"childhood home"

I asked my younger son yesterday if he'd like to hold onto this house after my death. "Yeah," he replied tersely, "it's my childhood home." From there I went on to encourage him, if this were really his wish, to keep an eye on things -- bushes, structures etc. -- to make sure they didn't wear out and collapse.

A "childhood home." What does that mean? I guess it means a place in which the circumstances felt more or less safe and stable. I never had such a thing, so I rolled it around in my mind. How nice it would be to feel safe. Not go hungry. Supported to the extent possible. A part and parcel with the surroundings. And perhaps feel entitled and as if nothing really had to be done in order that such a safety net might remain in place.

Is a childhood home, ipso facto, another version of Santa Claus -- a fairy with a magic wand? What kid would feel otherwise since this waxing being is a blank slate on which habits and rules were written?

A childhood home.