Throwback Thursdays: I Am Crabstix

It’s that time of week where it can only mean one thing; it’s time for our Throwback Thursdays series! Each week, you’ll be able to find more about the childhoods of some of the very best parenting bloggers; their treasured memories and best bits, even how their own upbringing has affected their parenting style. So settle down and get comfy, it’s time to take a trip down memory lane.

This Throwback Thursday, I’m joined by Nicola from I Am Crabstix. I’m super happy to have Nic on the blog as not only is she a brilliant writer, she also happens to be one of the nicest people I know. I Am Crabstix features her gorgeous little boy RLT as she documents their lives together ready to remind (and embarrass) him when he’s all grown up. A full-time working mama, Nicola can be relied upon to give an honest, and often hilarious, take on events, even if she has less time to do so now. Thankfully she’s managed to squeeze us in as she shares her childhood and even indulges in a little therapy session!

Hiiii, I’m Nicola Crabstix (obvs this is just my superhero name, not my real one)…

I’m from the North East and I live with my partner Mark, our little boy RLT who is currently nine months old and our cat Orla Kitty. I enjoy being as sloth-like as possible as I miss sleep soooo much. I am also obsessed with the designer Orla Kiely, hence my cat’s name. I grew up in County Durham with my mum, dad and little brother Fuzz Nut (I have never called him his real name, Darren, as I have never liked it). Fuzz Nut is 19 months younger than me and was always very popular as he was good at football. So I had a tendency to play football with him and his friends rather than try and make any of my own.

My earliest memory is…

Playing in the back yard (Victorian terraced house = no garden), and my dog got her collar caught on our gate. It was a wrought iron gate and had lots of fancy swirls on it, not at all practical for a dog who liked to poke her head through and bark at passers-by. She was yelping and struggling, so I ran in the house to get some scissors to cut it off. When I got back our neighbour had somehow managed to slip the collar over our dog’s head. I must have been about six at the time.

My Throwback Thursday photo…

I remember I was at my mum’s friend’s house, again aged about six, and her husband had a really swanky camera – I’d never seen an SLR before! They sent us this photo a few years later – it was only then I realised my mother must have cut my fringe! It is soooo wonky!

The best bit of growing up…

I loved the friends I had on the street where I grew up. We had a recreation field opposite our street, so we all met there all of the time. It was great. We moved when I was 11, so I lost touch with them all for years. I hated high school – I got bullied by three different girls during my time there. They just took an instant dislike to me. One of them joined the school in the fourth year, I got asked to show her round, make her feel welcome and she became vile to me after that. I didn’t speak when she was around, because she would mimic me, intimidate me in front of the class and just generally suck every bit of confidence I had. I recently saw an article about her in the Daily Mail as she had been found guilty of benefit fraud due to Facebook pictures of her at raves whilst claiming incapacity benefit.. I’ll leave it there!

I want my child to experience…

Being outdoors as much as possible, doing things as a family, enjoying music and being allowed to try every hobby going (dancing, brownies, keyboard lessons, piano lessons etc).

My parents both worked full-time when I was growing up and as they were such young parents, this meant I had young grandparents who also worked. Because of this we had to go to childminders – our first childminder was brilliant (parent blogger Nomadidaddy’s mum, actually!) and we had a great time, but she started teacher training, which meant she couldn’t look after us anymore. The next childminder was an absolute monster, this woman petrifies me to this day, she hates kids and she is just the most negative, nasty person I have ever met in my life. I dreaded going to her house, she used to give my brother and I different biscuits to her kids – we’d get soggy, horrible cheap ones and they’d get nice ones – she made us feel like we were a chore and an inconvenience.

I hated her but I never felt I could tell my mum the things she did and said, she’d always find out if I did say anything about what went on at her house and it was always ‘a little dicky bird’ that told her. To this day I hate birds! Basically, to cut this therapy session short – this woman now runs a very successful private day care nursery and this is why I will never send my baby to nursery – because this nursery is the only one where we live!

It’s harder growing up these days…

Much harder. Things were quite simple in the 80s and the 90s in comparison. Cyber bullying is 24/7 and the online support groups for eating disorders, inciting racial hatred and other pressure groups are relentless and target young, impressionable people. I was anxious back then, I literally would be a wreck if I was growing up now.

If I could be any age, I’d be…

16, just started college, got a great social life and finally a group of friends…. But I don’t like who I was then. I’d go back and be less of a divvy.

Thanks Nic for joining us and sharing your memories! If you’d like to keep up with her and RLT’s adventures, you can find them on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to her blog; I Am Crabstix.