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minutestothebeach

The ability to run around with kids from the neighborhood, climb trees and just generally be outside until the porch lights came on. I grew up in a residential area at the edge of a medium sized town and I think that was for the most part the best type of childhood.


DrBadtouch94

agreed, now when i run around with the neighborhoood kids i get put on a list


KurtisC1993

Username checks out.


Amazing-Ad3490

LMFAO


boarshead72

Our neighborhood is like this now. Seven years ago or so it raised questions if a child or children were out without supervision, but either enough like-minded people started letting their kids play unattended or the neighborhood busybodies got some chill, but my 10 and 13 year old kids will spend all day outside now.


braemaxxx

13 years olds should be able to come and go unsupervised freely as they want, anyone who says otherwise is a complete helicopter parent


boarshead72

Yeah of course, but my 13-year old has been roaming free around our neighborhood (or relatively free when younger) since he was 7 or 8. When my oldest, who is almost 16, was that age people in our neighborhood really frowned upon it. The shift in mentality happened sometime between those two being in grade three. Now there are many friend groups that roam around freely, it really is a lot closer to my childhood in the late 70s/early 80s (minus the awesome relatively unsafe playgrounds we had back then).


braemaxxx

Awesome! Great to see we’re getting back to kids being kids, I think the world has completely lost its mind


Pres717

Generally speaking, I agree... but there are some neighbourhoods that have real winners out there 🤦🏻‍♂️


airchinapilot

So glad I was of the generation that experienced that. For my cohort that ended the year Clifford Robert Olson began murdering kids my age (even picked one up close to my neighbourhood). Almost overnight no unsupervised playing and your parents started walking you home. I was a latchkey kid so it was straight home and lock the door. An end of a blissful childhood.


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shortguy055

I can literally imagine this all day. We had similar childhood's. Miss those days


cassafrass024

Same. I moved my kids into one of those towns and it’s the best thing I could have ever done.


owls1289

Kids can still do that but people put them in front of iPads instead


Black_orchid998

Agree. Childhood these days is not the same.


OnlyDownStroke

It never has been the same, and never will be the same. Our childhood was different from our parents' and theirs from their parents' childhoods as well.


bassoonlike

That's true, but the intention here is that today's youth are poorer for it.


Illustrious-Salt-243

Same I live in the same neighborhood I grew up in. There are kids but none of them play together. When I grew up we were always running around, riding our bikes, hanging out in the neighborhood or at each others houses. I never see these kids just out having fun on their own


Ballonastring

Was going to say this. I loved running around with the neighbourhood kids


-based-bot-

🥹🥹


0design

For real, it was the best. We had a big tree in our yard, we frequently climbed at least 20' up where we could feel the branches swaying with the wind. My hands get sweaty just imagining my kids doing this... Our parents had nerves of steel! Other than that, I miss discovering the old games and consoles.


CrazyButRightOn

Why are people scared into submission now? Helicopter parenting is a thing….to avoid.


SilencedObserver

There are neighborhoods still like this. Suburban. We just had to wait for the kids to move the hockey net so the cars could drive by. Where this isn’t happening is in mixed neighborhoods full of people renting who haven’t integrated and are too worried about survival than to care about their neighbours. There’s still some Canada left but some areas are definitely better than others.


hohumcum6969

This...is the answer!


surgicalhoopstrike

I miss that special feeling I used to get on Saturday morning, when I knew I had a whole, long day to do just what I wanted. No school!


SilencedObserver

Cartoons.


Signifi-gunt

Sugary cereal and looney toons, the best Saturday morning ever.


alderhill

Oh yes. And when I was just a bit older, pulling out the comics section of the Saturday newspaper. I saved Calvin and Hobbes for last so I could savour it.


bellardyyc

“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, is that none of it, has tried to contact us.” - Calvin I keep the C&H boxed set in my office near my desk. It’s such a profound source of perspective, philosophy, and serious laughter.


not-your-mom-123

The colour comics were such a treat!


Samplistiqone

I’ve never given up cartoons, my cartoon collection is epic, lol.


ADHDHipShooter

A thriving middle class. I grew up in the 1980s and got to watch the whole thing just fall apart.


