To wonder how our parents generation coped without childrens tv

(147 Posts)
anicegreentea Thu 15-Nov-12 16:47:42


MorrisZapp Thu 15-Nov-12 17:55:28

The op has a baby and a toddler. They're hardly going to get packed off with an airy wave in the morning.

There's a lot of pedantry on this thread. When op said kids tv, I assumed she meant the wall to wall stuff we have now, plus sky plus, on demand etc, and dvds.

I had a 70s and 80s childhood. Sure, we had Grange Hill, Marmalade Atkins, cartoons at the weekend etc but I'm so grateful for the choice and flexibility we have now.

TiredBooyhoo Thu 15-Nov-12 17:57:03

my mum also used to put us out and lock the door but we were in the countryside and it was pretty safe, if you don't count the field with the bull and the fast flowing river beside our house that I did not get stuck in while trying to walk through the tunnel under the bridge hmm grin. i do remember dsis and i setting up a 'shop' at the bottom of our lane selling cornflakes, lemonade and a sara lee gateau which was actually the box filled with toilet roll. we were terrified when a man actually stopped and gave us a pound for the cake. we ran and hid for ages after he left knowing he would open the box and find the loo roll.

MrsDeVere Thu 15-Nov-12 17:57:29

Sundays were sooooooooooooooooooooooo boring.

I used to come home for lunch and my mum would let me watch "The Sullivans" blush

BraaaaaainsButterfield Thu 15-Nov-12 17:59:50

Plenty of children's TV when I was little - and don't forget there were still schools' programmes on during the day. Used to love being off when poorly and watching things like How We Used to Live!

MrsDeVere Thu 15-Nov-12 18:02:02

There were only three channels when I was little and they were not on for a large part of the day.
Most of the programming was for adults. That doesn't leave a lot of time for children's programmes.

littlewhitebag Thu 15-Nov-12 18:03:59

I am 50 and i watched plenty kids TV - i just wasn't on all day long like it is now. In between i played with my toys and my friends, read books and beat up my little brother. I was never bored and my mum got everything done. I also went to dancing, brownies/guides, swimming etc.

ToffeeCaramel Thu 15-Nov-12 18:07:49

Me at the end of my tether with a baby and a toddler = stick CBeebies on.
My mum at the end of her tether with a baby and a toddler = smack (the toddler.)

valiumredhead Thu 15-Nov-12 18:10:37

Ds didn't watch telly until he was 3. Personally I find it easier, I hate the bloody box!

ratspeaker Thu 15-Nov-12 18:19:24

Before watch with Mother there was Listen with Mother, on the wireless.

KitCat26 Thu 15-Nov-12 18:26:30

OP I often wonder this and asked my MIL who is 83. She is one of twelve and this is what she said her mother used to do.

Her mother used to give the baby a tin with stones in to play with (no money and no toys).

Other than that I believe they were put out in the pram quite a lot and once walking also tied to a rope on a stake in the the garden! The older ones then then looked after the younger ones.

Frankly I've absolutely no idea how that poor woman coped (she had 5 under 6 at one point)!

ToffeeCaramel Thu 15-Nov-12 18:28:47

It's probably quite easy if they are tied to a rope on a stake in the garden. grin

MichelleRooJnr Thu 15-Nov-12 18:31:33


In from school, change into 'old' clothes, outside whatever the weather, back in to eat dinner, do dishes, do homework, back outside til bedtime.

Hours spent riding bikes & building ramps & devising bike tracks, making swings, swinging, climbing, jumping over things, walking on narrow things, squeezing into wee spaces, standing on high things and a million other fun things.
(grew up on a farm so lots of places to do all of the above)

KitCat26 Thu 15-Nov-12 18:32:44

Seriously I consider doing that myself!

I did get a mental image of the five eldest being tied together and the rope just getting longer to add more children as she had them grin.

Frontpaw Thu 15-Nov-12 18:41:31

We had kids programmes - Pipkins, Handful of Songs, Jackanory, Play Away... (for short hours anyway) and public information films (who can forget the potter's wheel?) and the test card. We used to make up games, slide down the stairs on tea trays, allsorts!

Also lunchtime tv - The Sullivans, Crown Court, The Lightning Tree... Such crap tv!

Frontpaw Thu 15-Nov-12 18:43:22

Open University - I loved it when I was little!

TiredBooyhoo Thu 15-Nov-12 18:46:08

my nana used to tie the playpen (outside in the garden) to the radiator (inside the living room) through the open window with the youngest dc in it. there was no bottom to the play pen so it stopped it being dragged/pushed across the garden. she also used to get the youngest 3 or 4 children ready for the day by washing them (oldest first) then tying them to the chair til the youngest was done and they were ready to leave so they didn't get dirty! i was shock when she told me but she said when you had so many you had to take desperate measures.

witchface Thu 15-Nov-12 18:48:44

Eh you know that you can find out yourself don't you? Just switch off your telly and see what you do. I had the radio on today and we read, played, did a collage.

It was a nice break from bloody dora the explorer and both me and dc were happier for it tbh.

I remember watching TV as a child, there was definitely children's TV on during the daytime, I watched PlaySchool and Sesame Street then. I also remember watching videos as a child. I am 28, so it quite a while ago.

Both my parents remember very limited TV during the 1950s.

Sorry limited children's TV - so there has been TV for children for 60 odd years now!

Tigresswoods Thu 15-Nov-12 18:54:48

My mum told me she loved putting 3 year old me in front of Playschool every lunch time & cursed when it finished. She was pregnant with twins & shattered.

1944girl Thu 15-Nov-12 18:58:32

I'm 68 and we did not have TV until I was13.
Before that we played out all day or in the house in bad weather.I was oldest of five and remember my mother chasing us outside in the dry weather, the baby was put outside the house(we had no garden) in pram and we older ones were told to keep an eye on him/her.Toddlers were put into a playpen in the house with loads of toys.
My grandparents got TV in coronation year when I was 9, so we watched it there I remember Andy Pandy, Bill and Ben, Woodetops, Muffin the Mule.

Iggly Thu 15-Nov-12 19:08:59

I'm 31 and mum was a single parent with three under 4 at one point.

She took us out a lot! Rain, snow, wind and shine.

I have a baby and toddler and consider it am achievement if I don't use tv. I go out at least once a day. Baby is 11 months now and I basically let her pull out the contents of cupboards, my handbag etc while I cook in one minute bursts. Toddler plays happily with some interaction from me.

Gone ate the days of spending more than a few minutes at a time on anything. grin

thebody Thu 15-Nov-12 19:20:22

Crown court yes,, I remember young doctors as well, me and mom used to watch it when I dossed through 6th form.

Quick look, my older kids just a bit older than yours and I lived play days, different theme each day but all good.

MrsD take your point and things have changed then. I am a TA and we have 3 statements children in our reception class each with own assigned adult. Don't remember that ad a kid, just 1 teacher per class.

I'm 34, we didn't have a TV until I was about 9.

I read a lot of books.

And fought with my brother.

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