There are some things that are just better as a child. As an adult? Not so fun.
1) Getting post
As a child, getting post was one of the best things that could ever happen to you. The whole process was shrouded in joy and mystery. Who was the post from? You would rack your brains as your ripped open the envelope, had you you sent away tokens for anything? Could it be that signed photo of Mark Owen that you'd desperately begged for or better still, a hand written letter from the man himself? For most of us, the majority of childhood post came from penpals, people you'd met on holidays, hung around with for a week and vowed to be friends with forever. Are you still friends with them? No. And, now you've grown up, the postal system is no longer the source of excitement it once was. You probably get at least three pieces of post a day; a heady cocktail of a bill, a statement and letter from the supermarket with a 1c voucher. Thanks lads.
2) Having an inhaler / glasses / a cast
You may not want to admit it but when you were younger, you definitely wanted one of these items. Naturally, as an adult, you thank your lucky stars when you fall and manage to escape unscathed and are delighted to have good eyes. But, when you were in school, you'd curse your perfect vision as everyone in class gathered around Patrick and his cool new glasses. Like, Patrick and his new glasses even made 'My News'. Obviously, there's nothing cool about falling and breaking your arm but 90% of kids would give their left arm (literally) to get a cast so everyone could sign it.
3) Getting fitted for shoes
Remember the funny fitting contraption that you'd put your feet into in a shoe shop? That was definitely cooler than just 'knowing your size' as an adult. And, just while we are at it, if you are a woman of a certain age, you will remember the novelty of getting the special 'Secret Key' princess shoes from Clarks. Amazing.
4) The washing up liquid bottle
For some strange reason, the elusive washing up liquid bottle was the essential 'Art and Craft' tool. You couldn't make anything without one. You'd be mithering your poor Mother for weeks to hurry up and finish with it so that you could make some ridiculous boat shaped item you saw on Art Attack, that never actually worked. Either that or you wanted to have a water fight with your homemade Super Soaker.
5) Cereal toys
It's a wonder you have any teeth left after the amount of 'Honey Nut Loops' that were consumed to get a the 'special singing toy'. I can't actually remember what these were called but, you had to save up tokens for them and they came in a parcel to the house so, they combined two novelties in one. You'd be eating cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Obviously, we can't forget the Kelloggs bicycle reflectors. Everyone had them. EVERYONE. The shopping would be brought in from the car and before anyone had a chance to do anything, you'd have your sleeve rolled up, half way down the packet of cereal, searching for the toy before your brother got his grubby little mitts on it.
