Happiest times in your childhood

[~Katja~]

So they spoke about this on the show today and were mainly referring to a time in American history, but also talked about when they were happiest growing up.

Well, I did not grow up in America, but I can honestly say that my happiest times were always vacations in Hungary when the wall was still up and the east was all we could travel. It was most simple times but full of beautiful memories and to this day they make me appreciate simple things in life.

Another happy time was always the holidays, not so much for the presents we received but for all the traditions and the true holiday spirit surrounding it.
For example, a gift we would receive would always be something we really needed, like winter boots or a school bag or something useful for every day... we barely ever received toys...we were happy with getting oranges, walnuts and apples in our stockings, simply because that was the time of year they were available... so to this day they have a special meaning to me. We made gifts for our parents and the entire month of December was surrounded by secret gift making, finding the prefect gift for loved ones from the saved up pocket money and a lot of family moments on every Sunday during Advent.. lit candles, holiday music, lovely scents from cookies baking in the kitchen or the inscents burning in the little smoker... .

Now I still cannot say that my overall childhood was all great and happy, but it is these memories that are so much stronger than the sad ones and they make me smile thinking back.

I have to admit that over the past 20 years Germany has become very commercial and holiday time is just as crazy as here, with kids being spoiled with the bigger and better gifts and more and more each year. The only difference is that people don't live on credit cards like we do here, so they spend what they have instead.


Now what are your happiest years or moments from your childhood?

[JerseyRich]

I would have to tab winters as my favorite.

We lived on a huge block and none of the houses had fences in the back yards. In the middle of the block was a big hill. Whenever it snowed we would all be out there...snowboards...sleds...toboggan...metal discs...making jumps...making tunnels. It was a simpler time to be a kid...No one was worried about lawsuits if a kid got hurt on your property and none of us had to shovel snow.

I think if it snows a lot this year I'm gonna get out and slide down a steep hill somewhere.

Childhood, here I come!

[boobieman]

For me the day I finished with High school..that whole year after was great. Like I was released from the jail sentence. Had a few friends say to me on the last day that they were going to miss HS...I said fuck that...I was so damn glad to be over with that..and still to this day I am glad I am out!!!

SEYEYAYAAAAAAAASEEE

[west milly Tom]

I had poison ivy real bad when I was 10 and I just remember my pops letting me stay up late to watch Star Trek with him late, like 10PM which was a huge deal at 10 years old. Every now and again he land I would watch
That show together just the two of us. Those were happy times.

[DarkHippie]

I had a difficult childhood. the only times i can remember being truly happy is playing baseball and football.

[Marc with a c]

the fall of the berlin wall, or the time I was first pick in the bedford hills little league draft.

[GreatAmericanZero]

im soooooooooooooooooooooooo much more happier as an adult

[King Hippos Bandaid]

finding a Rod Crew Rookie Card at a Garage sale, paying 10 cents for it, then selling it to a card dealer for $485

hitting a few game winning jump shots in league games

not getting the belt froma stressed out dad

breaking Randy's arm

[drjoek]

When I made Little League the first time. Unlike the pansys of today where everyone gets a trophy for participation,you had to tryout even to make LL. Kids would not. "Get the call" from a coach 2 or 3 days after yryout. We were the Yankees sponsored by Bigelow Tea Co (back when it was a local CT co). Ihas. Few hits played 2bd base as a sub. No everyone plays equal innings in those days. We lost in the finals.

[west milly Tom]

Yes making the high school baseball team as a freshman is another.

[~Katja~]

the fall of the berlin wall, or the time I was first pick in the bedford hills little league draft.

because you already knew back then that it meant one fine day a chick like me would be able to come to the US and fall in love with R&F and post on this board??? And you were so excited with anticipation that your whole childhood was joyous????

[NewYorkDragons80]

because you already knew back then that it meant one fine day a chick like me would be able to come to the US and fall in love with R&F and post on this board??? And you were so excited with anticipation that your whole childhood was joyous????

If there's one thing I can point to in history, it's the direct impact the fall of the iron curtain had on comedians with 2 or more radio shows.

