As thousands of children face the annual ‘back to school’ trek this, we started thinking about our own primary school memories. From the scratchy school jumpers to the milk deliveries, it was a different time….
Itchy jumpers
Jumpers are traditionally made from wool however; there was no way that those school jumpers were made from the wool of a sheep. Unless the sheep were some kind of mad, wire-haired hybrids. Those geansaís were like brillo pads with sleeves and they caused (and continue to cause) Irish children across the country a lot of strife.
Squashed packed lunch and the impossible Capri sun
Can we spare a thought for our poor, worn out parents who would stay up extra late or get up extra early to create some kind of culinary masterpiece, in the form of a cheese sandwich, a petit filous and a Capri-Sun that we could take to school and munch on. We’d spend the entire little break trying to get the bloody straw into the Capri-Sun and the soggy sandwiches would end up squashed at the end of our school bags. This was until of course, we discovered the ‘suitcase lunchbox’ which had the ability to make any child feel like a young business person.
MS Readathon
Every June, we’d head off for eight weeks of holidays, armed with a library card and a form for the MS Readathon. The mission was to read as many books as possible over the summer to raise money for the MS Readathon. Yes, it was for a great cause but if we’re all honest with each other, we had our eyes firmly set on the special edition MS Readathon yo-yo / walkman / ghetto blaster.
New stationary
It was all so fresh and so new. Don’t forget that it was scientifically easier to write with new pencils and rub quicker with a new rubber. These facts have been proven. Cough.
Getting milk
Getting fresh milk delivered straight to your desk was a massive novelty in school. For most of us, it was just the run of the mill milk but for some lucky sods, there was strawberry milk or……..even chocolate milk. CHOCOLATE MILK!
