and how things were done back then.

Got on the bus to Liverpool City Centre from about the age of 10.

We also did all the normal kid type things for that time dissapearing all day with your mates playing and riding bikes. You only went in when your Dad shouted for you if you were local or if you were unlucky he came out to find you if you were some distance from home oh the embarrassment.

I was also what was known as a latchkey kid in them days and grew up to be your average well adjusted law abiding bloke.

 

[Haitch]

At the age of 11, me and some pals would regularly head off to the railway station and buy an all-day ticket without a clue where we would be going. My parents didn't bat an eyelid in the evening when I told them we'd been to York or Bristol or Nottingham.

My son is now 12. He can go where he likes on his bike (on his own or with friends) but there's no way I would want him to head off on a train to a strange city a long way away.

 

[papercorn2000]

Yup (will be 50 next year). .....quote]


I had you down as mid 30's - having had a child at a (possibly) illegal age!

 

[papercorn2000]

Yup (will be 50 next year). .....quote]


I had you down as mid 30's - having had a child at a (possibly) illegal age!

 

[cookiemonster]

It's not that long ago I was a kid and I used to run to/from school every day. 4 miles each way which isn't bad for a Primary schoolkid. There was a forest across the road from where I grew up, so, as small boys do, or did, the trees were climbed and fallen out of causing no end of bruises/cuts and the occasional broken bone. Dens were built and we even stayed overnight in one of our dens, until an almighty thunderstorm brewed up.

It was great fun. I'm now at Uni and I say this to some of the youngsters there who are in their late teens/early '20s and they look at me as if I came from another planet. It's a 'you did all that AND survived!' type of look.

 

[cookiemonster]

It's not that long ago I was a kid and I used to run to/from school every day. 4 miles each way which isn't bad for a Primary schoolkid. There was a forest across the road from where I grew up, so, as small boys do, or did, the trees were climbed and fallen out of causing no end of bruises/cuts and the occasional broken bone. Dens were built and we even stayed overnight in one of our dens, until an almighty thunderstorm brewed up.

It was great fun. I'm now at Uni and I say this to some of the youngsters there who are in their late teens/early '20s and they look at me as if I came from another planet. It's a 'you did all that AND survived!' type of look.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Nowadays it's all doom and gloom.

I tried my best to disguise my 'WTF?' face when my neighbour (who has teenage sons) said she didn't want them going over to the park to play football (after I mentioned it followng the third or fourth time their ball hit my car as they played in the street) as there weren't too many people over there so they could easily be kidnapped and no-one would know, and then later in the conversation it was because they might get bullied by any of the number of people over there... I did wonder what the magic number of people might be that is too many to be able to kidnap in front of, but too few to be bullied by...

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Nowadays it's all doom and gloom.

I tried my best to disguise my 'WTF?' face when my neighbour (who has teenage sons) said she didn't want them going over to the park to play football (after I mentioned it followng the third or fourth time their ball hit my car as they played in the street) as there weren't too many people over there so they could easily be kidnapped and no-one would know, and then later in the conversation it was because they might get bullied by any of the number of people over there... I did wonder what the magic number of people might be that is too many to be able to kidnap in front of, but too few to be bullied by...

 

[snorri]

My daughter is not allowed to leave the house on her own, ever. We don't let her watch TV, eat junk food or have boyfriends. She is not allowed to play on the computer unattended. She is not allowed to climb the stairs or enter the kitchen on her own. She is not even allowed in the back garden without adult supervision. I don't think this has affected her development at all.

You are Josef Fritzl and I claim my £25.