[suggums]

in no order but my stream of consciousness...playing football in Chris Hall's yard, riding bikes out to the woods in my neighborhood to explore and misbehave, watching saved by the bell reruns after school, getting a super nintendo for xmas one year (still cant kick the habit), the blizzards of '93 and '96 and missing a week of school each time, playing baseball before it got too competitive and i sucked, being popular in elementary school because i was in every extracurricular activity (6th grade SGA president ftw). i miss the smell of coming home from a friends house in the late afternoon to my mom preparing dinner. it was kind of a sharp, almost wine-like smell, mixed with our own scents, furnishings, and whatever was on the stove. thats one of those things they couldn't take to arizona

[~Katja~]

I also loved being outside a lot... like boys just roam across town...climb trees... hang with friends my parents never knew existed... it made me care free and I always stayed out to the very last minute I had to be home. And I often stayed past that time but got grounded for a week for every minute I was late.

[disneyspy]

thank god gorbachev tore down that wall

i grew up in west texas and i loved goin out to the desert and shootin lizards,then i'd put their tails under my sisters pillow and laugh my ass off when she would start her screamin.my dad used to load us up into the family camper and we would take off on cross country trips every summer and the trips seemed to last forever and then we'd talk about the drama for months.when me and my siblings get together we always laugh at the crazy shit my dad did on those trips

[EddieMoscone]

Going to Jets Games, Mets Games and Wrestling with my dad. Used to go to the Old Ridgewood Grove Arena in my old neighborhood for wrestling. 1986 World Series Game 7 was the coup de grace.

[Lady Resin]

Meeting my first best friend. We moved from Jersey City to the suburbs. It was about 2 weeks before Christmas. My sisteer was 8 months old. We finally settled in. I was standing in front of our new house and it was snowing out. The little boy across the street brought over his sled. On our street we had a knoll where everybody went sleigh riding. He asked me if I wanted to go. I said yes. I hopped on the sled and he pulled me there. What a great time we all had. We became the bestest of friends. At the age of 9 he was diagnosed with lukemia. He passed away at 11 years old. To this day I miss him so very much. He made me feell so welcomed into the neighborhood. I'm sorry to depress this thread. But in my heart it was a great childhood memory.

[~Katja~]

Meeting my first best friend. We moved from Jersey City to the suburbs. It was about 2 weeks before Christmas. My sisteer was 8 months old. We finally settled in. I was standing in front of our new house and it was snowing out. The little boy across the street brought over his sled. On our street we had a knoll where everybody went sleigh riding. He asked me if I wanted to go. I said yes. I hopped on the sled and he pulled me there. What a great time we all had. We became the bestest of friends. At the age of 9 he was diagnosed with lukemia. He passed away at 11 years old. To this day I miss him so very much. He made me feell so welcomed into the neighborhood. I'm sorry to depress this thread. But in my heart it was a great childhood memory.

I am sorry, it is sad, but not depressing, because it is nice to reflect on the happy times you had and the warm feeling he gave you... it IS what you remember for life!

[Farmer Dave]

Wow, I didn't even realize this until now. It has to be digging snow tunnels and building snow forts with my brother. Now I use my kids as an excuse to do it.

[Gvac]

I really had an amazingly happy childhood with tons of great memories. I guess what I remember most is playing Little League baseball (we won our local "World Series" my final year) and then heading to town from the park after the games with all my friends. We had a bicycle armada, and we'd invade the candy store to play pinball, buy baseball cards and comic books (they were all 25 cents each), and maybe go across the street to the pizzeria for a 45 cent slice. Then we'd ride to my dad's liquor store and he'd give us free sodas or yoo-hoo.

The only time I wasn't happy was when it rained and I was stuck inside. I felt like a caged rat if I wasn't out roaming the town.

[joethebartender]

I have to say that I enjoyed 4th of July celebrations most in my childhood.
Going on the rides at my town's picnic with my friends during the day and then going home for a BBQ with all of my family in the afternoon.
The kids would be laughing and swimming around in the pool. My Dad and his guests were quaffing beer and grilling up some dogs and burgers. "101 CBS FM" blaring oldies from a one-speaker radio covered in paint would lay down the soundtrack.
My crazy uncle would get a trunkload of illegal fireworks from Chinatown for the night time. The neighbors would set up tables and run extension cords for blenders of frozen drinks on their lawns to watch the fireworks show. The cops used to drive right down the block; turning a blind eye to the pounds of firecracker paper and powder smoke that they were driving through and wave.
These were some of the best days of my life.:happy:
I still get nostalgic when I smell hot dogs and gunpowder in the air.:glurps:

[joethebartender]

We had a bicycle armada,
Well put. I had a flagship in one of those "armadas".

