30 Things We Miss From Childhood
Urgh, growing-up. It’s tough, isn’t it?
Remember that episode of the Rugrats where Angelica perfectly summed it all up perfectly.
“Yeah i’ve got responsibilities now”
“Sponserberleries?”
“Yeah, that means i’m not allowed to have any fun anymore for the rest of my life”
We feel you Angelica.
We know there’s a lot of fun to be had in being an adult, like being able to reach the top shelf, no bed time, bachelor parties and good coffee.. but there’s also a bunch of things that suck... like taxes and people tagging you in bad Facebook photos from 2008.
At the time growing up seemed like the hardest thing in the world. Then it got good for a few years, but then you hit 26 and were like “wait, am I supposed to have this all figured out?” Don’t worry. No-one ever truly figures it out.
You’re probably procrastinating from work as you read this right now (good for you, you little rule breaker) so let’s take a trip down memory lane of all the awesome things you miss from the days of growing up.
Let’s go!
Friday Nights at Blockbuster.
We never knew how good it was until it was gone. The endless rows of movies, the greatest snack section in the world & the fact that you and your family had to make a stressful joint decision on which movie to pick and then actually watch the movie together. Oh, and no algorithms could determine which film you needed to watch.
* Cancels Netflix subscription *
Fortune Tellers.
“Pick a number”
“Pick a letter”
“Pick a color”
Learning how to make this was one of the best days ever. The peak of your origami career.
Endless hours of recess were spent huddled in a group deciding the fate of your classmates.
Mixtapes.
How else would your crush know you loved them?
After School Episodes of The Simpsons.
You didn’t understand the jokes at the time but they were your favorite American family. You can try all you want Kim, but the Kardashians have nothing on The Simpsons.
YoYo’s.
Omega X-Brains, Fireballs, Pro Yo’s…
Make it sleep, walk the dog, rock the cradle but just don’t attempt the ‘around the world’ because someone or something is going to get hit.
Wouldn’t the train station and bus stops of the world be better if people whipped out a YoYo instead of a cell phone?
Tamagotchis.
Banned from every school, ever. The amazing thing is that all they did was walk around, poop, grow old & die.
In fact, it taught a generation about responsibility and look at us now.
P.S. If your landlord doesn’t let you have a dog… this is still a good alternative.
Tie-Dye’ing Everything.
Fashion trends say it’s back in for 2019.
We say, it’s always been cool.
We’re adult summer campers so obviously we know fashion. #Basic
Flip Phones.
We love the Nokia 3210, we do. It’s a cult classic with games like Snake.
But growing up it was the dream to own a flip phone. What a way to feel accepted into society. Polyphonic ringtones & 0.2mp cameras. That’s what it was all about.
Hanging Out At at the Mall.
First there was Enid Blyton novels, then the Hardy Boys but in truth, the real life coming of age adventure was hanging out at the mall. The mall was your weekend world, the place where you would fall out with your parents because you wanted to sit in food court for four hours. The place where you would go on dates, jump from movie to movie and laugh at grown-ups shaking their heads at you. You damn, pesky kids.
Great, Bad Music.
NSYNC, Boyzone, Westlife, Spice Girls…
We loved every song and we’re unashamed to say that we still do.
Saved By the Bell.
The "I'm so excited, I'm so scared!" scene from Saved By The Bell will always be a part of our childhood.
Your Game Console Defined You.
N64, Sega MegaDrive, Playstation, Nintendo GameCube.
Don’t even get us started on the Mario or Sonic debate…
Friends. Obv.
The only reason you haven’t cancelled your Netflix subscription is because they have Friends, and now you’re the same age as them and need that level of re-run comfort in your life.
For years you wondered if Ross was going to end up with Rachel.
‘Orange’ Dinners.
Frozen waffles, beans, chicken nuggets. If it was orange and not great for you, it was your favorite dinner and someone else made it for you.
The best part though… you never felt guilty about eating it. Good times people, good times.
Pocket Money.
$20 made you feel like the richest person in the world, you would write lists of all the things you wanted to buy.
Now $20 is a bagel and a coffee. Stay in your apartment, lock the doors. It’s the only way you’ll ever keep $20 longer than 20 minutes.
Light Up Velcro Sneakers.
Heely’s were good, but light up velcro sneakers were what you lived for. Turn the lights off and stomp around for 5 minutes, wake the neighbors.. who cares. You have light up shoes because you’re an absolute superhero.
Good Metabolism.
Big bowl of lucky charms of breakfast, pizza and fries for lunch, pasta for dinner, ice-cream for dessert, coca cola and candy before bed. Wake up and repeat.
There was no such thing as a ‘dad bod’.
The Toothfairy.
The best thing about the diet we just mentioned was that it rotted your teeth. Which meant free money and a new tooth.
Your First iPod.
1000+ songs in your pocket and the white headphones that made you royalty wherever you went.
Now we’re stuck with laptops with no CD rom’s and Spotify subscriptions that meant the excitement of ripping a CD onto your iPod is gone forever.
The Excitement of a New Harry Potter Book Coming Out.
Wait in line for hours, buy the book. Run home. Lock the door. Turn off your phone. Do not communicate with anyone until you’ve finished the last chapter.
Thankfully there was no Facebook/Twitter or Instagram trolls to ruin your life in 140 characters or less.
Writing Down Game Cheats from the Internet.
Left, Left, Right, Right, Square, X, Circle, Triangle, L1, L2, R1, R2.
Extra health, let’s go!
It almost felt like breaking the law but who has the time to do things the right way.. you have homework and stuff?
Buying Your First NOW CD.
You’re probably at a point in your life that you remember what year a song came out because of what NOW album it was on.
Some point bought them for themselves, most were received in Christmas stocking’s or from a relative that put no effort into buying you a birthday present.
This Legendary Bathroom Game.
That picture must be photoshopped because no-one completed this game. It was a thumb workout as you pressed harder and harder to get those little rings to land on the stick.
Job interviewer - “Tell me about a time you were challenged”
You - “Water toss.”
Instant Messenger.
“Hey, Hw R U?”
“gd, u?”
“Gd, wuu2?”
“nm, u?”
The first time you learned how to flirt. Then someone would come online that you didn’t want to flirt with and appear offline. But seriously, what’s app just isn’t the same .
Beanie Babies
Any 90’s kids will understand the obsession with TY toys as they took over the world. That meant it took over your childhood.
Rainy Day Board Games.
You would be sitting around complaining that you would have nothing to do. A family member would suggest a board game and before you know it there was arguments, crying and someone being grounded.
Do not pass go, do not collect any money.
Reading Lyrics Inside CD Booklets
We all had our favorite albums. Sometimes it was because the artwork booklet with the lyrics was really cool. Sing along to every song you know.
Summer Camp.
Childhood Summers spent at summer camp were the best. So many stories.
We can’t promise you can relive most of these, but you can relive this one.