This week has been a rough one. The beginning of the week just felt. So. Long. I imagine most all of y’all can relate to the Monday grind with eyes half open and coffee six cups deep by noon. The week dragged on, and then Wednesday came with an unexpected roller coaster of emotions.
As is expected, working at a hospital can bring pretty high highs (kids with newly healed body is a special kind of sweet) as well as pretty low lows. Wednesday was the lowest of lows. While I was shadowing an Emergency Department Attending on-call, a kiddo came to the ER on a stretcher and left in the least extravagant fashion. My heart ached (and continues to ache oh so deeply), but the community at the hospital surrounded all of the staff that was with that child in so much love, grace, and patience. One of my dear friends encouraged me today to spend time working towards a new focus on the little goods of each day while the big bads seem like too much for my mind to wrap around. Thanks for that wisdom, Rach. You are so appreciated missy.
So, all my fellow 90s kids can probably relate to my sentiment that any 90s throwback is not just a little good… it is a lot good. So, praise the Lord for wrapping His arms around all of us right now and praise the Lord for the beauty that is everything from the '90s. Here is to smiles about the little goods. Hopefully this gives some of you sweet friends a smile like it has for me this week.
1. DunkAroos
Because the best absolutely must come first, let’s just say a big thank you for DunkAroos. To you who made the perfect dessert/snack combo that visited my lunch box daily as a little tyke, you are a gem.
2. Reese's Swoops
This one came and went faster than Jesse McCartney, but they cannot go unmentioned. Pringles shaped, peanut butter drizzled chocolate just cannot be beat.
3. Jesse McCartney
Speaking of the man of the hour, who of us didn’t sing "Beautiful Soul" to a hairbrush microphone in ‘secret’ as if our parents couldn’t hear the screeching across the house? Bless his beautiful soul for accepting 7-year-old girls as his only fans.
4. Gauchos
If yoga pants weren’t so much more practical in a fashion sense, I am confident these guys would have stuck around much longer. What’s not to love about the freedom of a skirt without the panty revealing risk? Plus, they totally transition well from cute with sandals and a scrunchie during the day to functional with sneakers and volleyball kneepads during PE.
5. Kool-Aid Bursts
Not totally sure if the drink was actually good or if the act of drinking out of a bottle shaped slightly like a beer bottle was the real appeal. Throwback to the 21st birthday being 16 years away.
6. Beanie Babies
Because every kid needs piles of small, not too soft, not really cuddly, animal friends to drown in bed with at night.
7. Walkmans
Over the head headphones before they were cool. It also meant either sticking to one album worth of music, or the CD case came along for the ride.
8. Hit Clips
These made a fast appearance when sassy 8 year olds decided Walkmans were no longer cool. Because, clearly, an obscenely small music player that can play one song per music clip makes all kinds of sense.
9. Paper fortunetellers
How else were we suppose to tell our friend which boy was going to talk to them during the recess Red Rover game tomorrow?
10. Slap bracelets
These guys instantly upped the fashion appeal of any outfit, with the dual purpose of making a nice conversation starter with the new kid in your seat on the bus. “See this, yeah it is flat, and then you do one of these (*slap*) and yes, look at that, now it is my bracelet! I never would have thought so either!”
11. M.A.S.H.
If only I really had ended up in the mansion, driving a Corvette, married to Aaron Carter, with four babies, two dogs, in San Francisco. Sweet, sweet imagination, ya munchkins.
12. Stick-on earrings
Truly couldn’t go wrong with the green triangles. Unless of course there was still a pair of blue circles with good stick, those are total babe magnets.
13. AOL Instant Messenger
There really was nothing like a late night (afternoon) park play date with razor scooters, followed up by some AOL flirting with the boy six doors down. “Oh yeah? Your light up Power Ranger sneaks are totally cooler than my sparkly Velcro strapped sneaks, but thanks for noticing.”
Oh, and on an extra light note. Let's all pay tribute to this ole' friend.
"When you're climbing up a ladder, and you feel something splatter...
Diarrhea (Cha cha cha) Diarrhea (Cha cha cha),
When you're walkin down the hall, and you feel something fall.
Diarrhea (Cha cha cha) Diarrhea (Cha cha cha)/"
Because the good ole' days doesn't mean we weren't also kind of the worst.
This list could go on for longer than I can probably fathom, so I will leave us at that. Just the TV shows that I haven’t spent time to talk about could fill hours of reminiscing (Saturday morning cartoons, we miss you). To those of you who also got to experience the joys of the 90s, I hope this brought back some great mems. To those of you who didn’t get to live in the best decade… bless your heart. We’ll try and pretend the best is yet to come, for your sake.