[~Katja~]

I really had an amazingly happy childhood with tons of great memories. I guess what I remember most is playing Little League baseball (we won our local "World Series" my final year) and then heading to town from the park after the games with all my friends. We had a bicycle armada, and we'd invade the candy store to play pinball, buy baseball cards and comic books (they were all 25 cents each), and maybe go across the street to the pizzeria for a 45 cent slice. Then we'd ride to my dad's liquor store and he'd give us free sodas or yoo-hoo.

The only time I wasn't happy was when it rained and I was stuck inside. I felt like a caged rat if I wasn't out roaming the town.

you are OLD :)

and please tell me that yoo hoo really means chocolate milk ;)

[Marc with a c]

gvacs little league was played in black and white.

[Gvac]

you are OLD :)

and please tell me that yoo hoo really means chocolate milk ;)

I don't think Yoo-Hoo has any milk in it...it's kinda like chocolate water. And we were glad to have it!

[Gvac]

I have to say that I enjoyed 4th of July celebrations most in my childhood.
Going on the rides at my town's picnic with my friends during the day and then going home for a BBQ with all of my family in the afternoon.
The kids would be laughing and swimming around in the pool. My Dad and his guests were quaffing beer and grilling up some dogs and burgers. "101 CBS FM" blaring oldies from a one-speaker radio covered in paint would lay down the soundtrack.
My crazy uncle would get a trunkload of illegal fireworks from Chinatown for the night time. The neighbors would set up tables and run extension cords for blenders of frozen drinks on their lawns to watch the fireworks show. The cops used to drive right down the block; turning a blind eye to the pounds of firecracker paper and powder smoke that they were driving through and wave.
These were some of the best days of my life.:happy:
I still get nostalgic when I smell hot dogs and gunpowder in the air.:glurps:

Oh man...AWESOME memories of the 4th of July!

Remember the Bicentennial? One of the greatest years of my life. I can still remember the fire department pulling up in front of our house and painting the hydrant red, white, and blue. It was such an amazing event, and the fireworks that Independence Day were especially spectacular.

[Marc with a c]

Oh man...AWESOME memories of the 4th of July!

Remember the Bicentennial? One of the greatest years of my life. I can still remember the fire department pulling up in front of our house and painting the hydrant red, white, and blue. It was such an amazing event, and the fireworks that Independence Day were especially spectacular.

you're a bi-centennial.

[Gvac]

gvacs little league was played in black and white.

And our parents came to the games dressed to the nines!

I still have my old glove...http://www.pasttimesports.biz/products/baseball/1930styleglove2.jpg

[~Katja~]

I have to say, I love my memories of growing up in East Germany and later the united Germany... but hearing some of your stories makes me wish I could have spent a few years of my childhood here as well.

[keithy_19]

2006 school year. Had the time of my life. I was a senior so it was easy and fun. Then 2007 came around and became the worst year of my life.

But god was 2006 great.

[angry gary]

having entire summers off as a kid and spending them swimming in the lakes in south carolina. if i wasn't swimming or fishing i was shooting off firecrackers. my cousins and i would collect soda bottles for the 2 cent deposit on them. 3 bottles equaled one pack of black cat firecrackers. a case of bottles equaled bottle rockets out the wazoo! we would put m-80's in fresh piles of cow shit and light them and then see who could stand there the longest before running away. nothing funnier than seeing your cousins back covered in fresh cow shit!

[Rockvillejoe]

i come from a semi- large family. huge by todays standards. my father was always too busy doing nothing to ever help my mother with my brothers and sisters. his job was to make the money and read the paper when he got home....
but one saturday afternoon, all of my brothers and sisters went with my mother. i was about 4. my father was obligated to give me a bath, put on my pajamas, and then he gave me a blg bowl of ice cream and we watched zorro together. it could not get any better. the best part was he actually showed specific attention to me and was incredibly nice, not gruff and irritated as usual. the best memory.
i promised myself my kids would get that same regard every day of their lives growing up, and they did. in comparison, my father missed out on the best part of raising children. most dads of that generation did too.

[RoseBlood]

Like anyone else my childhood was filled with happy memories and times I'd like to forget but life happens and you take the good with the bad.