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ADHDHipShooter

Yep.


my-cat-coleslaw

I went from lower middle class to even lower middle class. I miss most my hope for the future as that dwindled away.


x_why_zed

My mom. Lost her way too early.  Growing up on the western edge of Calgary in the 90s was magical and I miss every element of it. Living in the eastern US now and while I love it, I miss Calgary. 


ConcentrateInner6086

Having no bills


Aztecah

This is definitely retrospect cause it didn't even occur to you that this was part of the deal back then


bfarm4590

Running to the corner store with $5 and getting multiple things


dogwalkerott

Running to the store with 10 cents and leaving with a large bag of candy.


Tiger_Dense

When I was a kid, chocolate bars were 10 cents. A bag of chips (a little smaller than now) were 5 cents. A bottle of pop was 25 cents. Double bubble gum was a penny (for one piece).


bfarm4590

I remember these little peices of gum in a bucket for 5c each. Havent seen them in ages


portairman

Saturday morning cartoons, riding my bicycle and exploring.


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DeeSmyth

I still watch the original Transformers from time to time


imtourist

That plus playing street hockey or soccer after school until past when the lights came on.  Walking to school, play day, recess , coming home for lunch and watching flintstones 


meattenderizerbyday

Picking berries! As kids we always knew where all the hidden spots were because we constantly explored. I've picked buckets and buckets of wild blueberries, sat alone in the middle of blackberry bushes and ate until I couldn't eat any more, and picked the tiniest, sweetest strawberries that became our bedtime snacks at our rickety 'should-have-been-condemned' camp on a lake. I actually had a pretty shitty childhood and don't miss anything else. Someone else mentioned missing the middle class. I had no idea what that was. We were very poor and berries were free food. Searching for berries while wandering around with the sun on my back or face was one of the few times that life didn't suck.


corezay

How easy it was to make good close friends.


zealousreader

Everyone was still alive


katsarvau101

Mood. RIP, dad. And all my grandparents. miss you.


RareGeometry

Hugs, I lost my dad as a kid


DudePDude

R.I.P. Dad


ta_mataia

Being able to fall down without worrying about seriously injuring myself.


Talking_on_the_radio

No screens.  The world moved slower.  People were social and could properly hold a conversation.  People had hobbies.  They made things.  They would show their friends what they made.  


Winterwasp_67

I recently heard a commentator say that one of the reasons people don't tinker anymore is because most of the space previously used for that is now crammed with stuff in storage.


Talking_on_the_radio

This is a great point! 


CordialSasquatch

The dickie-dee. We’d be playing road hockey on a sunny day with one of those orange Cdn Tire balls and hear the bells in the distance. We’d all come running.


janesfilms

I remember the ice cream bikes. They would be at every event and they’d come through the neighborhood all the time with the bells on their handle bars and the ice cream fridge hooked up to their BMX bikes.


aquaganda

Skipping instead of walking. Because it was just a happy moment for no real reason.


DonnaMartin2point0

My dad, he died when I was 14. In a few weeks it'll be 30 years. 


Sad-Welder7338

Sorry for your loss


thr0waway010100

Tim Hortons wasn’t trashy, everything was cheaper, the cities were safer, going to zellers. All that is gone now


eleuthira

I MISS ZELLERS SO MUCH


PreciousLittleLight

Ice cream section


accforme

Having time and little responsibilities. On the other side, I do like having money to spend.


ScaryBreakfast574

You have money to spend?


barofcoastsoap

Saturday morning cartoons.


Unapologetic_Canuck

Every day life not being dominated by technology.


couverando1984

It was nice being completely disconnected without any obligations or dependencies upon technology. It technically is within grasp for many people to just go out in the wilderness and leave the technology behind...


MollyWhapped

I miss there being no influencer culture or smartphones. Im addicted to this thing in my hand and so many others are. The world has complete dependency on having the web in your pocket, it sucks.


crystal_kewl

The lack of responsibility and bills. The idea that having $5 in your pocket meant you were rich. A world where no one was watching.


PreciousLittleLight

Having a $100 meant you were a billionaire 😂


TitanicTerrarium

The lack of social media. It has ruined everything.


True-Dot1401

Being carefree and blissfully ignorant of the world around me. Also, things being affordable.


HiphenNA

Blissful ignorance


cullam

The general feeling of optimism. Sure, there were lots of problems, but they were generally trending towards improvement. And the ones that weren't, we were going to grow up and fix them, Damnit! But then my generation went through a lot of hits, and seemed to, demographically, just kind of give up.


