I refuse to let go of my childhood playfulness! Don't get me wrong, I'm a busy and fairly successful 40-something adult, with the pros and cons that come with that. Yet I always try to make some time for play. Couple weeks ago I upgraded to a Playstation 5 and am going through a new game. Earlier this week, on a particularly sunny day, I ran off to walk a couple of miles of abandoned railroad tracks 😃
Love this post. Childhood wasn't the greatest but I do remember laying out in the grass with my older brother and imagining different things in the shapes of the clouds. We could lay out there for hours. Man, what an escape that was that I had forgotten all about. As for food, it may not be cereal, but my grandma used to make the best salmon patties and my grandpa made green beans that cooked overnight. When my grandma would come wake me for school and ask what I wanted for breakfast, if I knew we had leftovers, I would request salmon patties and papa's green beans!
That reminded me, in junior high school I had a friend who would knock on my door every single time it rained, all summer long, and we would go and lay on a nearby (usually hot) concrete driveway and just let the rain pelt us for I-can’t-remember how long. Every time it rained. Haven’t thought about that bizarre relationship in years, but I do remember how great it felt just lying there, sandwiched between hot concrete cool rain. Only kids can get away with this crap. It wasn’t even our driveway. We lived in apartment complex nearby. I wonder what the homeowner thought of us 🤣
I get it! What is the word? Petrichor? The smell of the earth after it rains. Nothing like it. I was once asked what I’d done the day before—I fired off like six things that made my day truly enjoyable (simple things like helping a friend declutter a closet) and was met with horror and disbelief. Why? Because it had rained the day before and the expectation was that it was a lost day. So, I truly appreciate someone who is willing to get caught in the rain and relish the experience. I own several umbrellas and never use any of them.
Golden grams, lucky charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, smacks, fruity pebbles, fruit loops, ooh and how can I forget Rice Krispies with adding my own sugar!
One of the things that made me feel good during my terrible childhood was garage sales. Despite having no power and little money, I could still get things I wanted and explore what I like because everything was dirt cheap.
My great-grandmother had an antique store, so luckily my mom valued second-hand stuff and was willing to let me go to neighborhood sales or take the bus to the Columbia mall’s weekend flea market.
I always feel joy when I go on a thrifting adventure. There’s a festive feeling of everyone walking around looking at all the weird items, the people tend to be friendly, and the dressing room at the rummage sales has a women’s “can you help me zip up this dress” camaraderie that can’t be beat. “Ooh, that looks great on you!” Or, “No it’s a little too big…”
This did lead to having too much stuff in my house, which as an adult I’ve rigorously purged down to a more manageable and minimalist amount. But I still love a great church rummage sale and I’m looking forward to the spring sale season here on the north shore of Chicago. You can find the best sales at http://northshorerummage.blogspot.com/?m=1. See you at the next sale!
I was a cereal mixer... my favorite: Cracklin' Oat Bran ("90s healthy") mixed with Lucky Charms and Raisin Bran. (sounds odd, but try it.) I loved cereal so much that I was renamed "Aunt Cereal" by my niece and nephew. It is all SO GOOD. :) thanks for the memories.
Honey Nut Cheerios for sure! We never had any sugary cereal, but every now and then my parents would get Honey Nut Cheerios. What about Life Cereal? That's a pretty bold name, don't you think? How could the food cereal company think that their cereal is so good they call it LIFE?? Why not, "little squares" or oaties? They think, oh no, this cereal is much bigger than that- This cereal is life I tell you! It's LIFE!!!! -Jerry Seinfeld
I had such a love-hate relationship with Life cereal, because it would get completely soggy and nasty so quickly. I think it's much better dry as a snack. But I don't eat cereal anymore because I am ravenous about 30 minutes after eating it. I eat more filling things now.
Biking down to 7-11 on a hot summer day with friends, getting a Slurpee in a 'baseball trading cup.' (I don't think I'm making this up but I'll have to verify!) Then coming back and finding a park and enjoying every icy bit of the Slurpee as an antidote to Southern California heat. Bonus if the trading cup had a Dodger player on it.
Sugar Pops and Captain Crunch. Honey Nut Cheerios weren't around when I was I kid, but I love them now (multi-grain is a close second). During the Covid lockdown I got back into doing jigsaw puzzles. I have one now, waiting right now for the dinning room table to be cleared of all my hubby's baseball cards I discovered in a box in the basement.
Chris, I was a true sugar fiend when I was a kid—my brother and I would eat an entire box of Frosted Flakes (and those days, there was no inflation box-shrinkage) at one sitting. There was usually about 3/4 of an inch of sugar at the box bottom; I'd eat that too. I still eat cereal all the time, but "healthy" cereal with much less sugar. Sigh.
