From the 80s/early 90s? This kid (cant remember of it was a boy or girl…possibly siblings) would somehow time travel back to when their parents were his/her age, the 1950s I think. They would wake up in a house where the owners were away so they could stay there while back in time. It was winter.
“A Handful of Time” by Kit Pearson. A shy girl, Patricia, goes to her rowdy cousins’ lake cabin for the summer while her parents work out a separation. She’s so meek that her cousins pick on her – even the 6-year-old. She’s miserable until she finds a pocketwatch from 1921 left under the floorboards – inscribed to her grandmother from her late fiancé. Patricia finds that winding the watch takes her back in time to her mother’s youth. She is fascinated by her mother as a girl and comes to understand why she’s so cold now, as her family had tried to break her of her rebellious, “unladylike” spirit. Patricia is far more comfortable in the past because no one can see her; she merely observes, and learns about her family. She watches her mother paddle a canoe and, when she comes back to the present, impresses her cousins with her newfound skills. Same with fishing, astronomy, etc. She soon becomes more confident and adventurous in the present and her cousins come to embrace her.
The only part I recognize is the children going back in time to see their (young) parents, in Edward Eager’s Magic By the Lake/The Time Garden of the Magic series. in the 1920s Martha, Jane, Mark & Katherine have an adventure on a desert island, only to be captured by cannibals and tied to poles. They are rescued by Martha & Katherine’s future children Eliza, Roger, Jack & Ann, from the 1950s, who’ve gone exploring the past on an adventure of their own. Each book tells a different side of the story, first the captured children’s, and then their descendants’. Long shot, but if the time-travelers did meet their parents it’s possible. Hope this helps.
It’s About Time by Bernal C. Payne (also known as Trapped In Time) was published in the 80’s and is about a brother and sister who go back in time to when their parents were teenagers in the 50’s. I think they even stay in an abandoned house and I remember a Christmas scene so it must’ve also been winter.
Oh my gosh, Kristen!! That’s it 🙂
The title doesn’t sound familiar but I googled an image of the cover and that’s it, for sure. Thanks so much! Been having fun rereading a bunch of these 80s classics, lol!