Wrong-Pineapple39

I'd bet that every generation will see themselves in your post.


TerryTerranceTerrace

The fresh feeling of a new day


Inevitable-Gap-9352

Being outside with my friends every chance I got.


El-Ahrairah9519

Feeling like I had a future


mindoromangyan

Cartoons that I would watch Saturday mornings. If you missed it, you missed it. Makes it more exciting to wait for me to watch it.


BKowalewski

Dreams and fantasies, all now shot to hell by reality


Prestigious_Scars

My dad.


GhostPepperFireStorm

Feeling like I could be anything I wanted


northguy9

Playing manhunt around the neighbourhood at night haha


janesfilms

We’d have huge games of Capture the Flag with dozens and dozens of neighborhood kids.


PreciousLittleLight

Nerf shootouts on through the neighborhood was like COD war zone 😂


PrinxeDreamBean

Honestly some of the fashion and not having titties. Other than that, not much is different and I prefer adulthood


[deleted]

Having hope


RunEmotional3013

The freedom from worry and the pure joy I experienced as a child. Life back then seemed so much simpler, with fewer responsibilities and a comforting sense of security provided by my parents. The innocence and naivety I possessed shielded me from the weight of the world, enabling me to embrace every moment with boundless enthusiasm and unwavering curiosity. But as the years went by that faded, time seemed to have its way of chiseling away at the innocence and replacing it with worry and confusion.


RadioactiveLily

Enjoying life before the internet, on an acreage just outside of Edmonton. You wanted to play a game, you cracked out a game board or went outside. You wanted to chat with friends, you got on your bicycle and went to the neighbour's house. Clothes were hand-me-downs from older cousins, and it was an exciting day when that bag arrived. Summers we pretty much just ran wild in the bush, and as long as we were home for dinner and home before dark, that was all that mattered. We were lower middle class, stretching every dollar, surviving on our big gardens, but I can't say I ever felt deprived. FOMO just wasn't a thing.


Upursbaby

Long walks for hours with my dog in the Spring and Summer. Go home for lunch then head back out again! No cell phone, a $2 Bill in my pocket and a couple quarters in case I needed to use a pay phone. Muddy shoes, burrs and plenty of leg scratches. Good times!


88Really

I miss seeing a multitude of monarch butterflies every summer. Now it’s rare. More birds of every type.


Samplistiqone

My school growing up used to help with that, science classes raised caterpillars, watched chrysalis’s, saw them emerge and released them once their wings were unfurled and dried. It was amazing watching thousands of them take to the air and start their migration.


ThisIsRobsProfile

Hope


daydreamer_she

Genuine happiness, no tension for jobs etc. Though i love that i don’t have to study anymore!!


menimeslaps

My nana R.I.P


G8kpr

The endless amount of time and just going over to friends houses and hanging out and playing. My kids don’t do this. And I think it’s weird. But it sounds like this is normal now. I wouldn’t ask my mom is my friend can come over. I would just invite them over and we would go play in my room or the basement. Now my kids ask if they can have a play date with so and so a month in advance.


RKSH4-Klara

"Now my kids ask if they can have a play date with so and so a month in advance." I'm only doing this while my kids are toddlers. As soon as they are older it'll be a just tell me where you are kind of thing and if we need another plate at dinner.


Spiritual_Onion_

Not hurting. Physically or mentally.


Rachl56

My grandparents 😪


Ill_Brick_5753

Being able to afford a house. I'm in Calgary. Everything I waited around for aka. Growing up and owning a home has gone out the window.


PuzzleheadedSwim6291

Belief that I could catch a house hippo with toast and peanut butter…


YourStarsAlgonquin

Having things cost a reasonable percentage of typical household income. And having the total percentage of all necessities be less than 100.


magpieinarainbow

Free time.


Illustrious_Bag443

Not worrying about time and having no expectations of myself or others.


Jo_Jo_Jimmmy

Popsicle Pete Points


Specialist_Ad7798

It was always summer and warm. Or, at least that's how it seemed.


farekrow

I fondly remember the cold winters, but cold didn't "hurt" back then, it was just cold. Now it's painful on the joints, and slipping on ice would be a major life setback.


