Top 10 Things Only 90s Kids Experienced
#10: Freaking Out About Y2K
Chances are, if you were born in the 21st century, you have no idea what Y2K even refers to. See, some early computer programs weren’t programmed with 4-digit years in mind, only the final two. So, theoretically, the year 2000 in some computers would read as 1900 instead. Many predicted that a global computer catastrophe would occur when the dates changed at the turn of the millennium. Of course, updates from programmers and basic common sense meant it ended up as no big deal, but as children, computers were magic run by wizards! Our parents hoarding canned food in preparation for the Y2K apocalypse probably didn’t help.
#9: The Macarena
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This Latin dance song topped charts worldwide, and it was absolutely everywhere during the decade – on TV, in schools, on the streets, at sporting events. You name the place, and chances are, you’d hear that obnoxiously catchy beat and see someone doing the incredibly simple dance moves. Whether you loved it, tolerated it, or dreaded it, there was no escaping the Macarena. Dance crazes may come and go these days, with trends appearing and disappearing as fast as the internet’s attention span. But for those of us who were kids in the 90s, the Macarena is forever.
#8: Be Kind Rewind
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For most kids these days, “rewinding” something is just a turn of phrase to describe going backward on a video. But 90s kids remember when rewinding literally involved winding a tape. Tapes had to be rewound by holding down a button on VCRs. Except, despite the famous warning on tapes, not everyone was kind enough to rewind them. Nothing killed the mood of a sleepover movie night like having to spend long minutes holding down a button while the VCR whirred and went back to the beginning – and then having to do it again once the movie was over!
#7: The Taste of Victory After Opening a Capri Sun Correctly
There are a lot of juice boxes out there, but Capri Sun held a special place among the rest. Sure, Capri Sun is still around, they haven’t gone away. But they really hit their stride in the ‘90s. For one, they’re delicious. But more importantly, their foil packaging makes them shine brighter than the rest – literally. However, that same packaging makes them a nightmare to open. Accidentally poking yourself with the straw, or causing an accidental leak is all too common. Still, when you get it right on the first try while the rest of your friends struggle…well, we all felt ten feet tall when we were kids.
#6: Dial-Up Internet
We’re all spoiled when it comes to the internet these days. Even slower wireless or wired connections are still pretty fast. But back in the 90s the option of choice for most, at least in the United States, was AOL, or America Online. It was dial-up, which meant it used a phone line, and maxed out at a blistering 56 kilobytes per second. Sure, we’d have to wait minutes at a time for things to load, and that screechy dial-up noise, followed by “you’ve got mail,” is forever embedded in our brains…but it was all we had! And then the 2000s rolled around and suddenly DSL and wireless came into the picture! We were the first and last generation to grow up with dial-up internet.
#5: Bizarre, Experimental Foods (& Getting Our Parents to Buy Them For Us)
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Kids love to eat weird things, no matter the decade. Still, food companies and chains got a little wild during the 1990s. Brightly colored foods of every shade, including a few new ones, were all too common. Fruit snacks of all shapes and sizes abounded. Existing brands tried to branch out to new ideas, like McDonald’s trying to do pizza or Oreos giving cereal a try. And sugar? Absolutely everywhere! Still, the real trick was convincing our parents to buy so many weird and obviously unhealthy products. It’s fruit-flavored Mom! That means it’s healthy!
#4: HitClips
Technically, these weren’t around until the year 2000, but 90s kids were still the ones they were marketed to, so we’re counting them. Before most mp3 players, there were HitClips. These were basically digital audio players for kids, with exchangeable cartridges that had short clips from popular songs. That’s right – not even the full songs! And we still bought them! The compact, lightweight design and decent catalog of songs sold millions of units. Sure, they quickly became obsolete, but for those of us who couldn’t afford an iPod, HitClips were a hit.
#3: The Grunge Wave
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While various individual bands and singers stood out in the 90s, when it came to genres, grunge was the up-and-coming king. Grunge often featured distorted electric guitars and angsty lyrics. 90s kids got to grow up listening to bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and The Smashing Pumpkins on the radio, and on our parents’ CDs (if they had good taste). Still, all that grunge may explain why so many of us are so introspective and depressed ... Totally worth it though!
#2: The Necessity For Everything to Light Up, Change Colors, or Be Inflatable
90s fashion and other trends skewed towards the colorful. But just one color wasn’t enough! We had to have flashing colors, changing colors! Our shirts changed colors and so did our drinks! Our iMacs were see-through and came in different colors! Shoes had flashing lights for when we played outside until after it was dark! And when we came back home, we didn’t flop down in any old desk chair! No – it was inflatable chairs or the floor! The 90s were a weird and cool time to be a kid.
#1: Being the Only Ones to Love the Internet
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It probably seems bizarre now, but back in the 1990s, it was mostly kids who loved the internet. We grew up surfing the web, so it was normal for us. But for adults, the internet was often viewed as confusing, a fad, or yet another thing that corrupts the minds of the young. Growing up, we couldn’t even use the internet as a source for papers in school, because it was seen as an unreliable source. Granted, that’s often true. But even so, 90s kids will always be the first to embrace the internet with open arms. Well, us, and David Bowie. That guy was always ahead of the curve…
