How Many of These Old-School Candies Did You Eat as a Kid? [Photos]

In so many ways, we really had it good as kids. We had awesome cartoons, excellent (read: awful) fashion, and most of all, really great candy. Am I right? There are so many candies that used to be all over the place that I never see anymore. Of course, there are always the classic candy bars that stick around forever. The weirder stuff might not last as long, but it sure does bring back memories. Here are a few candies (including some disgusting ones) that remind us of being kids. Read More »


Did You Wear These Ugly Shoes as a Kid? [Photos]

Do you ever look back at old photos of yourself as a kid and think, what was I wearing? Luckily, we grew up in the 90s, which is an excellent excuse for horrible fashion choices. So many awful things were happening in fashion then. Plus, when you were little, your parents dressed you. So you can blame it on them.

One thing in particular that little kids get away with is ugly shoes. You know, like how Crocs are horrific on adults but kind of cute on toddlers? So many of the shoes we wore as kids seemed awesome at the time, but were really atrocious. Click through the gallery for pictures of shoes that we think should stay in your past. Meaning that you really should get rid of them if you still have a pair. Read More »


Candy Dish: America the Pitchy

President Obama is a better singer than Mitt Romney.

Why you should get dressed everyday.

Celebrity kids are always the cutest.

These three actors are so pretty together.

So what is happening over at “the X Factor”?

Box clutches: Cute… or not?

Amber Rose got a face tattoo.

Neil Patrick Harris is un-Punk-able.

Let’s all get ready for the Superbowl food.


Things That Pissed Your Parents Off When You Were A Kid

Okay so pretty much everything we did when we were kids was an attempt to piss our parents off. Hey, isn’t that our duty as their children? Parents need a little excitement in their lives, and until we graduated high school, we were there to provide it. And isn’t so fun now to look and laugh at how absolutely obnoxious we were!

Click through for a few of the things that drove our parents crazy.

initiating the gallery...

Friday Faves: Snow Days Then and Now

Remember when you were a little kid, and you’d actually wake up on time for school… just so you could huddle next to the radio and listen for your school to be called on the list of snow days? With winter’s doom impending and temperatures dropping faster than The Situation’s pants, we can’t help but cross our fingers and pray.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Are snow days something you never grow out of? Or, in college, do they prove that miracles really can happen? Here’s how our anticipation of snow days has evolved since grammar school.

Then: A snow day meant a day off from times tables.
Now:
We don’t have to finish copying someone else’s MiniTabs before Stats lab.

Then: We would make a beeline to the street and get all the neighborhood kids together for a snowball fight.
Now:
We don’t have to brave arctic winds to walk to class and sit through lecture with snotsicles hanging from our frostbitten faces. Read More »


Channeling My Inner Susie Homemaker

Some women have been blessed with the cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing skills any ’50s housewife would be jealous of. You know the type – they go to their friends’ houses bearing baked goods, they know how to get that tricky stain out of delicate material, they’re just all-around nurturers.

I, on the other hand, find myself lacking in every aspect of domestic maturity. I dread doing laundry, I get extra excited on the rare occasion that my pasta comes off the stovetop instead of out of the microwave, and I gotta be honest, kids kind of piss me off.

For a long time, I’ve embraced this about myself. I was convinced I could just get by on take-out and who really needs children anyway? But as I approach my senior year of college, it’s beginning to hit me just how close I am to living life in the real world. In a very short while, it’ll be frowned upon to live like I do – laundry piling up, cabinets stocked with Easy Mac, dishes (read: shot glasses) sitting in the sink.

If this is truly some sort of natural instinct in women, when will it kick in for me? And why hasn’t it already?

After a lot of thought, I think I know what’s holding me back. It’s not that I just suck at these household duties – I am so afraid of what it actually means to perform them: growing up. Read More »


Coupled. In Church

In the few weeks before I moved away for college 3 years ago, I remember being over at a friend’s house when the topic of religion in college was brought up by her mom. She was a big supporter of being active in a church at school, arguing that it was the best place to meet like-minded people. “If you find someone in college that you fall in love with, it’ll be a heck of a lot easier if they’re the same religion as you.”

