I was born in October, 1996, so it's fair to say that most of my memories start in 2000 and onward. This post is an ode to the culture of my childhood era, nodding to the technology, movies, music, and fashions that shaped my growing-up years. For my fellow late '90s/early 2000s babies, enjoy the throwback!
**I have taken many of these images from the Internet.**
Computers
My parents had a rule when we were young that only allowed my siblings and I to play computer games on the weekend. Somehow, though, looking through 2000s games is flooding my memory with hours' worth of childhood fun.
- We got a HUNKIN' desktop computer with an equally bulky monitor when we still lived in Boston. We kept it for years, and I remember playing Catz and some super old-fashioned My Little Pony game before I knew how to read. When I got older, I used applications on this computer to fill my homework assignments with all sorts of cool {if slightly cheesy} clip art. Then, when I was in 6th grade, new technology became more available. My mom got a fancy new Mac, which we would play on PhotoBooth and iMovie with, and my teacher got a Smart Board.
- Online games: Of course, I have to honor all those Barbie and Polly Pocket games!
- The American Girl website taught me so much about historical culture! I had Kit {from the Great Depression} and Elizabeth {a loyalist from the Revolutionary War who was best friends with my sister's doll Felicity, a patriot}. Although I could not find any images of the online games, I remember playing Samantha's Ice Cream Parlor and the Felicity game where you could make insane colonial-style wigs featuring bird cages and wooden ships.
- Webkinz was the HOT THING in fifth grade. For Christmas, all the kids got a stuffed animal that came with a code. You would plug in into the Webkinz website and have a virtual version of your animal that you could now play with! You could make their house and play dozens of games.
- From Disney there was Stitch Sandwich Stacker, Zack and Cody's Tipton Trouble, Kim Possible's A Sitch in Time, Bueno Rufus, and tons of others!
Music
- Technology: My music technology evolved from Barbie cassette tape players / karaoke machine to CD players to MP3 players to iPods {each song cost $1.25 on iTunes} to iPhones {now I pay for a monthly subscription to Spotify or Apple Music to get an unlimited amount of songs.
- Artists: I remember my mom kept a Britney Spears CD in the car because I was scandalized by the picture of Britney in a crop top. We have videos of me singing "Oops I Did It Again" on that Barbie karaoke machine. I also remember listening to Kelly Clarkson's first album on the way to swimming lessons--I can still sing every word! Meanwhile my parents indoctrinated my siblings and me with 80's music, because that was when they were in high school. When I was in elementary school, Coldplay, Leona Lewis, and Colbie Cailet were frequently on the radio.
- I was that child who wanted to be an old soul and refused to love what was popular. Therefore, I shunned the Jonas Brothers and High School Musical. However, I did like music by Hilary Duff and Aly and AJ. My cousins introduced me to Hannah Montana before she became the wild-tongued Miley Cyrus.
 |
| To prove my 80's indoctrination, here is my 12th birthday party in which all the 80s moms got to dress their 6th graders for my Back to the 80s party. |
- Artists that pop into my head from my junior high years are Adele, Justin Bieber {then the 16-year-old heartthrob}, Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, Jordan Sparks, Taylor Swift, Kesha, Katy Perry, Enrique Iglesias, Linkin Park, Carrie Underwood, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce.
- From high school, I think of Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, Macklemore, Rihanna, Fun., Selena Gomez, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, Usher, Owl City, Chris Brown, LMFAO, Flo Rida, Pitbull, the Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, and others.
TV and Movies
- TV Technology: My parents cancelled the cable when I was 7 and didn't get it again until I was 15. That meant my TV was limited to PBS kids and the Disney shows that only came on Saturday mornings.
- Movie Technology: As a young kid, my family used VHS tapes. This meant that if you wanted to start a movie over, you had to press rewind and watch the statically screen for a miserable eternity while you waited for the tape to be wound back up to the beginning. It was the absolute worst when one of the siblings broke the black plastic covering and pulled some of the tape out! Then it was ruined. This was of course less likely than one of the kids scratching, cracking or licking a DVD once that became the more common format.
- Back then, Netflix wasn't what it is today, what with thousands of movies instantly available. You would order a movie online, and the disc would come in the mail a few days later. Then you would send it back after you watched it. We also used to visit Blockbuster a lot {before its demise by the new online Netflix}, a store that had shelves and shelves and shelves of literally any movie you could think to rent. Then Redbox came along with its limited supply of movies available from little pop-ups in front of every pharmacy.
