Describe Your Childhood

Keesha

Keesha

🐟
Location
Canada 🇨🇦
What was your childhood like?
Did you like school ?
Did you have many friends?
What types of things did you like to do?
Do you view your childhood fondly?

My childhood was memorable to me.
For the most part, I liked school , did well and had plenty of friends. There were always lots of things to do when we were kids. If I wanted to hang out with a group of friends, it was easy but there was also lots to do solo.

Even as I kid I liked walking. One of my favourite places to walk was down the railroad tracks. The smell of hot tar feels familiar. My life consisted of a good balance between school, playing with friends and personal hobbies. Most of it I think of with fondness.

How about you?
 

Last edited:
My childhood was mostly happy. I was an aggressive kid, had many friends, did well in school, had lots of hobbies, good pets. I saw a few very scary things at a young age, things I vividly remember, still, yet I apparently was hardwired to shake the effects of such possibly traumatizing episodes off, and stay happy. I sang for public gatherings at a young age, became a ham, enjoyed the spotlight, early on. Once I started my first successful band, at around 11,12, my future as a working musician was set, with scores of non-music side jobs thrown in, along the way. I loved my family, made sure I reached out to them when I felt any distance between us. Few regrets.

On the issue of Nurture vs. Nature, I think both play a part, but one's genetics more strongly sets one's course in life, as I see it.
 
jujube said:
Pretty darn good, I'll have to admit.

Not much money, but a lot of love. Very involved parents, but on the other hand, pretty free-range before free-range became popular.

I can't complain. Oh, I did a lot of complaining but there wasn't much substance to it.....
Click to expand...

It would seem that being loved is more important than being materialistically spoiled.
I really like how you describe your parenting experience. Free range.lol That’s cute. 🥰
 
I enjoyed public school but hated being sent to parochial school which felt like the military except with lots of religion. I hated it so much I believe my brain made my body sick frequently so I could stay home from school. I was a sensitive kid and enjoyed animals more than people and was always bringing home a stray this or injured that. Back to public school by Jr. high and I enjoyed the freedom immensely. I was more social, had lots of friends, parties, and good times. My health was so much better because I was happier. I became less of a tomboy and more of a fashionista. My girlfriends were the same and we had fun with it. Childhood was a mixed bag of memories.
 
treeguy64 said:
My childhood was mostly happy. I was an aggressive kid, had many friends, did well in school, had lots of hobbies, good pets. I saw a few very scary things at a young age, things I vividly remember, still, yet I apparently was hardwired to shake the effects of such possibly traumatizing episodes off, and stay happy. I sang for public gatherings at a young age, became a ham, enjoyed the spotlight, early on. Once I started my first successful band, at around 11,12, my future as a working musician was set, with scores of non-music side jobs thrown in, along the way. I loved my family, made sure I reached out to them when I felt any distance between us. Few regrets.

On the issue of Nurture vs. Nature, I think both play a part, but one's genetics more strongly sets one's course in life, as I see it.
Click to expand...
Did you find that you could escape through your music when you were you. It was such a good distraction for me and perhaps still is.
Did you take music in high school and if so what did you play?
 
chic said:
I enjoyed public school but hated being sent to parochial school which felt like the military except with lots of religion. I hated it so much I believe my brain made my body sick frequently so I could stay home from school. I was a sensitive kid and enjoyed animals more than people and was always bringing home a stray this or injured that. Back to public school by Jr. high and I enjoyed the freedom immensely. I was more social, had lots of friends, parties, and good times. My health was so much better because I was happier. I became less of a tomboy and more of a fashionista. My girlfriends were the same and we had fun with it. Childhood was a mixed bag of memories.
Click to expand...

A bittersweet childhood. Yes.
When I was young I had a friend who went to Catholic school and they were really strict. They had to wear and uniform and they were so many rules. She hated it also.
 
Keesha said:
Did you find that you could escape through your music when you were you. It was such a good distraction for me and perhaps still is.
Did you take music in high school and if so what did you play?
Click to expand...
I found that I could hustle girls, very effectively, from the stage. In truth, that was about half the allure with the biz. The other half was making great music, and seeing how crowds got up and danced and had fun at our gigs.

I played trumpet, in elementary school. Played in the band. Couldn't sing while playing, heard The Beatles and Stones on Ed Sullivan, got into bass guitar, met my first rhythm guitarist, and that set me on the path!
 