Back then I thought that religion should have nothing to do with love, but I may be starting to see her point of view.

I was raised Catholic. My boyfriend Matt was raised mainly by his Presbyterian mother, but his dad was Catholic and so Matt was baptized as an infant. In all reality, neither of us are very religious now. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve considered myself Christian, but have never been a big fan of organized religion. My beliefs are my own and I don’t like other people forcing their beliefs on to me.

None of that really means much now, religion doesn’t really come up much in our college relationship, but with Matt and I planning our future together, the topic of kids came up which begged the question: Do we raise them in the church, and if so, which one? Read More »


Being Grown Up Has Its Perks

200270087-001God, the kiddies sure do have it made. They have no worries other than what cartoon they will watch after school or what Snack Pack their mom threw in their lunchbox. Their homework consists of 10 math problems and they merely have to sit at a table to be fed a full, delicious home cooked meal.

And sometimes amidst classes and internships and jobs and scrounging around our kitchens for something to eat before our 6-hour library run we all have a pang of longing for that time in our lives. The days when we could sleep all day and not feel guilty that we missed a lecture, a study group and a day’s worth of quality homework progress. And then wake up, have mom make us a snack and drive us to the movies (where she’ll buy the ticket).

But while we do have a ton of responsibility now that we are “grown ups,” we also have a ton of new privileges now that the parentals aren’t breathing down our necks. And let me tell you – I’d trade in my Barbie Jeep for my curfew-less existence any day.

We can eat ice cream for breakfast
Far gone are the days of mom force-feeding us spinach and carrots, taunting us with the fact that we aren’t going to get that scrumptious brownie if we don’t finish all of our dinner. If I want to eat a bag of chips and chocolate cake for lunch, then I’m going to and there’s no one to stop me. Major plus for the grown ups.

We can live in a pigsty
When you played with your toys your mom would inevitably come in screaming that it looked like a tornado had ran through the room. Then she counted down from ten as you jumped into action picking up all of our Barbies and Beanie Babies. Not anymore. Want to toss your jeans over there? Done. That empty cereal bowl on the couch? Totally fine. (That is…until she comes to visit.) Read More »


Elementary Schools Put The Lame in Halloween

 

hot dog costume

Pretty sure hot dogs are scarier than a zombie.

 

Elementary school sure has changed since we were kids. Today, recess is getting shorter, cafeterias are getting healthier, and Halloween is getting much, much less fun.

Around the country, teachers and parents are crusading to make sure that kids celebrating Halloween aren’t dressing up in scary costumes in school. As Tom Hernandez of Plainfield, Illinois says in the article, “Some people thought Halloween was a Satanic ritual. Well, let’s not say Satanic — let’s say they were not comfortable with what it represents.”

As a result, students in Plainfield “are being encouraged to dress up as historical characters or delicious food items rather than vampires or zombies.” Because what little kid wouldn’t love dressing up as stalk of asparagus or Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, instead of as a zombie or a bloodsucking fiend?

It’s absolutely ridiculous that scary Halloween costumes have gone the way of snap bracelets and Pogs. The adults behind this silly campaign are probably all the type of buzzkills who hand out toothbrushes and shiny red apples when trick-or-treaters ring their doorbells. Read More »


What I Learned From My Summer Job

swim lessons

Unlike many of my friends, I didn’t spend my summer working my butt off at some incredible internship, or traveling around the globe checking out exotic places. I put my seven years of competitive swimming to use and decided to teach people how to swim at a nearby university. Not only did I get to enjoy the gorgeous Miami weather on a daily basis (when we weren’t having torrential downpours) and get to look at the even more gorgeous guys, I learned some very interesting things.

For example, even the cutest little girl’s vomit will be vile when you are covered with it. And, even though the adorable boy you teach can’t be more than 40 pounds, his “accidental” kicks to your lady parts will make you see stars. Every. single. time.

Since I don’t plan on teaching swimming or working with kids in the future, I didn’t anticipate learning anything super important through this job. I figured I’d be in the sun, make some money, and get really pruney fingers now and then. But while I was teaching these little kids how to stay afloat in a large body of water, they were teaching me a much bigger lesson. Read More »