- In school we would watch the Magic School Bus or Bill Nye the Science Guy. At home were many of the shows pictured below. I remember waking myself up at 7 every Saturday to watch The Emperor's New School. When I was a wee little one, I watched The Land Before Time. When I was probably 6 I recorded over the tape of Rachel's first steps so that I could save an episode of Sagwa for later {because that was what you did before DVR}.
- My cousins had cable, so they introduced me to my all-time favorite Kim Possible. Kim and I were both cheerleaders, if only I too could be a kick-A crime fighter! My email address when I was 8 was katiepossible@gmail.com. Of course, there was also Aquamarine, which led us to playing mermaids in the pool every summer weekend.
- What I was not allowed to watch: Bratz, Spongebob, or anything on Cartoon Network except for The Power Puff Girls
- During road trips, it was always an argument over whether we would watch Barbie movies or Star Wars.
Books
- When I was little, I read Junie B. Jones and The Magic Treehouse. The latter taught me so much about history, I am determined to read it to my own children!
- In late elementary school and junior high I was introduced to Percy Jackson {which began my obsession with Greek mythology}, Shannon Hale, Twilight, The Hunger Games, and Harry Potter. All of those except for the Shannon Hale books were turned into movie sagas, which my mom would either pull me out of school to stand in line for, or allow me to stay up atrociously late for the midnight premiers. These are some very fond memories!
Video Games
- My siblings and I played Lego Star Wars on our PlayStation, and Super Mario 64 from 1996 on our Nintendo 64, and WiiSports on our Wii. I was always mad that my younger siblings were always so much better than me, and I was especially mad the time we were camping in our trailer and the kids decided they would rather try to beat Bowser than play in the snow with me.
- Dance Dance Revolution was the best family activity! So was our American Idol karaoke game.
Fashion
I have dug through the dark depths of my blog to find some of the best pictures representing the fashions of elementary school and junior high. Since my sisters and I shared clothes/accessories, it's safe to say that if they wore it, I wore it too.
- Sequin belts that could also be used as headbands, and shade shirts
- those half-sweaters that may or may not have tied around your front {I think they were called shrugs?}
- skorts (skirts combined with shorts
- chunky necklaces and flower clips that were usually made by you, that lady in your ward who sells them, or that fabulous new boutique
- Ugg boots with leggings
- camouflage, and Heelys {which were quickly banned from school and Disneyland. I sure loved riding around the mall with those wheels in my shoes!}
- aeropostal T-shirts, and knee-length shorts
- spring scarves
- these hats
- bejeweled jean butt pockets and white stitching; knock-off True-religions
- colored skinny jeans and belts around your waist {was that just me?}
- gauchos
- chunky flip flops
Phones and Personal Devices
- Although I don't remember when we actually stopped using them, phones connected to the wall with a twirly cord were not an uncommon thing to see when I was a kid. Much more common, however, was the home phone, AKA the system of five phones around the house. If one of the kids pressed a button, the other 4 phones would be rendered useless with off-the-hook beeping until someone found the culprit. You could also pick up a phone while another was in use and eavesdrop on Mom's conversations.
- I didn't get a phone until I was 13, and it was just like everyone else's: a flip or slide phone that often required you to type the 1 key three times to write a C. There was no Internet connection, and I don't remember if it was possible to send pictures or not. You could take pictures, but they were horrible quality.
- I remember when President Obama got a Blackberry, it seemed very elitist. Then my Uncle Dave showed us his Blackberry smart phone for the first time. It was incredible! You could connect to the internet! There was a whole screen full of apps like on the computer! I got my first smart phone sometime when I was 16 or 17. Smart phones were already much more popular by then.
- Personal devices: A girl from my home ward who had special needs got this amazing piece of technology that I now realize was an Alternative and Augmentative Communication device. It must have cost thousands of dollars, but it helped her to communicate by pushing virtual buttons to piece together what she wanted to say. A few years later, Apple came out with a device that was very similar but now available to the entire public: the iPad. My dad got one in 2012, and the kids used it during church to stay entertained by drawing pictures or playing games. It was exactly like a computer, but it was flat, touch-screen and fit in your purse!
Restaurants and Retail
- The Rainforest Cafe is what began my obsession with the jungle.
- As a kid, I shopped at LimitedToo. This was the most blinged-out girly store you could possible visit. This store summarizes the girl-culture of everything glittery, fuzzy and brightly-colored.
The 2000s and 2010s were a fantastic time to be alive. Stay tuned ten or twenty years from now when I make another post giggling about the culture and styles of the 2020s!
