Happy memories! I loved Lego (I used to make cars), the popcorn song and torville and Dean. In my younger days I used to go ice skating myself, where what I lacked in finesse was made up for by speed, and an unerring ability to knock several people down like skittles --because I never worked out how to stop.
Sounds like our skill with skating is similar. The only difference is I worked out how to stop - by running into the boards of the hockey rink we were in. 😂
Bowling people over, eh? I've met your sort before!
I didn't know you used to skate - that's really exciting - although perhaps slightly less so for the people you knocked down!
I've been ice skating a couple of times - once as a kid with my best friend who didn't care that she kept falling over, because she was having the most amazing time! I had less of a good time - not that I fell over at all, because I didn't - but only because I clung on to the side of the rink with one hand and my friend's mum's hand with the other! I think I kind of missed the point of going skating, rather!
Figure skating had a big part in my childhood as my mom was o b s e s s e d with it in the early 90s, so it was always on. Between that and my own dance classes, I would spend time listening to music, choreographing routines in my bedroom. I can only imagine what that sounded like in the room below 🫣
I never danced - well, not in public, still don’t because I have three left feet (the extra one is for the other two to trip over) - but like you I’d come up with routines in my bedroom. We’re talking 1980s here, so it was usually to Whitney Houston!
Happy, happy sigh! I have a HUGE smile on my face. My sister and I are on the phone talking to each other. We just each played Bolero - Torvill and Dean were such extraordinary skaters - I still get goosebumps. And then the Lego! My brother and his partner actually enter Lego competitions and get prizes!! What a fun read. We’ll get back to talking to each other soon, but we had to enjoy this precious post. Thanks SO much. 🤗🤗❄️❄️
Oh, how lovely, Beth - it’s made ME smile all over to think of you and your sister watching ‘Bolero’ together apart on that phone call - that’s absolutely gorgeous!
Lego competitions - wow - your brother and his partner sound brilliant! What an awesome thing to do! 🙌
Thank you for the read today. Brought back fond memories.
Although I don’t recall ever hearing the popcorn song. And full disclosure—it would have driven me nuts after the first minute!
The Lego presents for everyone was a brilliant idea! What fun!
I recall a time when my dad was getting ready to turn 38 in late March. My step mom took my three brothers and me shopping for fun and silly gag gifts for him that she knew we kids would all continue to have fun with long after the cake was gone.
Giant Bubble maker, and sling shots all around. There were a couple others but those are the ones I remember. We lived in the woods and nobody got good enough with them to hurt any birds or animals, or put out one another’s eye or two. LOL! 🤣
(Except perhaps also that I'm not sold on the fancy shmancy modern lego sets, particularly their price tag! Though my 11 year old did get one set of Baby Groot, 'off of' Guardians of the Galaxy, for Christmas, which is beyond cute) x
Thanks, Luisa! And I know what you mean about the fancy shmancy modern stuff - my childhood collection was mostly straight-edged bricks, and I didn’t really see the curved pieces that were parts of space-travel sets or aeroplanes or ocean liners of whatever as being ‘proper’ Lego!
I mean, I’m sure my brother built a Lego aeroplane once, but I’m certain it was made of actual bricks, rather than parts designed to be part of an aeroplane.
My grandchildren started playing “curling” during the last Winter Olympics in a very similar way as there was a lovely smooth straight tiled floor from the front door into the kitchen. The video they sent us caused much laughter.
Oh, that’s FANTASTIC, Helen! I’m going to try that myself with the rock I use as a doorstep next time I mop the kitchen floor (which isn’t smooth enough to be slippery unless it’s soapy). I might have to run the idea past my domestic risk assessment representative first, though. Oh, hang on, that’s me….. well, sounds like that’s definitely gonna happen, then! I’ll report back!
Clapping!!! "Solitary satisfaction of working alone in company" is the most perfect sentence I've read in 2025. Loved this, RH, all of it. Clapping still. What a wonderful, thoughtful gift for everyone in the family and how fun to work in a solitary group to put the Lego together. The ice skating bits warm my heart and make my feet itch to get back on the ice. Your school photo is ADORABLE. I now want to draw your description of being a grey triangle. May I? 😁 ⛸
"Solitary satisfaction of working alone in company" FYI Sociologist delineate six stages of children's play. Stage 4 is called parallel play, in which children play side by side, but do not engage with each other. Happens ages 2 -3. Works for adults too, apparently!
