My Childhood Was Awesome

My birthday is coming up. It’s my 30th, and I’m looking back on things, like I always do leading up to my birthday.

I was born in 1989, but obviously I remember the 90s. There was so much that happened then. So many toys, books, movies, and TV shows really define that decade.

The first movie I remember seeing in theaters is Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. It’s appropriate that it’s my husband’s favorite Disney movie. I’m not sure if I saw it in 1991 when I was three years old, or if it was a reissue in this specific theater. I think we saw it in the old movie theater at Northpark Mall, which was eventually demolished. It only had two screens and closed in 1998. I remember the moment I saw the opening and being terrified of the thunder clap in the introduction, since I was terrified as a child.

I remember watching TV with my sisters, and we would watch Boy Meets World, Saved By the Bell, Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, and lots of Nickelodian shows like Doug, Rocko’s Modern Life, and Salute Your Shorts. When Legend of the Hidden Temple came on, I always cheered on the Purple Parrots, since purple was my favorite color.

I loved looking through the American Girl catalog, and I dreamed of the day I would receive my doll. I got Kirsten, the little Swedish immigrant girl in the 1800s. I still have her, and I’m considering trying to hunt down all the items that go with her, for collector purposes. I’m also hoping my husband and I have a little girl some day, because his family is Swedish American, and that would be really special for her.

We were crazy about the American Girl books as well. We also loved The Saddle Club and The Babysitter’s Club, because the internet wasn’t a big thing then. We had a family computer, but it ran on MS-DOS, and I didn’t understand how to get stuff going on it, so I ended up reading most of my time. That’s probably part of why I love to write so much!

It’s always nice to look back at how things used to be. As much as I love the past, I look forward to the future. I can’t wait to see where we go, the things we do, and how we do them.

Onward!