My father was brilliant at woodwork, my grandmother made magic with knitting needles and my uncle spent hours in his workshop making wooden children's toys or tinkering on his Ford Escort.
I even tried my hand at model building and welding, but my 10 thumbs put an end to that until I was older and realised I was reasonably deft behind the wheel of a 4x4 or on a racetrack.
There was a time when having a hobby was part of everyday life.
People collected stamps, painted, built model aeroplanes, knitted, fished, baked, repaired old radios or spent Saturday mornings working on a car in the garage.
Hobbies were not necessarily about achieving anything. They were things people did because they enjoyed doing them.
Modern life has become increasingly busy, with work, family responsibilities, social media and the constant pressure to be productive filling much of our day.
But there are signs that hobbies are making a comeback.
The interesting thing is that hobbies haven't necessarily “come back” because people suddenly have more free time. In many ways, the opposite is true. They are becoming attractive because modern life has become so dominated by work, screens, consumption and measurable productivity, that there is something quietly appealing about doing something simply because you enjoy it, without needing it to be useful, profitable or productive..
Making time for something we enjoy
The renewed interest isn't necessarily about taking up an unusual pastime.
For many people it is about returning to something they enjoyed when they were younger or discovering an activity they never had time for before.
It might be restoring an old car, photography, fishing, painting, woodworking, playing an instrument or building model cars and aircraft.
Julian Bishop, owner of Jix Hobbies in Pretoria East, says the store has seen an increase in new customers, although he points out that its experience is not necessarily representative of the wider hobby industry.
"We have seen an increase in new customers, but we are an anomaly. Nationwide hobby stores have been shutting their doors, but we have managed to see an uptake in hobby interests," he says.
What has changed, however, is the type of hobby people are pursuing.
Traditional hobbies such as radio-controlled aircraft and model railways have declined internationally, Bishop says, while gaming has become a major part of the hobby market.
Tabletop games such as Warhammer 40K and Bolt Action, trading card games including Pokémon, Star Wars Unlimited and Magic: The Gathering, as well as LEGO and other building systems, have all found an audience.
Hobbies have gone digital too
The return of the hobby doesn't mean returning to everything the way it was.
Some of today's hobbies exist partly or entirely online, while others combine the digital and physical worlds.
Dungeons & Dragons, once regarded as a niche pastime played around a table by a small group of enthusiasts, has found a much wider audience, including younger players and people who participate through online platforms.
Gaming has developed in much the same way.
PlayStation, Xbox and PC gaming are no longer necessarily solitary activities. Online gaming has created communities in which people regularly play together, communicate and form friendships.
When I get a message from my son at university, it is inevitably to tell me that there is a PlayStation game he's had his eye on and it's on sale.
To me it's like a frisbee flying over a fat Labrador's head, but he spends hours, and sometimes weekends, with his friends both physically and virtually playing whatever it is they play, including Dungeons & Dragons.
The first time I witnessed them playing at school, it looked a bit like my mates and I sitting in the pub shooting the breeze, but apparently, players working together as heroes in a fantasy world is perfectly normal.
Bishop says digital gaming has not necessarily harmed traditional hobbies.
"People who are in the hobby use digital as a tool, but that is not to say that by using the digital tools that creates more hobbyists," he says.
Digital tools can support physical hobbies. Some tabletop gaming systems have apps containing cards and other game elements, while digital simulators allow players to try games before playing them in real life.
There are also local gaming communities and LAN events where players bring their computers or consoles together and spend hours playing in the same physical space.
Something for every generation
There is also an interesting element of nostalgia behind the return of some hobbies.
Bishop says adults regularly come into the store looking to reconnect with interests they had as children.
"Many adults come into the store with a sense of nostalgia and want to rekindle that childhood enthusiasm and want their kids to become involved in the scene."
That can turn a hobby into something shared across generations.
A grandfather teaching a grandchild how to fish, a parent showing a child how to work on a bicycle or a teenager teaching a parent how to use a camera can all turn an activity into something more meaningful.
Young people, however, appear to be leaning towards more game-oriented hobbies.
"Young adults and teens lean towards more game-oriented types of hobbies," Bishop says.
He points to trading card games and skirmish-style board games such as Unmatched, particularly in stores that offer leagues and competitive play.
"Competitive gaming has become a popular trend," he says, pointing out that younger people seem less inclined towards traditional build-and-paint model kits or radio-controlled construction kits.
In South Africa, there is no shortage of activities that lend themselves to different generations. Fishing remains popular, as do model-building clubs, photography groups, classic-car clubs and various forms of craft.
The value of being a beginner
Another attraction of hobbies is that they allow people to be beginners.
Taking up something new means it is perfectly acceptable to make mistakes.
The first game of Dungeons & Dragons may involve trying to understand a complicated set of rules and wondering what a 20-sided die is for.
The first model or figurine you put together and paint may look like a toddler let loose with a brush.
But part of the enjoyment is seeing yourself improve and become more adept at what you do.
There is no deadline and there doesn't have to be a financial reward at the end of it.
At a time when so much of life is measured in productivity, hobbies offer an opportunity to do something simply because we enjoy doing it.
The hobby industry itself is changing in unexpected ways.
For Bishop, one of the most surprising recent trends has been the popularity of blind-box products, collectibles sold in sealed packaging where the buyer does not know what is inside.
"You're paying money for a box or packet of a product that you don't know what's inside, but it might be cool. It's a total gamble but it seems that anything you wrap as a 'mystery' product sells like hotcakes," he says.
Hobbies may look different from the ones our parents and grandparents enjoyed, but the basic idea remains the same.
willem.vdputte@nationalmg.co.za