My happiest memories were ice skating, fishing, climbing trees and finding caterpillars, having underwater tea parties and looking for treasures at the bottom of the pool, eating ice pops all day in the summer, playing silly games with my brother at night when we were suppose to be sleeping just to keep each other company. :happy:

and later on, having my first drink with my brother and his friends when I was eleven. Hanging out with him and his friends as a pre-teen; feeling "cool" cause I was with an older crowd and feeling like I had adopted brothers who cared about me. For a short while I always looked foward to Friday nights when they all hung out in the living room and it was just fun and silly times.

[PapaBear]

My happiest memories were ice skating, fishing, climbing trees and finding caterpillars
Isn't it a shame that kids don't do that kind of stuff much anymore? They'll never have those memories.

[PapaBear]

Family trips to Virginia Beach (We stayed away from the touristy part, and rented a cottage near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay). Looking for lost golf balls at the nearby private country club, to sell back to rich golfers, then sneaking into the club at night to go pool hopping. Walking through the horse field at the end of my street, climbing a tree and dropping pizza flavored goldfish crackers to attract the horses, then jumping on them to ride bareback. Pretending there was a monster in woods and setting traps for him. Going caving and diving into quarries from impossibly dangerous heights. Exploring old abandoned (haunted, of course) houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. Chasing my dog through Nichols Discount City, when he'd follow my friends and me. Too many to mention.

[tileslinger]

When I was very young my parents would have parties (in the mid 70's) and my aunts uncles and cousins would be there and we kids would run around and play and at night we kids would have to open the windows in my bedroom (even in January in Michigan) from all the smoke. My God you couldn't breath or see. It was great.

Then in High School driving around drinking 40's of Micky's Malt liquor doing, smoking Marlbro Reds, cranking Sabbath, Beasties and GNR. It was great.

Still great. Only have so much time better make the most of it.

[swiss miss]

i have the best memories of our chalet in switzerland, me and my sister taking our horses around the valleys and peaks. the chilly air and super bright sun, the clean crystaline air whipping our hair into flaxen ribbons...it was like we has our own house and ran like a bunch of hitler youth through the sweet little towns and ate fresh rolls and honey. i can remember the smell of the dew on the alpine trees....and the wall was still up. good times.

[Foster]

I always enjoyed sunday night dinners when I was a kid, my brother and sisiter were both a bit older than me, so during the week one or the other was always out doing something. Sunday night was the only time it seemed that the whole family was together, and my mother would always make a big meal. After dinner we would all clean up, sit sit around and talk, which then led to an argument, but it was still great.

[jimmyolsenblues]

reggie jackson, dallas cowboys , 1978, pizza , pasta. all good.

[WampusCrandle]

my fondest memory was going to the Catskill Game Farm. it was such a great zoo, right in the middle of the damn mountains. two massive petting zoos. my dad had a picture of him feeding all kinds of animals with my grandfather, and in the same place, he and i are doing the same thing. it really tears me up that it was closed two years ago. ....

http://z.about.com/d/gonewengland/1/0/U/3/gamefarm1.jpg

[Sloppy2nds]

Well, for me it was when my Uncle Paul would...nevermind.

[~Katja~]

I also have a few memories of being really young. I mean 3 and 4 years young. It makes me realize that all the things I do with my son will be in his memories one day as well.

I remember going to the baltic ocean with my grandparents in the summer.
Not all of it of course, but the things that come to mind are all happy moments... walking with lanterns at night singing songs... sitting in a beach chair the way the still have them there to this day (they are big and closed in to shelter from the wind) I remember playing on a playground and falling off the jungle gym... I remember summers spent at my grandparents house, eating cherries of the big cherry tree that is still in the yard today, sadly no one is ever around to pick them in time... lazy afternoons on the swing, picking on my sister... playing with the dog...spending entire days at the very near by lake with the dog, always taking walks all around it...
I remember my grandma always making a big bowl filled with pancakes (the very thin kind that is rolled up with a sweet jelly or cinnamon sugar filling) It was her weekend thing, so I knew we always had them when we visited on the weekends.
My grandfather listening to silly folk music on his radio every day after lunch, doing cross words while listening... and us thinking we were smart enough to help him...

I remember winters going ice skating on another lake, sledding down small hills and just always being outside.
I don't think I ever spent a minute inside that I didn't have to.
Good times.


Just makes me think how important it is to give your children some happy memories for their life time. Happy memories not made from the great gifts they receive or the new clothes you just bought them... but from spending time and making it a carefree time for all!