I think, for those of us long-partnered people who do not engage in a lot of TV (or whatever the more contemporary term is for screen-based shows), this is a perfect description of our evenings. 😄
Oh, how lovely - thank you, Mary! We had a lovely time with the Lego. And yes, you’re very welcome indeed to draw my description of being a grey triangle! What fun!
Hooray for your to-draw list! More clapping on this side of the pond. I also have a folder on my Mac of drawing inspiration photos. There are a few from your posts including your Jim's camper-van Advent calendar and others that I've asked if I might draw. 👏🏻
What a sweet story of connecting your gift to a childhood memory! I love solo-together times, too.
Since my ADHD diagnosis I’ve learned the concept of “body doubling,” which is doing tedious tasks alongside someone else so you both stay on mission with something unpleasant. Sometimes I Facetime my friend in another state, we’ll chat a few minutes to catch up, then we’ll quietly co-work while on the call together.
Torville and Dean. Yeow!. I have never seen ANY display on ice that was more beautiful and more steamy since that day. I believe it is the bar all other ice dancers aspire to. Thanks for bringing it back. And what a treasure that school photo is. Such an innocent, sweet face on that wee lass, though I am sure it hid more deviltry than you would admit. My childhood and my son's child hood were too early for Lego (and Barbie) so I enjoyed learning about them here. Sounds like monumental fun. I am curious to know if you and your brother have remained close as adults.
A delightful article filled with whimsy and fun. Thank you for reminding me such things still exist. You inspire me to play with my grandson's Legos. I've never played with them before. So .....!
And thank you for including that wonderful film of Torville and Dean. It was so exciting to watch that back then. It brought tears to watch it again and feel much the same joy. We were watching two people making love on the ice. Sexy and brilliantly creative. They broke barriers with that performance.
Thanks Sue! Have fun with your grandson’s Lego - that’s brilliant to hear!
Our parents took us to see Torvill and Dean at Wembley Arena, and the show was spectacular! I remember I kept asking Mum ‘when are they going to do Bolero?’ but then all of a sudden the show was over!
THEN a chant of ‘encore, encore!’ began down at the front, and spread throughout the arena. Torvill and Dean came back out onto the ice wearing enormous white cloaks which were so long they touched the ice, and the two of them were waving at the crowd.
‘Look!’ Mum said, as they took their capes off to reveal those purple ‘Bolero’ costumes. THAT’S what they danced for their encore. It was absolutely magical!
All around the arena people were holding up the back of their programmes - which showed the number 6 in white on a black background, the unanimous score from all the judges at that iconic championship performance.
Thank you for sharing that memory. It's a bright spot for me as it seems America is rolling out a red carpet for armegeddan events, one right after another. Bless you, my friend.
So good, Rebecca - and what a nice brother you have! Your quibbles sound very civilized indeed. I enjoyed Lego in a more limited way when I was young but my eldest was really Into it and spent days making the Lego Medieval castle. I swear that if I was locked in a room (with the instructions!) I could not have done that myself. I did like alternating the brick colours and lending that diagonal, vaguely Aztec effect to most of my buildings though, lol.
In our house, the most treasured pieces were the transparent ones (ooooo!) as there were only a few and could be used to represent little TVs etc. The strongest memory I have though is STEPPING on those pieces as an adult with the soft tissue of a bare foot - I used to wish that Sir James Dyson (or, you know 'Wallce') would make a magical clear Lego collector someday.
Great piece! xo P.S. And that 'Popcorn' song! Hilarious blast from the past ...
Oh Sue, thank you so much! And I love the sound of your Aztec-looking buildings. 😁
Lego has developed sooooo much since I was small, and although there were sets that one could use to build specific things the vast majority of our pieces were straight-edged building blocks. Oh, having said that, I did have a Lego ambulance - I loved the little nurse figure that was part of it - always imaginative, I called her ‘Nursey’. Her uniform was on crooked, because back in those days characters arrived plain with a separate sticker to stick on for their costume. I stuck hers on myself, and yes, it looked like a very small child had done it! 🤣
The engineering and design of some of those really complicated Star Wars (etc!) sets these days are quite extraordinary!
