Our parents NBR

mkhim · February 2014

I thought it would be fun to talk about our childhood for a change and the fun, ridiculous, or dangerous things our parents/guardian did while caring (or not) for us.

ETA: wording.

mkhim · February 2014

Reading the public bathroom post made me think about how my mother used to let me go to the bathroom on my own when I was 6yrs old. She left me home alone at that age as well. I never thought there was anything weird about it at the time. I never burned down the house or got kidnapped.

Brandi81012 · February 2014

Instead of the normal nursery rhymes my grandma sang "dirty" nursery rhymes and we thought they were sooo funny when we were little.

Example- little miss muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider and sat down beside her and said "what's in the bowl bitch!"

Some may be offended by this but to this day it's one of my favorite memories with my grandma and cousins.

mkhim · February 2014

@brandi81012 That's awesome. Although, if the spider came down and sat down beside her, how come he didn't see what was inside the bowl on his way down?
Still funny though

Brandi81012 · February 2014

@mkhim Yeah, my grandma didn't think it all the way through, but it is still hilarious!

HerbanMom · February 2014

Long before sexual predator registries my parents let me ride around our subdivision (about a 4 mile loop) on my bicycle all by my lonesome at the age of 4 and 5. I'd walk to my friends house alone a few streets away around the same time as well. Then again, my mom has kind of always been a shit mom so that might explain a few things.

Ark2013 · February 2014

mkhim said:
Reading the public bathroom post made me think about how my mother used to let me go to the bathroom on my own when I was 6yrs old. She left me home alone at that age as well. I never thought there was anything weird about it at the time. I never burned down the house or got kidnapped.

Wow. I have a six year old and I couldn't imagine leaving her home alone for any length of time. It's crazy to think about how things have changed.

If she is out shopping with my H and she has to use the washroom he will send her in by herself. He obviously can't go in with her and he won't bring her into the men's washroom. If there isn't a family washroom he doesn't have another option. It's never been an issue.

clhathaway · February 2014

My parents lets us roam our neighbor hood. Never checked on us. We knew to go home when the 6 o'clock whistle went off(small town, had a whistle at noon and 6 and whenever the firefighters were called out) that was our only supervision. We also had go karts and mini bikes that we drove our selves and we were probably anywhere from 4 to 14.(my brother is tens years older) we went to the swimming pool alone when we were 7.

mkhim · February 2014

clhathaway said:
My parents lets us roam our neighbor hood. Never checked on us. We knew to go home when the 6 o'clock whistle went off(small town, had a whistle at noon and 6 and whenever the firefighters were called out) that was our only supervision. We also had go karts and mini bikes that we drove our selves and we were probably anywhere from 4 to 14.(my brother is tens years older) we went to the swimming pool alone when we were 7.

I think a lot of children don't play outside in their neighborhoods anymore. Do kids even hide and seek these days?

Cambury108 · February 2014

In the summer the streetlights were literally my beacon to go home, My mom didn't know where I was 85% of the time. I remember being 9 years old one summer going on 10 that July and I rode my bike with 2 neighbor boys all the way to the next town over it was like a good 4 miles one way then we left our bikes by a dirt path and went and played in the woods.....Probably the dumbest thing I ever did because we played on the railroad tracks that day. Got home and my mom never asked where I had been,who I had been with.......Guess that was the parenting of our generation. I was born in the summer of 1983 and my uncle was watching me once when I was just a few weeks old, He needed to go to the store and he didn't have a carseat for me so he wrapped me in a blanket and laid me on the passenger side floorboard of his Chevy and off we went I am told.

bubblesmtu · February 2014

When I was six months old I fell down the stairs three weeks in a row. My mom wrote each time on my baby calendar. Then, after the third time, there's an entry that says 'Daddy buys baby gate' . I swear my sister and I had no supervision even as babies lol.

Lpegirl2013 · February 2014

I was another neighborhood roamer, I just knew to be home before it got dark outside... Which in the summer is about 9pm.. Also got left home alone at age 7 and got lost in grocery stores countless times ha!

thebobloblaw · February 2014

I was a neighborhood roamer too, although we didn't live in a neighborhood, more in the country. But I was never indoors as a kid. I lived outside. I didn't watch tv or even like cartoons until I was like 17.

Also my mom picked horrible babysitters for me. When I was about 3 and we lived in an apartment complex, one of them threw a party and I wandered off and got outside. A neighbor found me climbing into the sewer. My body was about half way in, about to fall in all the way. That was just one of the horror stories I've been told.

babymonster30 · February 2014

I stayed home alone when I was 6 or seven for small amounts of time and babysat 3 kids (5,6, & 8yrs) all summer when I was 11. I also used to walk a mile alone to the corner store, often with a note from my mom to buy her cigarettes! Crazy how different things are now!

Cambury108 · February 2014

@babymonster30 when I was about 10-11 there was our corner store and the lady that worked on the weekends knew my family and my grandma would give me 5$ and send me there and the lady would give me 2 packs and some change!!!!! I also at 10 years old had a 2 year old sister and a newborn brother and that summer my mom would leave me home alone with them while she went and did "errands". The things I did as a kid were insane........NOT like the way things are now that is for sure.

