7UP childhood memories

There is nothing like reminiscing of days gone by, when things seemed far better than they actually were. Along with 7UP Free, we are going to have a reminder of those childhood memories.

In association with our friends at 7UP Fee and also because we are feeling a little nostalgic, JOE brings you 7UP Free Childhood Memories, and if this doesn’t stir the inner child in you, then nothing will. Enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Bedtime according to television programmes

One of the great things about having so few television channels back in the day, from a parent’s perspective at least, was that certain programmes signified different things. If you had a good week, then you could watch the whole Late Late Show on a Friday, though how he was ‘Uncle Gaybo’ and not a family member was more than a little confusing.

Glenroe on Sunday night’s was another important programme for children of the 90s. The homework had to be complete by the start of the programme, while the closing credits brought nothing but sadness with bedtime imminent with school on Monday morning.

Irish College

The great ‘getaway’ of an Irish adolescent was that three week trip to the Ghaeltacht to speak as Gaeilge. The fear of not being able to speak in a language we had in theory been learning for the bones of a decade was deeply entrenched before the step into the unknown.

Parents were happy as it gave them a three week-break and their child was going to be ‘immersed in their native language’, which could only help them down the line, while teachers felt it would help their spoken Irish no end.

And for the students themselves, it was all about the craic, finding out what that ‘shift’ business was all about.

Birthday Cards

It says a lot about our childhood and the generosity shown at birthdays that there can be few adults in the country that don’t open a card in the feint hope that a note will fall out.

There was no greater thrill than ripping open the card, not reading a single word of the card, or even find out who it was from, before checking how much lay inside. And then using all adolescent business acumen to calculate how many sweets and chocolate bars it could buy you.

Being warned to be on good behaviour at Mass

While the numbers going to Mass has fallen hugely in recent years, way back when, Mass was the biggest playground any child could have. The only difference being you were wearing better clothes and you had a family member warning you to be good, before and after going into the church.

Being good resulted in praise being lavished in your direction, which only now can we appreciate was for the purposes of taunting a sibling, while if you were in the bad house, then you knew all about it. For at least the following five minutes anyway.