Another delight of a post! Brought back delicious memories of playing with my little brother as a kid. And the cork floor skating reminded me of my two doing indoor sleigh rides round the living room last Christmas with my youngest's upturned toddler rocking chair. The inventiveness of youth eh 😁
Thanks, Vicki! I LOVE the sound of those sleigh rides! I remember ‘rowing’ the empty baby bath as a twosome across the living room floor when we were very tiny - although with both of us in it it was a tight squeeze! 🤣
I'm a bit afraid to admit that I was never a Lego fan. The Popcorn song, yes. Torvill and Dean, yes. And ice skating myself, albeit wobbly and a far cry from graceful. I've actually just had a chat with my brothers, both older than me, about why I don't remember Legos factoring into our childhoods very heavily. We all three decided that perhaps my father put the kibosh on them after stepping on a stray piece. 😂
This is a fun read, Rebecca, and I loved all the deliciously nostalgic bits: You in your school uniform (I can picture that cape!), you and your brother skating around the floor, you insisting the cars should run down the middle of the road! I'm sure your family was thrilled at the joyful adventure and memories imparted by your gifts!
My brother and I grew up with Lego, too, and Lego is something I miss more than anything about my kids being young. Really loved this set you gave everyone this year. That looks like it was a lot of fun.
Happy memories! I loved Lego (I used to make cars), the popcorn song and torville and Dean. In my younger days I used to go ice skating myself, where what I lacked in finesse was made up for by speed, and an unerring ability to knock several people down like skittles --because I never worked out how to stop.
Sounds like our skill with skating is similar. The only difference is I worked out how to stop - by running into the boards of the hockey rink we were in. 😂
LOL Same here. But I envied those people who could stick their big toe down and glide to a halt. I was worried I'd go base over apex.
Base over apex! Hah! Love that. In the US we would say "ass over teakettle"
😂
I'd never heard so polite a version as Terry's 'base over apex' - I've got a rather different expression for everyday use!
You were quite obviously brought up on the wrong side of the tracks, nowhere like the rarefied environs of Shepherds Bush.
🤣
Ouchie!
Well, I for one, would like to know that expression -- if it is postable. Actually, even if it is not.
Using British English spelling, it’s a*se over t*t.
giggles
ha ha ha! I cant wait until I have a chance to use that!
I can imagine! GO FOR IT!
Bowling people over, eh? I've met your sort before!
I didn't know you used to skate - that's really exciting - although perhaps slightly less so for the people you knocked down!
I've been ice skating a couple of times - once as a kid with my best friend who didn't care that she kept falling over, because she was having the most amazing time! I had less of a good time - not that I fell over at all, because I didn't - but only because I clung on to the side of the rink with one hand and my friend's mum's hand with the other! I think I kind of missed the point of going skating, rather!
😂 It was cold though!
Another warm cup of tea with words 💕.
Figure skating had a big part in my childhood as my mom was o b s e s s e d with it in the early 90s, so it was always on. Between that and my own dance classes, I would spend time listening to music, choreographing routines in my bedroom. I can only imagine what that sounded like in the room below 🫣
Oh Bryn, that sounds absolutely idyllic!
I never danced - well, not in public, still don’t because I have three left feet (the extra one is for the other two to trip over) - but like you I’d come up with routines in my bedroom. We’re talking 1980s here, so it was usually to Whitney Houston!
The 80s are an epic soundtrack for impromptu routines!
They certainly are! I miss that kind of music!
What a brilliant idea. Lego has become for everybody now. I wonder if the towels on feet would work with the dogs, I suspect not xx
Ooooh, I’ve got SUCH brilliant visions of Humphrey and Mildred polishing your floor with their towelled paws right now, Jo! What a FANTASTIC idea!
(And after a bit of practice you might even be able to contract out their floor-cleaning services to other households? It could catch on!)
Happy, happy sigh! I have a HUGE smile on my face. My sister and I are on the phone talking to each other. We just each played Bolero - Torvill and Dean were such extraordinary skaters - I still get goosebumps. And then the Lego! My brother and his partner actually enter Lego competitions and get prizes!! What a fun read. We’ll get back to talking to each other soon, but we had to enjoy this precious post. Thanks SO much. 🤗🤗❄️❄️
Oh, how lovely, Beth - it’s made ME smile all over to think of you and your sister watching ‘Bolero’ together apart on that phone call - that’s absolutely gorgeous!
Lego competitions - wow - your brother and his partner sound brilliant! What an awesome thing to do! 🙌
Thank you for the read today. Brought back fond memories.
Although I don’t recall ever hearing the popcorn song. And full disclosure—it would have driven me nuts after the first minute!
The Lego presents for everyone was a brilliant idea! What fun!
I recall a time when my dad was getting ready to turn 38 in late March. My step mom took my three brothers and me shopping for fun and silly gag gifts for him that she knew we kids would all continue to have fun with long after the cake was gone.
LOL Gail - I think ‘Popcorn’ might be one of those love/hate kind of songs - in this case, I’m the former, you’re the latter! 🤣
I love the sound of your shopping trip for your dad - can you remember the gifts you’d got for him? What a lovely idea!