Blindemboss

Riding my bike to the arcade and playing pinball and space invaders for hours.


itualisticSeppukA0S

videogames that were playable out of the box without any updates or log-ins


MisterSG1

Yeah, and on top of that, games that didn’t take hours to get into.


CanuckGinger

Absolutely nothing. It was a nightmare.


Alesisdrum

Street hockey


orangecouch101

Penny candy


[deleted]

Oddly, bare feet in the mud. Living in the country, and the cleaner air we had back then.


f1retruckr1der

Innocence


kyuuzousama

The actual peace that came from not having internet/cell phones/social media that warped my attention span and created a compulsion to check things every 15 seconds. I still remember parents at the time raging about TV saying it'll rot my brain, they had no idea what was coming


CarpetSoft2741

Not working


gloomandmybroom

My invisible friend.


YellowRainLine

Having the innocence of not knowing the impending doom and depression all around us. I still had stresses as a child, but that was more about homework. I miss that.


Salt_Bar_4724

Snow.


jenglasser

My faith in humanity.


Winter188

No responsibilities


KittyFace11

Being safe alone in a ravine: as a kid I knew the ravine near my house in Edmonton like the back of my hand. I'd spend hours alone there daily, feeling entirely safe as a small, then young, girl. Now I don't feel safe walking in any treed space or ravine when I'm by myself. It's really sad! I know all too well what horrible things can happen.


somekindofglow

knowing less about this cruel world


claymoreed

Having hope for the future. Seriously.


Whitedaffodils1010

Having friends, the music/radio/cds, 90s tv shows, bake sales, going to garage sales with my dad, bed time stories, jumping on my bed, video & computer games, schools library, church, field trips, riding my bike around the co-op, co-op parties, staying out til night playing, watching the clouds/stars, eating food that my friends shared with me or mooching for snacks, birthday parties, birthday gifts, visiting my aunts nice house in the suburbs/her trampoline, normal sunny weather and abundant nature, family trips to parks/picnics, candy/ice cream/going to the corner store, playing on the playgrounds, the clothes/fashion, my curiosity, creativity, physical health/strength/energy, innocence and naivety.


brociousferocious77

My youth, as in a body with low mileage.


PTCruiserApologist

Summers where there wasn't a single day with the sky filled with smoke :')


ushbfingrjdgndefjgcf

My mom.


PlanetLandon

McDonald’s pizza


No-Ad-863

People who passed away, especially my grandparents.


JohnnyABC123abc

This is easy. Long cold, snowy winters. Seriously. I want that endless feeling that time has stopped. Unsurprisingly, I grew up in Saskatchewan.


DICKASAURUS2000

My mom


hrmarsehole

My mother


RailroadingFreedom

5c candy


andrewbud420

My mom being alive.


differentiatedpans

Living pain free.


TruBluYYC

My parents.


Consistent_Meet_5683

My parents.


Dial-Error

Not having to pay bills!


yourpaljax

Not paying bills. Hope and optimism for the future.


UGunnaEatThatPickle

Not having bills to pay.


ThresholdofForest

The feeling of home.


Outrageous-Pass-8926

My Mom.


OnlyDownStroke

My brother who passed away when he was 15. :(


Bau55mon

Hope


couverando1984

Hanging with my homies at elementary school in the 1990s without a care in the world.


Jaded-Influence6184

Like some people, if looked at as a whole balancing the good and the bad, I don't miss it.


stonersrus19

SAAN, biway, Liptons shoes. Being able to just camp where ever as long as you kept it clean.


MrBarackis

Optimism and ignorance.


BurningOffSteam

My mom


myprivatehorror

Thinking I'd own my own home one day


MrEzekial

$5 was more than enough to get me through the day.


Northerngal_420

I still have a book from my parents called Europe on $5 /day.


ViolentHippieBC

I miss holding a $5 bill and thinking I was rich.


Grand_Station_Dog

Much less worrying about my health lmao


This_Bus_2744

Summer nights outside, no worries, no school. Covered in dirt from a days play.


Halfmeltedpopsicle

I miss when things were fun and interesting every day. Now it’s the same classes over and over and over and over and over again until semester 2. Then it’s interesting for about a day then it’s the same thing until summer. I’m getting very tired


rurubarb

The fireflies


MikeyB_0101

Spending the entire summer outside all day long playing with friends, riding by bike, etc


[deleted]

Given the problems at home, I'm glad my childhood is well behind me. Those problems soured everything, at home and away from home.


pewpewpewlaserstuff

When money and responsibilities weren’t a thing. Family vacation. My mom managing the house. I don’t even go to the mail more than 3-4 times a year.


