Today at the group we looked at fun things that made us happy in childhood. These discussions became very reflective off people’s lives. While some group members had not had the happiest of childhoods they were still able to recount things that made them feel happy or good about themselves. Having these positive things in amongst the sad times undoubtedly helped them get through the hard times from childhood. It felt like it gave them a glimmer of hope in their dark unhappy early years and showed them that there was another way they could enjoy their life and feel loved. Some of the happy memories included; going to adventure camp, playing British bull dogs, staying with relatives and going on day trips. There was also some rebellious behaviour in childhood, taking part in games such as ‘Tap door run’ and ‘Garden run’ which people brought up in Edinburgh of a certain era will be familiar with! Favourite films/ TV programmes from childhood included; Banana Splitz, Penelope Pitstop, Clint Eastwood, Laurel and Hardy, snooker (on a black and white TV), The pink panther and Top cat to name a few. I think what most people took away from today was they now had more of an awareness of the fuller picture from their childhoods and realised how the happy experiences made the many hard times at home just that bit more bearable.
