The Journey of Parenthood…

Show and Tell Tuesday: Memory Lane

Today I’m linking up with Momfessionals to take a walk down memory lane and look back at all the things that made childhood awesome. 😉

When I started looking back to my childhood to think of some of my favorites for this post the very first thing that popped in my head (pun intended ha!) was this picture of me. I love this picture and I love that I’m wearing my Sesame Street shirt while in a Popples sleeping bag and cuddling with a Popples stuffed animals. Popples were the JAM.

We were a big Sesame Street family, which I know was pretty much the norm for kids of our time. Man how I miss the days of thinking that TV was educational and food from a box was healthy! Am I right?!?! We went to see Sesame Street Live and I remember my dad being chosen from the crowd to get up on stage and dance with Count von Count. It was epic as my mom was always the outgoing, silly one and Dad was more chill. 

My personal favorite character though was always Snuffleupagus, duh.

I mean I haven’t watched Sesame Street since childhood. I have no clue if these characters are still even around or not…but they totally should be. Keep it OG!

I had a few favorite TV shows. Of course everyone loved TGIF and Saved By The Bell but what I really think of when I think of childhood is playing at my neighbors house and dancing to Kids Incorporated. We always bickered over who got to be the cute girl from the show! Y’all that theme song will still get randomly stuck in my head. Don’t remember it? Here’s a refresher. You’re welcome for 5 days from now when you’re still singing it 😉 

I also didn’t realize until today just how many kids from that show went on to do other things. Fergie? AC Slater? Jennifer Love Hewitt? Whhhhat?!?! Mind Blown. 

Okay one other tv show I can’t go on without mentioning. Zach swears to me that this show never existed but it DID. Zoobile Zoo! Tell me some others remember this? And who wants to totally re-watch this to see just how crazy strange it must have been?!?! Adults dressed up as legit animals? Did they sing and dance? Were there story lines? I don’t remember but I’m sure it was awesome. 

Another super fun memory from my neighbor’s house was taking all the couch cushions off her mom’s couch and jumping from one to the next pretending like they were volcanos and were going to blow while listening to some Jimmy Buffet (I guess her mom was a fan) “Volcano” (of course we rocked out to some “Cheeseburger in Paradise” too!)

I also remember our moms LOVING some Michael Bolton and that when Beauty and the Beast came out we would pretend that Prince Adam was really named Michael Bolton…didn’t they favor???

Speaking of food from a box…Popples were my toy jam, but Mac and Cheese. That is STILL my food jam for sure! I’m picky when it comes to Mac and Cheese. If it’s not from a blue box then I don’t want it. It was a pretty regular stable in my house growing up…and we especially enjoyed eating it with a slice of Iron Kids Bread  smothered in Jif creamy peanut butter. When Zach travels I like to bust out the blue box for my kids too…complete with “open face sandwiches” just like my childhood (Iron Kids Bread not included!)

One thing I didn’t repeat with my kids though? The itchy, fancy clothes. I know a TON of friends are still really into this kinda thing. The smocked dresses, the “southern style.” I think growing up wearing that stuff all the time just made me rebel against it. What my kids wear as nice stuff is what friends’ kids wear as play clothes 😉 I remember having these patterned outfits and had bows made from the exact same fabric. I’m pretty sure my mom had stuff custom made even! I know I probably looked adorable at the time, but now, to me, it all just looks super dated and my favorite pics of me from childhood are in the more casual stuff. I remember a note even getting sent home from school asking my mom to pack play clothes for recess because I wouldn’t play in fear of getting my clothes messed up! I will say though that I LOVE a good theme now and also enjoy getting dressed up (and am hardcore about everything matching) so I’m not bitter about my fancy kids clothes…I’m also just not repeating it 😉 

I wish I could find a picture of my childhood bedroom. Oh how I LOVED my room. It was floor to ceiling wallpaper. Which pretty much defined my entire home (so thankful that is no longer a trend!). It was all pink and super girly and the boarder (because you had to have a boarder people) was UNICORNS. I know unicorns are super hot right now, but I’ve loved unicorns since the early 90s so I’m not just jumping on the band wagon, I started it 😉 Growing up whenever I had a coin to toss into a fountain or blew out candles on my birthday I had one wish: for unicorns to be real. 

As an adult I still enjoy a good healthy unicorn debate. I even asked at a biblical lesson on dinosaurs if unicorns are mentioned in the bible (the teacher said that they could have existed guys…so there is a chance!). I’ve seen where people get their kids photos taken with unicorns and LOVE it and totally want to do it as I’ve passed on my love for these magical mythical creatures to my children 😉 

Best. Costume. Ever. 

Barbies were another toy that defined my childhood. I still have massive amounts of tubs filled with Barbies up in my attic. I played with them constantly and collected the ones you leave in the box (I legit added all of those to our homeowners insurance policy and if we ever go broke I’m pretty confident we could get a decent price for a lot of them!). I also had several Barbie houses. I still have this one up in my attic too, just waiting for the girls to get to the proper age to enjoy it (I’m putting off Barbies as long as possible with Britt as I can just see the hair becoming a disaster!)

This wasn’t my favorite house though. I vividly remember being in a dr office waiting room looking through magazines with my mom when I saw it. The house of my dreams. a Barbie MANSION complete with working doorbell. I can only fathom what it cost and have no clue how my parents made that work (Santa probably took care of it haha). I spent entirely too much time today trying to find a photo of it to show y’all but if you had one, then you know how amazing it was!

While I had TONS of Barbies, my favorite was Baywatch Barbie. I named her Camron. Not cam-ren, but cam-ron. I heard it somewhere and thought it was so sophisticated (b/c clearly, Baywatch Barbie would be the queen of upmost sophistication ha!). 

I even still have the dolphin she came with…and it still makes the dolphin sounds!

Do you share any of these favorites? Anything bring back memories from your childhood? Be sure to visit all of the bloggers linking up over on Momfessionals for Show and Tell Tuesday!

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Emily Parker
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