What Was Your Movie?

One childhood memory most people can relate to is being easily captivated by many things, especially TV shows and movies. We would watch them over and over again, much to the dismay of our parents.

I don't know about you, but I can't really explain why I felt the need to repeatedly watch certain shows or movies. I think a lot of the time I probably just enjoyed seeing a specific scene or character.
The movie I watched to excess was the Wizard of Oz. Something about the transition from black and white to color was so magical to me. The singing was delightful too.

 I would always get scared when the Wicked Witch of the West would appear, so naturally I would look away from the TV while she was on. Most of the time I would lose interest a little over halfway through, but that didn't stop me from dressing up as Dorothy for Halloween nearly three years in a row.

   Now that I've shared mine, what was the movie of your childhood?

10 Reasons Why McDonald's Was Iconic

As bad as it may sound, I have many fond childhood memories related to McDonald's. Before they started offering "healthy" options with Happy Meals like milk, yogurt, absurdly small fries, and apple slices, it was a joyous place to be. I remember when nearly every location had a play area before they started to downsize and eventually do away with most of them. McDonald's was so committed to the fun, child friendly atmosphere that it was like going to a mini theme park for me.



Here is a list of 10 reasons why McDonald's had it going on:

1.  Happy Meal toys. Bonus when they were based on the movie you were obsessed with.
2.  McNuggets. There was something so satisfying about peeling the skin off the nugget and eating it separately.
3.  Hi-C fresh from the tap.
4.  Playing a weird hybrid of hide & seek/ tag with random kids you met on the playground.
5.  Breakfast. Mainly the hash browns.
6.  McFlurries (when the machine was working). I'm still confused as to why they made the spoon look so much like a straw.
7.  The characters: Mayor McCheese, The Hamburglar, Grimace. Iconic.
8. That feeling of rolling into school late after a doctors appointment with a McDonald's bag in hand.
9.  The triumph you felt when your parent actually stopped instead driving past.
10.  The excitement of getting handed the colorful Happy Meal box.

Barbie vs Bratz

Were you team Barbie or Bratz? I was a mixture of both, even though I probably have far more Bratz dolls currently flooding my basement with all the other old neglected toys

I remember I used to go hard when playing with dolls. They would have complex personalities and relationships full of drama. A lot of the time I would have multiple characters going at once, meaning I would select about 5 different dolls and assign them each their own names and characteristics. Then I would connect them all together somehow as sisters, friends, enemies, etc.

I usually didn't do all of this alone, of course. I would have a friend or two to liven things up with their dolls and add to the drama. I even had a Bratz house, car, and party bus with functioning lights and radio.

Sometimes I would mix a Barbie in with the Bratz dolls and pretend like she was the eclectic stepsister. However, Polly Pockets had to be played separately because the size difference was just too weird.

"Only '90s Kids Remember"

As a millennial, the rapid advancement of technology throughout my childhood was an incredible thing to witness. However, some believe that the whirlwind of social media and smart phones are actually what leaves young people aching for how things used to be a short time ago. For this reason, we hold onto childhood memories tightly and take every opportunity to cherish things that remind us of it, like movies, songs, games, and trends. It is not necessarily that these things were uniquely special or revolutionary, but when you're a kid everything is wonderful and those things were ours.
Ironically, we often use the internet to induce nostalgia and escape our comparatively stressful, dull everyday lives. Personally, waves of nostalgia can wash over me at any time, and for a second I am transported back to the simplicity and warmth of childhood. It can be comforting to look back on how things were when the world was new to you, so this blog will reflect that sentiment.
Hope you enjoy!