Maybe it’s because I’m graduating soon or maybe because I’ve been watching too many Dawson’s Creek reruns or maybe it’s because I spend too much time around my younger cousins, but lately I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic. And not in the “oh remember freshman year-that was so much fun” sort of way. But in the “oh, remember back before cell phones and DVRs and the second rise of skinny jeans” sort of way. And speaking of way back when, remember when we wore scrunchies in our hair and waited for Friday night because that’s when TGIF was on? Remember when all we wanted to do was stay home from school to play with our favorite toys?

10. Beanie Babies.  It had to get a mentioned. I mean, what girl didn’t have a Beanie Baby (or 40) back in the day? With their little TY tags that told you their name and had a little rhyme about them. They had everything from turkeys to bears to penguins to French poodles. And I wanted them all….and still have ‘em all.

9. Tamagotchi. Not only did our generation pave the way for obsession with electronic toys, but we also learned responsibility as well. Our Tamagotchi’s and nano babies and all those other electronic pets had to be fed and played with and taken care of on a regular basis. It was like we did the whole “pretend this egg is a baby” thing years in advance.

8. Easy Bake Oven. Easily the childhood toy with the biggest reward. Because after we went through the very difficult process of baking and decorating our cupcakes and our cookies we were able to eat them. Raw dough. Mmm. Delicious. Read More »

Can’t wait for the release of the Spike Jonze-directed film version of Where the Wild Things Are? Well just make sure you leave your younger sibling at home: Slashfilm is reporting that early test screenings of the adaptation of everyone’s favorite childhood story are terrifying young kids, and parents are not impressed.

One test screener claimed Max, the young boy protagonist, is “weird and off-putting” and “not charming at all”, while the monsters are “not cute”.

Perhaps I’m remembering wrong, but Max was not exactly “charming” in the original book—he chased after his dog with a fork and told his mother he would “EAT HER UP” after she sent him to his room!

He retreats into his imagination, where he forces even the scary wild things to obey him. The book stirred up controversy when it was first released, as many parents thought the monsters were too scary for children. However, I think the book really touches on some difficult aspects of childhood, which is important for both kids and their parents to read and understand. Read More »