Jesus_LOLd

Not paying bills


Infamous-Course4019

My uninjured back


xxnancypxx

My grandma's house. She sold it in 2011 and I still think about it daily.


Grahamthicke

Back in the '70's it was a time just before we became knowledgeable about food and health and all the right and wrongs of everything and we pretty much just ate what we liked. I miss the hotdogs, they were everywhere. The rotisserie dogs and the machine that rolled them back and forth. Every game you went too, every amusement park or fast food stand, you knew you'd be getting a hotdog, fries, and a coke. Unhealthy never tasted better lol :)


TrippyStache42

I miss when i did not have to worry about being someone. I was just existing and it was enough, even through the tough times. And the rare cinema night we could afford once in a while. The scent of the video store. The sound of the DVD player running. The forests were giant and fantastical. Every detail, colour and texture were worth observing. I would sit beside people randomly after school and talk to them to learn about their story. And it was easy.


Nearby-Poetry-5060

Hope for the future.


Gufurblebits

Depends on which point of ‘childhood’ it would be. That’s 18 years, give or take, of life. A lot happened, so can’t really say one thing in particular without narrowing it down some. I mean, from birth to leaving home at 18, I went to 8 different schools, had about 14 different addresses, my parents joined a cult somewhere in the middle there, my siblings (here quite a bit older than I am) became parents at one point or another… …soooooo, kinda need it narrowed down a bit.


TwEE-N-Toast

Running through the house with a pickle in my mouth


OutsideTheBoxer

In hindsight, that the adults had all aspects of civilization in a state of orderliness. The older I get, the more I realize that it's just pure chaos, further and further up the food chain.


Emmajean333

19 acres of partially wooded cattle grazing lot to run around in. We built forts, shot old cans with slingshots and bb guns, had small bonfires to cook hotdogs over. Kids these days don't know how fun or memorable that is.


CanadianTrueCrime

Time. I miss having the time to do whatever I want instead of doing what needs to be done. I never lived off a to-do list as a kid.


Alternative-Golf2431

Kool aid, prepared snacks every night, school. Its easy to hate school at the time but the confidence boost from my good grades and a reason to hang out with people was great.


wuvnote

cosmic brownies


skyburials

Cottage days, running around, playing games, and being silly.


ButWhatIfTheyKissed

Ignorance from the knowledge that the planet is burning and that the economy will always exist to kick my generation in the gut.


dkixen

Playing Intellivision. We had Astrosmash, Baseball, Skiing, Utopia, Night Stalker (best one) and many more. The machine broke down eventually in the early 2000s


Inspireme21

Not paying bills, being carefree, not working


TraditionalRest808

Buying an entire lunch, burger, drink, fries, snack for 5$ (Within a decade ago)


JimboSlice450

My House Hippo.


canuck-chuckwagon

Praying that every time I opened my milk carton, it would moo.


Frugalman123

Being curious about stuff. And then going to read about it or whatever. Kinda like a scavenger hunt. Now just search online. Not as exciting.


freezing91

I was playing street hockey with their neighbourhood kids in our street. It’ll just came together and we all had fun. I remember when somebody say headlights we’d all move our Nats to the side in the car would go by. Just awesome fun.


FredOcho5

Being Internet free


xoQueenie

No social media.


Jo_Ehm

Time... it dragged. Now it's too fast.


Butterflies6175578

Lack of responsibility.


All_Day_Coffee

No internet, no cell phones


Special_Letter_7134

Not having to worry about bills/rent/groceries, and the fact that all those things were affordable all while saving for a down payment on a house on minimum wage.


Mummbles1283

Sanity, everyone lost it somewhere along the way.


Adam_Absence

Being happy


New-Tomorrow-4309

My childhood was a nightmare but if I was to say what I miss the most is my Mom. She has been gone now for 3 yrs and I miss her as much today as the day we lost her.


EntertainmentEasy251

My mom


TNShadetree

Multiple friends in the neighborhood you could bicycle over to any time.


Wild_Complex2695

My parents. ❤️