Giant Bubble maker, and sling shots all around. There were a couple others but those are the ones I remember. We lived in the woods and nobody got good enough with them to hurt any birds or animals, or put out one another’s eye or two. LOL! 🤣
Oh wow, such fun! 🤩
That snap of your school uniform is adorable and so is the description of your floor skate! Thanks for the mention.
Aww, thank you Amie!
Lego is awesome. That is all.
(Except perhaps also that I'm not sold on the fancy shmancy modern lego sets, particularly their price tag! Though my 11 year old did get one set of Baby Groot, 'off of' Guardians of the Galaxy, for Christmas, which is beyond cute) x
Thanks, Luisa! And I know what you mean about the fancy shmancy modern stuff - my childhood collection was mostly straight-edged bricks, and I didn’t really see the curved pieces that were parts of space-travel sets or aeroplanes or ocean liners of whatever as being ‘proper’ Lego!
I mean, I’m sure my brother built a Lego aeroplane once, but I’m certain it was made of actual bricks, rather than parts designed to be part of an aeroplane.
My grandchildren started playing “curling” during the last Winter Olympics in a very similar way as there was a lovely smooth straight tiled floor from the front door into the kitchen. The video they sent us caused much laughter.
Oh, that’s FANTASTIC, Helen! I’m going to try that myself with the rock I use as a doorstep next time I mop the kitchen floor (which isn’t smooth enough to be slippery unless it’s soapy). I might have to run the idea past my domestic risk assessment representative first, though. Oh, hang on, that’s me….. well, sounds like that’s definitely gonna happen, then! I’ll report back!
I look forward to your report!
Clapping!!! "Solitary satisfaction of working alone in company" is the most perfect sentence I've read in 2025. Loved this, RH, all of it. Clapping still. What a wonderful, thoughtful gift for everyone in the family and how fun to work in a solitary group to put the Lego together. The ice skating bits warm my heart and make my feet itch to get back on the ice. Your school photo is ADORABLE. I now want to draw your description of being a grey triangle. May I? 😁 ⛸
"Solitary satisfaction of working alone in company" FYI Sociologist delineate six stages of children's play. Stage 4 is called parallel play, in which children play side by side, but do not engage with each other. Happens ages 2 -3. Works for adults too, apparently!
Love this, Sharron. It totally works for THIS adult. 😁
And for me! 🙌
Oh Sharron, thank you so much for this insight - that’s absolutely fascinating!
I think, for those of us long-partnered people who do not engage in a lot of TV (or whatever the more contemporary term is for screen-based shows), this is a perfect description of our evenings. 😄
Oh, how lovely - thank you, Mary! We had a lovely time with the Lego. And yes, you’re very welcome indeed to draw my description of being a grey triangle! What fun!
You’re welcome, and the grey triangle is on my week’s to-draw list. 😃
You have a to-draw list! That’s fantastic!!! I’m starting my own list RIGHT NOW! 🙌
Hooray for your to-draw list! More clapping on this side of the pond. I also have a folder on my Mac of drawing inspiration photos. There are a few from your posts including your Jim's camper-van Advent calendar and others that I've asked if I might draw. 👏🏻
What a sweet story of connecting your gift to a childhood memory! I love solo-together times, too.
Since my ADHD diagnosis I’ve learned the concept of “body doubling,” which is doing tedious tasks alongside someone else so you both stay on mission with something unpleasant. Sometimes I Facetime my friend in another state, we’ll chat a few minutes to catch up, then we’ll quietly co-work while on the call together.
Aww, thank you! And body doubling sounds like an ingenious move, Jen! I’ll remember that.
Torville and Dean. Yeow!. I have never seen ANY display on ice that was more beautiful and more steamy since that day. I believe it is the bar all other ice dancers aspire to. Thanks for bringing it back. And what a treasure that school photo is. Such an innocent, sweet face on that wee lass, though I am sure it hid more deviltry than you would admit. My childhood and my son's child hood were too early for Lego (and Barbie) so I enjoyed learning about them here. Sounds like monumental fun. I am curious to know if you and your brother have remained close as adults.
I wonder which I was really, Sharron, out of those adjectives - innocent, sweet or devilish? Like all little girls I was probably a mixture!
We’re still close - I’m very lucky. x
A delightful article filled with whimsy and fun. Thank you for reminding me such things still exist. You inspire me to play with my grandson's Legos. I've never played with them before. So .....!
