I don't for the life of me know why or how this started but when I was little I had his weird obsession with having to eat my breakfast the minute I opened my eyes in the morning. I would wake up and go along the hallway to mum and dads bedroom who were both fast asleep snoring. Not much could usually wake either of them up when they were in a deep sleep.
So I would go downstairs and get a chair from the kitchen and use it to stand on so that I could reach to open the latch on the front door. I would be dressed in my pajamas and would throw on my Paddington Bear-style duffle coat and wellies and then I would proceed to wander over to my grandma's (mum's mum) who lived across the street from us on Arden Street in Chadderton. I would then bang on the door to wake up my Grandmas (by all accounts this could be anything from 5-7am). I would be complaining that my mum and dad weren't awake yet and I wanted my breakfast. My poor grandma still dressed in her nightie and wiping the sleep from her eyes would have to make me something to eat.
When it started to become a regular thing my grandma would march me back over to my house after feeding me and wake my mum up shouting "Carole, he's done it again, you're going to have to sort this". Eventually, they had to put a bolt on the outside of my bedroom door so that once I was tucked up in bed I had to stay in bed in the morning until a sensible time when they would get up and make me something to eat.
In order to pacify me though before my dad left for his shift at the railway (he used to work nights sometimes) he would leave a Tupperware bowl with some dry cornflakes in with sugar on) and a separate Tupperware beaker with milk in, both with lids on. Then as soon as I opened my eyes I would pour the milk onto my cereal and eat them and then go back to sleep. Oh and I swear those two pics are the ACTUAL Tupperware my dad used to leave next to my bed lol.
When I was old enough to reach everything in the kitchen cupboards myself, they no longer needed the bolt on my door as I could just get up and make some cereal myself. Often once it got to about Thursday there would be no cereal left as everybody did their 'big shop' on a Friday. So I had figured out that if I got a load of biscuits from the biscuit barrel (they were usually the ones that weren't so popular like digestives or Nice by that point in the week) I could put them in a bowl and cover them in milk. After a few minutes, they would start to absorb the milk and I could crush them up with a spoon and make my own version of Farleys rusk lol. I loved Farleys rusk and still now and again buy a packet if I see them when I'm food shopping :-)
Even as I got a little older I still really enjoyed my breakfast. When my mum used to work at a factory called Delta, across the playing field, with some of the other neighbours, she used to take me across to Mrs Campkin's over the street. She would look after me and another lad (who's name escapes me). Once we were both there she would make us both a bowl of Ready Brek. This was long before semi-skimmed milk and microwaves, so it was freshly delivered sterilised milk with a metal bottle top or if you were lucky full fat pasteurised milk with a foil top. I'm not sure what the difference in the two milks was apart from the fact you could leave Stera (as it was affectionately known) out on the side and it wouldn't go off but pasteurised had to be kept in the fridge.
Ready Brek was my favourite cereal as it was always nice to warm you up on a cold morning. It was advertised as central heating for kids back in the day and it definitely left you warm inside.
I always remember Mrs Campkin made it perfectly because she would boil the milk in a pan first and pour into a bowl then gradually add the Ready Brek until it was thick enough. She would then top it with a crust of sugar so you got a hit of sweetness with every spoonful. When my dad would make it he would tip the milled oats into a bowl then add milk and stir and it always ended up lumpy and I would end up with big blobs of the cereal all clumped together. Not at all the smooth delight Mrs C made.
Whenever I have a bowl of Ready Brek or Farleys Rusk it always brings about a sense of nostalgia and takes me back to my childhood, which I loved I might add. When I look back, everything was much simpler then and kids could be kids and spent their time "Playing Out" we didn't have this pressure to grow up before our time. There were no mobile phones, no Instagram filters, no Facebook or WhatsApp groups. If you wanted to know what someone did at the weekend, you either had to be there or listen to them tell you the story themselves.
As much as I love how technology is able to move on so rapidly and help make our lives easier, I am so glad I was probably one of the last generations to have a proper childhood.
I wouldn't like to be a child growing up and navigating this new world we live in.
If you grew up in the 80's and this post brings back some good memories, you can read more of my childhood memories on the link below:-
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