Nostalgia, noun: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition.
For me, Christmas brings about the most nostalgia, specifically remembering waiting [not so] patiently for Santa to bring gifts during the night, and being so excited to see what new toys I had received. Toys, to my eight-year-old self and friends, were the reason to live. I would start making my list months in advance, watching commercials and taking notes, marking the catalogue with a red crayon, trying in vain to narrow my list down to a reasonable number.
I can still remember the handful of toys that made my youth, and, in my opinion, are some of the best ever made. What was your favorite?
10) Legos
From pirate ships to construction sites, legos let my brother and I build things we saw in movies and in our imaginations. And as I recall, they were one of the only things that would keep my little brother quiet for more than five minutes. The only con to this toy was stepping on that piece you lost in the middle of the night… ouch!
9) Finger paints
This is a parent’s worst nightmare, but a rite of passage for every child. I remember mom strapping on that smock, spreading out the paper on the sidewalk, and letting us go to town. Without finger paints, it would have taken me a lot longer to figure out that all the colors mixed together make a really ugly brown.
8) Play-doh (burger builder set)
For some reason, making the play-doh squeeze out into yellow ribbons looked exactly like French fries, and the press that made the hamburger patty seemed like pure genius. I’m glad my aspirations for a career of making fast food meals passed with the play-doh phase.
7) Barbie
It’s cliché, I know, but it wouldn’t be right without her. Simply put, I was obsessed. Barbie had it all… a huge pink house, a hot man, a T-top corvette, and shoes in every shade of the rainbow. Plus, I could cut her hair without consequences. Who am I kidding, I STILL love Barbie! (Let’s not get into the fact that she gives little girls dysmorphic ideas about body image, ahem.)
6) Talkboy
YES! This toy was essential to my I-want-to-be-Harriet-the-Spy phase. And, Kevin McAlistar demonstrated all the capabilities of this apparatus in Home Alone, which made it even more appealing.
5) Skip it!
And try not to trip yourself. This definitely helped burn a few calories and improve coordination. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Skip It toy strapped to your ankle, and allowed the user to swing a ball tethered to that strap around to the other leg, with the user skipping over it. Or tripping over it, in my case.
4) Super Soakers
The only thing that got us through 100 degree summers with no pool and no beach. We loaded these things up with ice cold water and went to town…
3) Easy Bake Oven
Need I say more? It was easy. It baked stuff with a light bulb. It tricked your mom into letting you eat 12 cupcakes. And I wonder why I still have problems trying to bake legitimately.
2) Lite Brite
Simply amazing. There was something about seeing my creation light up in the dark that thrilled me. We made boats, unicorns, Mr. Potato Head, and so much more… And after we had destroyed the poke-through pattern papers, we got really creative.
1)Lisa Frank
I know all you guys were jealous of our neon colored golden retrievers, panda bears, ballet slippers and ice cream sundaes. We had sticker books, trapper keepers, pencils, posters, and everything else you can think of. If the inside of your locker was not decorated in Lisa Frank, there was something really wrong with you. I am not ashamed to admit…I still love Lisa Frank stickers and use them to this day. They are brightening up the sides of my office computer!