And thank you for including that wonderful film of Torville and Dean. It was so exciting to watch that back then. It brought tears to watch it again and feel much the same joy. We were watching two people making love on the ice. Sexy and brilliantly creative. They broke barriers with that performance.
Thanks Sue! Have fun with your grandson’s Lego - that’s brilliant to hear!
Our parents took us to see Torvill and Dean at Wembley Arena, and the show was spectacular! I remember I kept asking Mum ‘when are they going to do Bolero?’ but then all of a sudden the show was over!
THEN a chant of ‘encore, encore!’ began down at the front, and spread throughout the arena. Torvill and Dean came back out onto the ice wearing enormous white cloaks which were so long they touched the ice, and the two of them were waving at the crowd.
‘Look!’ Mum said, as they took their capes off to reveal those purple ‘Bolero’ costumes. THAT’S what they danced for their encore. It was absolutely magical!
All around the arena people were holding up the back of their programmes - which showed the number 6 in white on a black background, the unanimous score from all the judges at that iconic championship performance.
(And now I’ve got goosepimples!) Happy memories!
Thank you for sharing that memory. It's a bright spot for me as it seems America is rolling out a red carpet for armegeddan events, one right after another. Bless you, my friend.
It's looking ever so scary over there, Sue, from the news pictures we’re seeing. Hope everyone you love is safe. xxx
Luckily, I don't know anyone personally who lives in SoCal, but many around me do. The psychological cloud spreads wide.
So good, Rebecca - and what a nice brother you have! Your quibbles sound very civilized indeed. I enjoyed Lego in a more limited way when I was young but my eldest was really Into it and spent days making the Lego Medieval castle. I swear that if I was locked in a room (with the instructions!) I could not have done that myself. I did like alternating the brick colours and lending that diagonal, vaguely Aztec effect to most of my buildings though, lol.
In our house, the most treasured pieces were the transparent ones (ooooo!) as there were only a few and could be used to represent little TVs etc. The strongest memory I have though is STEPPING on those pieces as an adult with the soft tissue of a bare foot - I used to wish that Sir James Dyson (or, you know 'Wallce') would make a magical clear Lego collector someday.
Great piece! xo P.S. And that 'Popcorn' song! Hilarious blast from the past ...
Oh Sue, thank you so much! And I love the sound of your Aztec-looking buildings. 😁
Lego has developed sooooo much since I was small, and although there were sets that one could use to build specific things the vast majority of our pieces were straight-edged building blocks. Oh, having said that, I did have a Lego ambulance - I loved the little nurse figure that was part of it - always imaginative, I called her ‘Nursey’. Her uniform was on crooked, because back in those days characters arrived plain with a separate sticker to stick on for their costume. I stuck hers on myself, and yes, it looked like a very small child had done it! 🤣
The engineering and design of some of those really complicated Star Wars (etc!) sets these days are quite extraordinary!
'Nursey' lol. So sweet!
Another delight of a post! Brought back delicious memories of playing with my little brother as a kid. And the cork floor skating reminded me of my two doing indoor sleigh rides round the living room last Christmas with my youngest's upturned toddler rocking chair. The inventiveness of youth eh 😁
Thanks, Vicki! I LOVE the sound of those sleigh rides! I remember ‘rowing’ the empty baby bath as a twosome across the living room floor when we were very tiny - although with both of us in it it was a tight squeeze! 🤣
I'm a bit afraid to admit that I was never a Lego fan. The Popcorn song, yes. Torvill and Dean, yes. And ice skating myself, albeit wobbly and a far cry from graceful. I've actually just had a chat with my brothers, both older than me, about why I don't remember Legos factoring into our childhoods very heavily. We all three decided that perhaps my father put the kibosh on them after stepping on a stray piece. 😂
This is a fun read, Rebecca, and I loved all the deliciously nostalgic bits: You in your school uniform (I can picture that cape!), you and your brother skating around the floor, you insisting the cars should run down the middle of the road! I'm sure your family was thrilled at the joyful adventure and memories imparted by your gifts!
Ah yes, I read somewhere once that stepping on a Lego brick in the dark is above the pain threshold of any parent!
Can’t be as bad as an upturned three-pin plug, though! I speak from experience….. 🤣
Ouch!!!
🤣
My brother and I grew up with Lego, too, and Lego is something I miss more than anything about my kids being young. Really loved this set you gave everyone this year. That looks like it was a lot of fun.
It was such fun, Amy! I wish we still had our big old laundry bag of Lego - it would be brilliant to rummage through it again now!