[QUOTE=nwm50;7165378]Waiting outside on a certain day for the produce man to come by in his wagon to get favorite Ga peaches or veggies! ...

This brings up memory of the Helms Bakery Truck coming through the neighborhood with all the drawers containing delicious goodies :thumbup:

OMG! we had an outhouse at the summer cottage when we first moved in and I was so scared to go out in the woods at night to it! All spidery! I was only 4 or 5 probably and my dad would walk me out there with a flashlight. I don't think that is one I want to share!

It's a great question. Some of my most precious memories from my early childhood are learning piano in the basement on the old clunker with my grandmother, or cozy and warm reading in her sitting room on a rainy afternoon, or listening to her stories about her life as a young girl in England.

My kids don't have grandparents because we married late and our parents were not young when they gave birth to us, so they never really knew what it was like to have that special kind of loving connection to the previous generations. I have to reinforce it by sharing the stories, and reminding them 'this sofa your great-grandma bought when she came to the US', or 'this knitting bag with the needles is what she made socks with for the British soldiers in the Great War', or 'this letter came from her cousin and it is blacked out because of the censor' and so on.

I thought about this a lot and I think most of my best memories are smells. The smell of my horse (the most wonderful smell in the world), the smell of a leather saddle, the fresh mowed hay/grass. The smell in the air at sunrise especially when you are traveling, the dew on the grass. The smell of the earth after it rains. The freshly washed sheets, the smell of supper cooking on a cold winter evening. These smells are my happy place.

I would want them to have memories of my grandparents. One set of immigrant grandparents and their culture and one set that were very talented / knowledgable in sewing, repairing, and good old common sense!

[QUOTE=klutzyquilter;7166545]My own children remember the produce wagon coming around, but they never experienced getting a chunk of ice from the ice man on delivery day, especially on a hot summer day. That was in the early 40's when ice boxes were for use, not as a antique !! Another memory is going with dad to buy fertilized eggs and an incubator so he could raise his own chickens. It was so much fun playing with baby chicks being raised in the basement!! Watching him wring the old hens neck and then running when it went flopping around the yard.And sitting on the top of the ice cream freezer, while everyone had a turn at cranking; waiting for that first bit that oozed out and hearing dad say, "go get a bowl and spoon!!

You gals have mentioned many of the same ones I have. How about free shows once a week, horses instead of tractors, "putting up" hay and playing in the barn in it, riding bikes, mowing lawn with a push reel mower, feeding chickens and milking cows by hand, party line telephones, country schools.
I really started something with my grandchildren when I cared for them when parents were gone for one reason or another. I told them if they were ready for bed and brushed their teeth in 5 minutes they would each get a foot rub, or back rub. To this day they all love this. The youngest who is now 13 still loves it and says "stories grandma". I tell him about when my sister and I grew up.
I learned to roller skate, loved it, and in the early 60's when we had just begun to earn money and had jobs we would skate 3-4 times a week. got really good at it. BUT for 30 years I had not been skating - our church rented the local rink and I got out my skates. Had a great time. 2 weeks later took 2 of my grandchildren skating. they loved it. And I did not fall ! Will see if I can go more often so I get good again. age 75 not so bad??? I sold my french horn to help pay for college. Sorry I did that so I rented one for 2 months. I have forgotten the fingerings so decided I would rather use my time quilting than learning the french horn over again !

Being able to play with my sister and friends outsides without worries, and sleeping on a blanket on the porch with them in the summer. Great time to remember. Not today.

We still do this every night with our daughter and granddaughter, even on "fast food" nights!

Love all the replies.....touching memories ....wish we had a way of transferring the reality of the moment....seems the overwhelming desire regardless of the memory would be to give them the feeling of safeness sadly lacking today. Makes me wonder what they would give to their grandchildren when they are in their older years. Thanks for all the replies and wonderful things shared!

Freedom to roam, odd jobs in the neighbourhood and building relationships with elders in our community, learning about plants/animals, learning to be resourceful. In some respects, my childhood and that of my only full sibling were memorable, but not in a good way, so those we will not pass on. We will/have passed on, all people are equal and there is no superior gender/race and being a good human being is more important than all the bells and whistles in the world.