The little things are the big things

When I think back to my childhood I can remember my holidays to Florida with my family. They were lovely and I can recall a few specific moments from the holidays. I know I was really lucky to have those holidays and not all of my friends had the same opportunity.

However, when I close my eyes and cast my mind back to the best bits of my childhood it isn’t Florida that springs to mind.

The things that are at the forefront of my mind and are always guaranteed to bring a smile to my face are actually the free or very inexpensive things that we did.

I can vividly remember feeling a giddy high, sat on top of a dinner tray clinging on for dear life as I was whizzed around the front room on our ‘indoor sledge’. The tray was a hideous flowery design from the 70s from Marks and Spencer with a super slippery bottom that glided effortlessly over the old heavily patterned Axminster carpets. My brother and I would have happily played that game with my dad for hours if he had had the stamina.

Our garden always features heavily in my best childhood memories. Having water fights with my brother running around in just our pants or sometimes naked with watering cans, hoses, saucepans, pots or any vessel we raided from the kitchen cupboards, never the latest must have water pistols.

We used to steal my mums clothes prop and lay it on the floor as the net and play volley ball, tennis and badminton over it.

Digging in the garden was always exciting. You were guaranteed to find old broken crockery that had been dug in by previous owners to help with soil drainage. There was also coloured broken glass, sometimes an old teaspoon etc. We used old tooth brushes and a bucket of water to clean up our finds before taking it in turns to be the expert on antiques road show explaining to each other what we had discovered and more importantly what it was worth.

Standing on a kitchen chair leant up against the kitchen cupboards so that I could reach to help my mum bake was a magical experience. I knew really she would prefer to cook alone as it was so much quicker and cleaner but she never complained and used to always let us ‘help’. Licking the spoon and bowl at the end was always a welcome reward for helping.

One of my best garden toys was a pair of stilts made by my dad in the spare of the moment. He had some odd bits of wood knocking around his shed after finishing a DIY project in the house. Half an hour later he had sanded off the rough bits nailed two blocks of wood half way up the sticks and had fastened old dusters with elastic bands into cushioned handles. The stilts lasted for years. I wouldn’t like to think about how many hours (probably days of my life) I spent precariously balanced walking up and down our garden path.

My mum stayed at home with us, which meant that we didn’t have as much money as the other children who had both parents working and therefore didn’t have all of the latest toys but I wouldn’t change a thing about my childhood. My parents gave me their time and for that I will always be eternally grateful. It taught me and my brother to be really appreciative of the things that we did have and to look after them. None of our toys were broken or drawn on with pens.

We also learnt to find magic and pleasure in the everyday and the ordinary. We learnt that the most precious thing you have is your time. Relationships and people are what truly matters not material things.

As I’m watching my children grow up I’ve been reminded of how true this is all over again.

It’s so easy to get bogged down in the mundane tasks that have to be completed daily but when you stop and look even in a jam packed day there is always time to build memories with your children.

When cooking, cleaning or tidying in the kitchen I like to have music playing. As soon as my children hear the music they run to the kitchen and ask to dance. It takes 5 minutes out of my busy day. It’s the best five minutes that I spend.

It gives me something nice to focus on and has the power to turn a ‘bad’ day into a ‘good’ day.

Among lots of the other free things that we do as a family I know without a doubt that when my children are older dancing in the kitchen will definitely be one of their best memories from their childhoods.

Stop waiting to go to Peppa Pig world to make memories and instead focus on what you can do every day for just a couple of minutes to let your children know that you enjoy spending time with them, that you care, that they are important, that they are loved.

#littlethingsareimportant #imagination #play #spendingtimewithyourchild