Childhood nostalgia.

I really miss being a kid.

Let me be clear. For all intensive purposes, I'm still a kid. I live at home. My parents feed me. I'm still unemployed (ugh). I have friends my age that live on their own, have careers, are married, and have kids. So, in the grand scheme of things, I'm still a kid.

BUT, I miss the simplicity of childhood. I miss not worrying about my appearance, my health, finding a job, finding a significant other, maintaining friendships, and what happens next. Life used to be so simple...and it was awesome.

I remember playing in the backyard with my brother and sister. We pretended we were British explorers. We would speak to each other in horrible accents, wade around in our creek, then pretend we were climbing a dangerous mountain when, in reality, we were walking up our hill. We would approach my mom as if she were a stranger. We'd say, "Oh, hello there, mate. We've been lost all day and just came across your inn. May we stay the night and have a nice supper?" She would play along. "Oh, yes. Of course. In fact, I have three kids about your age, but they are out of town. You could even borrow some of their clothes for the night."

I remember peeling dried glue off my fingers. I remember hand claps and Goosebumps books. I remember choreographing intricate dances with my siblings and friends, then selling my parents tickets for the performances. I remember pogs, slap bracelets, and the Pokemon craze. I remember recording my favorite songs on cassette tapes and begging my mom to buy me the new Spice Girls singles. I remember wanting to marry Billy the Blue Power Ranger because he was understated (unlike attention whore Tommy), wore glasses, served as the brains of the operation, and clearly had an emotional side. I remember playing Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, and Mario Kart 64 for hours.

I remember going to the skating rink, although I couldn't skate, because it was the cool thing to do. I remember being jealous during the couples' skates and hanging out primarily in the food court/arcade area. I remember my absurd crush on Josh Server from the original cast of All That. I remember playing MASH and keeping everything in trendy trapper keepers. I remember obsessing over Beanie Babies, naming my real turtles after the Ninja Turtles, and being terrified of Furbies. I remember the Macarena, Doug and Patty, and Mike O'Malley's stint on Guts. I remember fluoride rinses at school, Heads Up 7-Up, exciting trips to the Dollar Store, and every awesome Disney movie. I remember Saved by the Bell and 'the Blue Barracudas win the half pendant of life!'

I remember every line in both Ace Ventura movies and all the words to "Happy Happy Joy Joy." I lived by Total Request Live, worshipped Carson Daly, and screamed like a maniacal teenybopper at every mention of the Backstreet Boys. I read The Boxcar Children and The Baby-Sitters Club. I ran through sprinklers, slip 'n slid(?), and ate ice cream every single day. I bought Tiger Beat magazine and covered my room in posters. I rocked the Easy Bake Oven, Skip It, Bop It, and Nano Pet craze. I'm still annoyed by Ferguson Darling, Steve Urkel, and Danny Tanner. I cut the goo out of Stretch Armstrong, secretly ate Play-Doh, and stayed up late to watch Tales from the Crypt.

I remember when this was the hottest thing I had ever seen:



Oh, that's right. It still is.

Basically, I miss being naive, carefree, and constantly happy. That was the life. Adults could do no wrong, alcohol and drugs weren't a factor, I wasn't concerned about what others thought of me, and I wasn't aware of the ugliness of the world. Sometimes when I'm worried about my brother in boot camp or stressing over my future occupation and relationship status, I wish I could go back to the days when my biggest issue was the Backstreet Boys being #2 on TRL.

Back your shit up, N'Sync.