As a teenager of the ‘90s, I love the fact that I remember life before phones. I cherish my childhood memories and truly believe that being a kid during that decade is what gave me a lot of the grit I have today.
My mother didn’t check in with us all the time. She was at work and left it to me and my siblings to fend for ourselves. I walked to work, made my own food, and if we wanted an energy drink, we went to the store and bought a Coke.
If you are a child of the ‘90s, you know what it means to have patience and not have instant gratification at your fingertips
You’ve experienced holding your pee so you can run to the bathroom during a commercial so you don’t miss a part of your favorite show.
You had to wait for the phone to call your friend because your entire family shared one landline. There was no such thing as online shopping, so you had to call and place an order after looking through a catalogue, or fill out the form in the back.
Here are some other ways you can tell you are a mom who grew up in the ‘90s...
1. You sat and anxiously awaited for that new video to come out on MTV.
Who could forget when a new video would drop on MTV? It was usually on a weekend and we’d talk about it with our friends for the weeks leading up to it.
Also, we were the first ones to truly experience reality TV with Road Rules and The Real World. I remember sitting in our living room for hours with my sisters on a summer day in front of the fan, watching that channel for hours. The commercial breaks didn’t even phase us.
2. You can still taste the fro-yo.
Remember TCBY on every corner? I can still smell that cold frozen yogurt and all the delicious toppings. Going out for frozen yogurt was the best way to spend an afternoon if you didn’t know what to do, and it was always something you did when you took a trip to the mall. If you had a friend who worked at the local fro-yo shop, you always knew your sleepovers were going to be laced with cartons of your favorite flavors as you watched TGIF on ABC.
3. You remember flipping through the Delia's catalogue over and over and over again
My first pair of platform shoes were from Delia's and I was so proud when I got them. As soon as the catalogue would come, my sisters and I would sit and circle all the things we wanted to get if money weren’t an object. Then, we’d whittle it down to what we could actually get (which was usually one or two things from our summer job money) and save up some more to order other things on our wish list.
Honestly, it was just as fun to have a new catalogue to look through as it was to get the new clothing or accessories.
4. There weren’t so many food and drink choices.
When I walk into the grocery store now, I’m so overwhelmed by all the different flavors of everything. I just saw the throwback Doritos bag the other day, and I got teary. It reminded me of going to my friend’s house after school and busting open a bag of those cheesy chips.
I mean, when Pepsi came out with Crystal Pepsi, it was a huge deal.
We didn’t have Starbucks on every corner. I believe there was only one flavor of Cheetos; one flavor of Oreo’s, and there certainly wasn’t an entire section of the grocery store dedicated to nut butters.
If you ask me, less food choices made things, well, less complicated. My friends and I never felt deprived and never wished there were more drink flavors out there. We were happy with our Snapples and ramen noodles.
5. Friday nights meant you better make it to Blockbuster early
There was no such thing as streaming, so if you wanted to rent that new movie, you had to get there early and grab it. There were many nights my friends and I had to settle for something we weren’t crazy about, or something we’d already seen a million times.
We didn’t have lots of channels to choose from, either, so we made do with what was available to us. Honestly, we never had a bad time because of it.
6. We had the bronzer, but we didn’t blend.
We were all wearing the bronzer on our faces in the ‘90s, but there were no contouring or blending techniques. We didn’t have tutorials to watch, and we certainly didn’t know how to make our noses look small with the stuff. Nope, we just slapped it on our cheeks and walked out the door feeling fine.
Also, we didn’t have lash extension mascara. Can you imagine?
7. You still know all the words (and the moves) to "The Macarena".
That dance and song will forever be ingrained in your soul if you are a child of the ‘90s. It literally never got old. There are times when all I want to do is let loose with my girlfriend doing that jig with my bootcut jeans and tiny, butterfly hair clips.
8. You still remember what it felt like to wait to dial up the internet
I can still hear that sound, and I cringe when I think about how long I’d sit at a desk and wait for that connection. Oh, and who remembers screaming at your sibling to get off the phone so you could get online, or begging someone to get off the computer so you could make a quick call?
It certainly taught us how to compromise and share, that’s for sure.
9. You walked or cycled everywhere to see your friends face-to-face.
I now see my kids wanting to stay home so they don’t run into anyone in person because they have access to them on their phone. It makes no sense to me. When I was a kid in the ‘90s, all I wanted to do was go places so I’d run into someone I knew. It didn't matter if it was the beach, or the grocery store, we lived to see friends and get as much interaction with them as we could.
Yes, times have changed quite a bit from the ‘90s, but I will never forget what that decade gave me. And if you grew up during that time, I am sure you'll agree with me.