Aycul18 · February 2014

Brandi81012 said:
Instead of the normal nursery rhymes my grandma sang "dirty" nursery rhymes and we thought they were sooo funny when we were little.

Example- little miss muffet sat on her tuffet eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider and sat down beside her and said "what's in the bowl bitch!"

Some may be offended by this but to this day it's one of my favorite memories with my grandma and cousins.

@brandi81012 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your grandma didn't make that up :-) see if you can find Andrew dice clay's nursery rhymes... And for anyone else that may not have heard of them, I definitely suggest it for a good laugh!

Whitterpow · February 2014

My mom left us with dad for a weekend while she went to a church thing. We ate fried bologna and popcorn for every meal for 3 days.

My dad and siblings went sledding in a hilly field behind our house. There apparently was an old dug out storm cellar which had filled with water and frozen over (we live in Oklahoma so I use the term loosely). We would slide on it and jump on it like a trampoline. My sister fell through (she was like 15) and we laughed at her (dad included) as she walked home soaking wet.

Other than that, I have nothing. I lived in a cul-de-sac and my parents were super protective so we weren't allowed to go past the corner without our parents until we were like 11 or 12.

playball13 · February 2014

We had a houseboat and our parents let us jump off the top into the river. We also used to lay down and sleep in the back window of the car during long car trips.

jy725 · February 2014

I played outside all day and night too. I don't have any crazy stories. My dad was a good mix of protective and laid back. We were good kids. I was the last one out of the house (Dad at work/sisters in middle school) and had to get myself on the bus during 4th and 5th grade.

mkhim · February 2014

Ratings in movies never meant anything when I was younger. I remember being around 5 yrs old watching Chucky with my family at home (on vhs!) And maybe 7 yrs old watching American Pie. They would just tell me to cover my eyes during sex scenes, but I knew what was going on. I wouldn't look just because I thought it was gross.

swirl25 · February 2014

I watched way more TV than is acceptable today. I watched plenty of kid shows and cartoons, but also clearly remember watching soaps like Young & the Restless with my grandmother who used to babysit me after school and in the summers -- I was like 6! I have to police the amount of TV DD1 watches when my parents babysit...they only let her watch Disney Jr and the like but my mom insists TV for kids isn't bad and it's why DDs vocabulary is so extensive, along with reading (riiiiight).

sportsmomma · February 2014

hercules03 said:
I was working on baby books and pulled mine out... Breastfed for 1 month, rice cereal at six weeks and baby food at two months. Lol!! Yikes.

Yeah, I was recently told I was on formula for 6-8 weeks (with cereal added around 4 weeks) and then switched to 2% milk - WTF???? I think my mom thought it was funny or something how things have "changed" - uhhh no I don't think that was normal in the mid-80s either.

cengle · February 2014

My grandma let me eat bourbon balls as a kid (I loved them!) and feed me chocolate candy by the truckload. She also taught my brother and me how to gamble. We were playing cards for nickels and dimes by about age 4. Oh, how I miss my grandma! She was a riot.

We watched a lot of TV and movies, and my parents let us watch what they were watching. Most of the time we got bored and would go play, but I know we watched some stuff we shouldn't. My brother's favorite movie at age 3 was Rambo: First Blood. My dad thought this was hilarious.

KateVA · February 2014

My patents were pretty strict so nothing too outrageous. We lived in farm house with lots of acreage so we had a lot of outdoor chores. No cable , only got 2 tv channels.

I will say that where I live now, kids do play outside and wander the neighborhood. It's so cool. But inevitably some people are always complaining about them being in the streets unsupervised. You can't win

Aycul18 · February 2014

I've been trying to think of something, but I always had nannies... My parents were strict, but not too strict. I used to play outside all the time, but someone always knew where I was. My mom was pissed that my friends mom let us go to the movies alone when I was like 10...

monkeybutt61612 · February 2014

When I was in elementary school, my mom would send me with a note to buy her cigarettes at the store. It was literally right next door to our house and the cashiers knew us, but still.

Snoopylovesbelle · February 2014

I was a neighborhood roamer. We were allowed to go to the pool by ourselves at age 8 and when we went to the beach we were allowed to ride the public bus to the boardwalk at night at age 10. We just had to be back by 10. I can't believe my parents and Friends parents let us do that.

macadamia03 · February 2014

My biological parents would let us play alone outside at our apartment complex when we were like 2 and 4. They also got the worst baby sitters. I remember one telling us that if we didn't go to bed Freddy Kruger would get us. Which makes no sense because he kills people in their dreams.lol I also remember my mom leaving us alone in her apartment while she went to a party three doors down. I woke up and walked down to the party. She let me stay and I did the running man while everyone cheered. Then after our grandparents adopted us we lived in the country and were allowed to run the "back five" until dark. Other than that they were pretty strict.

*Mrs*Rohrbaugh* · February 2014

My parents let me run around the neighborhood with the neighbor kids all day long. I just had to be home by dark. This probably started when I was 7 or 8 years old. No way I'll let my kids do that!

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