Keesha said:
A bittersweet childhood. Yes.
When I was young I had a friend who went to Catholic school and they were really strict. They had to wear and uniform and they were so many rules. She hated it also.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, the hideous uniform. They wanted a uniform mentality also - no individualists allowed to flourish and that was the real killer. They just went about trying to destroy the ego. In 6 year olds! It's one thing when adults join the military, but we were just little kids with no say in the matter and no way out unless your parents let you leave or you got yourself expelled. I wish I had thought of the latter.🙃
 
mine was ok =I spent most of it outside the home ' playing with lots of kids from the roads =on a bike or go skating in London,
going to the parks - messing in general =pictures Saturday morning with my school mates ...then sometimes we go to big street market either with my mother of friends , I always had friends never without them ' walked to school no car for rides then ' but a different story in the home =my father ws a awful person he was in the army ' and treated us the same - so one by one we got out soon as possible ……….
 
Yes we wore school uniform, and yes we also walked 2 miles each way to school also ...all weathers....when I was living with my parents I usually had to wear shoes with holes in the soles, which not only let the water in, but destroyed my socks. When I lived in the foster homes, at least I was given decent shoes.

It's funny that some of you mention the school uniform. I remember my Canadian relatives coming over and saying how they wish their kids needed to wear it, because my aunt and uncle had a heckava expensive time keeping up with the latest fashions for my cousins to wear at school.

Today school uniform is still, de rigueur in British schools..
 
I get a bit puzzled by the term 'public school'. In the UK, "public school" is ironically private. It generally refers to a number of long established fee paying schools that provided high class education for the children of wealthy parents. Prominent among those schools are ones like Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Repton etc.. Today these schools try to include talented pupils from all backgrounds by means of subsidised fees, grants etc..

For 'ordinary' folk, we go to 'state school' and here the standard of education is very much a lottery. When I were a lad, 60 odd years ago, it didn't seem to be so much of an issue. You went to the local 'primary' school from age 5 till 11, sat your 11+ exam and that determined the type of secondary education that you had till age 16 or 18.

I was pretty bright, but lazy. I was fast-tracked, so was one of the youngest pupils in my form and I found school was easy until near the end when I realised that you had to work at it, and that didn't suit me.

At home my parents were what today would be called 'abusive' , but in the 50's and 60's were just considered 'strict', and that was quite normal. Their word was law, and I was an 'outlaw'! It was always, what would people think of us if you did....? I came to live in a sort of uneasy truce with them. Later I came to feel that under her stoical shell, mother was insecure and felt that life had dealt her a bad hand. If you looked in a dictionary for the word "unambitious", you would find my father's name.

Surprisingly (or maybe not) my brother, sister and myself all led successful (though varied) lives.
 
Here in Canada all schools were public schools except for the Catholic ones which were privately funded. I’m not sure quite why but that’s how it was and perhaps still is. I wonder why other religions didn’t get their own schools but then I’d be going into politics I’m sure.
 
hollydolly said:
We have Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish schools...

When I was at school, the catholics and protestant school always fought each other..
Click to expand...
Actually this is an area I don’t know much about so I did a quick research and apparently we have Protestant, Catholic, Islamic and Jewish school systems.

I think it was the same here Holly but I never paid much attention to it. My girlfriend often would say that they were hated for being special. In other words because she went to a private catholic school she was hated.

Looking back I do remember one year where there was a huge schoolyard brawl injuring several students and the police were called. It was a huge ordeal. At the time I was in my own little world though but I know it upset my friend quite a bit. Enough that she asked me to go to her school and walk around with her on the weekend. There were lots of broken windows all taped up.

It did make me aware that everyone’s got their own stories to tell of the daily struggles they face.
 
Keesha said:
We walked 4 miles everyday walking to and from school which I’m grateful for . I think that walking did a world of good for me mentally and emotionally. Walking for me became my therapy.
Click to expand...
I also walked four miles a day, back and forth, from school. I came home, for lunch, then went back. I let myself into our flat, made my own lunch, as my mom was at work, and then went back to school. During those times that I made my own lunch, from about eight years of age, on, the seeds were planted for my becoming the gustatorial adventurer I turned into, later.

I am saddened by our world, today, where parents are too scared to let their children walk to school, and must drive them, even short distances. Even sadder, those fears are often justified. What have we become, my friends? Where is this world heading?
 
treeguy64 said:
I also walked four miles a day, back and forth, from school. I came home, for lunch, then went back. I let myself into our flat, made my own lunch, as my mom was at work, and then went back to school. During those times that I made my own lunch, from about eight years of age, on, the seeds were planted for my becoming the gustatorial adventurer I turned into, later.
Click to expand...
That’s just how it was for us. Our parents worked so we each had our own key. We walked home, made our own lunch and walked back. We were later referred to as ‘latch key’ kids but from my perspective, there were more pros than cons.
The freedom it offered was awesome.
In many ways, I was spoiled.
 


Back
Top