Throwback Thursday

A Flashback to Childhood

2020 is right around the corner, and most of us are leaving our childhood behind as we come to the end of another decade. This is the end of teens, and most of the stuff we loved has finally left the shelves or TV. We do have some things to look forward to, as Netflix is slowly adding our favorite Nickelodeon shows and Disney+ has come out. Some of us miss items like silly bands, paper games like fortune teller, and hand games like ninja. Most of us miss getting up early on the weekend (especially me because that’s when I had all that energy) to watch the early morning cartoons. Most of us are enjoying these glimpses back in to our childhood, but there are somethings most of us are glad to be rid of.

Carys Easterling, a 20-year-old sophomore, mentioned that she missed collecting Briar Horses, something she did all of her childhood. She does not, however, miss the fads in middle and high that everyone just had to have. She mentioned that the need to fit in is not something she misses, and she is glad it is gone.

21-year-old juniors Brie Schmidt, Anna Carr, and Courtney Lentz mentioned beanie babies and cabbage patch kids. They missed these items immensely, and they were glad that McDonalds is doing throwback toys in their happy meals. They also discussed the dial-up Internet that they don’t ever want to go back to. The length of time spent waiting for the computers to start up was not a fun time.

When I spoke to Aubrey Tackitt, a 23-year-old senior, he mentioned a much more practical thing he missed, which was not having to pay bills. Most of us now are settling into a groove of paying and gaining bills that we never even thought were important as children. It’s one of those things that you never realize you miss until it’s gone. He said he did not miss having to clean his room, and when asked if he didn’t clean his room now, he said that he did but the kid toys made it harder to back then.

Kobey Christian, an 18-year-old freshman, said he misses the simplicity of young life. He was able to see others as nice and be a little more naive then he is now. He does not miss people looking down on him as a kid, saying he didn’t have any hard challenges then.

One of the things I miss most is staying up late to watch the Disney channel originals; those shows were some of the best shows ever. I do not miss having to pay for minutes on my little flip phone, that was not an enjoyable time. We also have bigger things we miss and don’t miss, whether it was everyone being our friend, or not knowing the stuff we know now. We don’t miss the way adults saw us or cleaning out rooms, but with all the things we miss and love, we will never forget the way they helped shape us.