Remember way back in the day,
Before “too much screen time” was even a thing.
Growing up as a kid in the late 80’s,
Nostalgia, as it does, setting in.
Kellogg’s cornflakes and Rice Bubbles for breakie,
Fruit loops for a special occasion.
Our toast would be cut into soldiers,
Avocado smashed wasn’t part of the equation.
You’d get to sleep in on a Sunday,
No one owned a phone to wake them with a “ping”.
Until they did which was awesome,
Snake and Tetris for the win.
Drink bottles were never compulsory,
They certainly didn’t weigh a tonne.
No one drank coffee from a takeaway cup,
This now very ordinary behaviour just wasn’t done.
We’d ride our bikes without helmets,
Without shoes and socks too for that matter.
A puffer worthy of Everest wasn’t in sight,
I don’t recall sunscreen being smothered on like butter.
Our heroes were Kieran Perkins and Thorpie,
Every household knew of their worth.
I still remember when I heard those words, “The winner is Sydney!”
Our love of sport being instilled from birth.
Everyone knew who the Waugh brothers were,
We loved it when we’d beat “those stinking Poms”.
Backyard cricket was part of our identity,
Dad yelling out “keep your eye on the ball!” – is something that in my mind still lives on.
Mum did all of our washing,
Put it in the pile – “I’ll tackle that stain”.
You wouldn’t wear it if it wasn’t ironed – boy were we cared for,
Teeth were brushed, our curls tamed.
Parties always had cheesels,
Fairy bread and oodles of lollies.
Fried China for somebody’s birthday,
Just a bunch of happy, healthy kids with full bellies.
There’d always be a sitcom on telly,
You couldn’t wait for Tuesday at 8,
“Will Joey and Dawson get together?”
Bedtimes weren’t strict – we’d stay up late.
We’d get a hot chook at Grandmas on the weekend,
Cream buns at the home of Mim and Pa.
A fresh bread roll from the Bakery round the corner,
And a box of Jatz’d do us on the way to the farm in the car.
A game could be made out of nothing,
We’d spend hours making cubbies out of this and that.
Sticks and branches from the paddocks,
We weren’t constantly nagged to “put on a hat”.
Elles Belles was obsessed with Maccas,
You couldn’t drive past a Golden Arches without going in.
Dad would religiously go for a fillet-o-fish,
Who knew anyone ever ordered such a thing.
You’d give the postman a case of Crownies at Christmas,
Everyone knew their neighbours by name.
That sense of belonging was everything,
Being part of the community was the game.
I’ve painted this picture of a time gone by,
Which was somehow simpler, not as full.
Where a two dollar coin would actually buy you something –
Ten red frogs and a Bubble O’Bill.
But for all of these good times that I’m pondering,
They didn’t just magically appear.
Without Mum and Dad who gave us everything,
These treasured memories that I hold so dear.
lo's kitchen 