Favorite cereal was always Cheerios, plan Cheerios, but then I'd put a tablespoon full of sugar in it and on the side, melted chocolate chips I could dip strawberries in. My mom melted chocolate chips nearly every morning. When I tell people I ate chocolate-covered strawberries for breakfast as a kid, they think I'm really bougie. ;)
I am actually using this post as an excuse to buy a Nintendo Switch. I used to love playing video games as a kid - and every once in awhile throughout my adult years - but for some time, I've thought of it as too frivolous for my busy life, so I gave my Playstation away. I was recently at a friends house, she was doing work and while I was waiting for her to get done, I played Mario on her Switch and just had a great time. So I'm going back to gaming!
PS: I can’t believe no one has named my favorite: Fruity Pebbles! I only indulge occasionally nowadays, but monstrous mounds of those amazingly colorful, artificially flavorful puffed rice grains may have made up most of my caloric intake as a child.
I think the advice young Chris would give old Chris would be “If you want to get your courage back, man …maybe shoplift once in a while? Gotta keep your edge!”
I loved both Captain Crunch and Freakies. They tasted the same, but the Freakies cereal was shaped differently than the Captain Crunch and came with little rubber Freakies in the box. The fact is that I still love Captain Crunch, although I seldom eat it these days.
I loved this and by the way I eat Cheerios still today. I was such a lucky kid my childhood memories are so amazing. I grew in the great outdoors of Colorado, fishing and camping with my sisters and our parents right there with us. Life was simple then and I live that way today. Thankyou.
Oops, sorry—I just noticed that comments were initially turned off for this post! My mistake. Should be fixed now. 🙂
I refuse to let go of my childhood playfulness! Don't get me wrong, I'm a busy and fairly successful 40-something adult, with the pros and cons that come with that. Yet I always try to make some time for play. Couple weeks ago I upgraded to a Playstation 5 and am going through a new game. Earlier this week, on a particularly sunny day, I ran off to walk a couple of miles of abandoned railroad tracks 😃
good for you!
Love this post. Childhood wasn't the greatest but I do remember laying out in the grass with my older brother and imagining different things in the shapes of the clouds. We could lay out there for hours. Man, what an escape that was that I had forgotten all about. As for food, it may not be cereal, but my grandma used to make the best salmon patties and my grandpa made green beans that cooked overnight. When my grandma would come wake me for school and ask what I wanted for breakfast, if I knew we had leftovers, I would request salmon patties and papa's green beans!
That reminded me, in junior high school I had a friend who would knock on my door every single time it rained, all summer long, and we would go and lay on a nearby (usually hot) concrete driveway and just let the rain pelt us for I-can’t-remember how long. Every time it rained. Haven’t thought about that bizarre relationship in years, but I do remember how great it felt just lying there, sandwiched between hot concrete cool rain. Only kids can get away with this crap. It wasn’t even our driveway. We lived in apartment complex nearby. I wonder what the homeowner thought of us 🤣
I get it! What is the word? Petrichor? The smell of the earth after it rains. Nothing like it. I was once asked what I’d done the day before—I fired off like six things that made my day truly enjoyable (simple things like helping a friend declutter a closet) and was met with horror and disbelief. Why? Because it had rained the day before and the expectation was that it was a lost day. So, I truly appreciate someone who is willing to get caught in the rain and relish the experience. I own several umbrellas and never use any of them.
Golden grams, lucky charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, smacks, fruity pebbles, fruit loops, ooh and how can I forget Rice Krispies with adding my own sugar!
The spoonfuls of sugary milk at the bottom of the rice krispies was THE BEST!!
SMACKS! I forgot about these! I loved them.
🥣 🐸 😋😄
One of the things that made me feel good during my terrible childhood was garage sales. Despite having no power and little money, I could still get things I wanted and explore what I like because everything was dirt cheap.
My great-grandmother had an antique store, so luckily my mom valued second-hand stuff and was willing to let me go to neighborhood sales or take the bus to the Columbia mall’s weekend flea market.
I always feel joy when I go on a thrifting adventure. There’s a festive feeling of everyone walking around looking at all the weird items, the people tend to be friendly, and the dressing room at the rummage sales has a women’s “can you help me zip up this dress” camaraderie that can’t be beat. “Ooh, that looks great on you!” Or, “No it’s a little too big…”
This did lead to having too much stuff in my house, which as an adult I’ve rigorously purged down to a more manageable and minimalist amount. But I still love a great church rummage sale and I’m looking forward to the spring sale season here on the north shore of Chicago. You can find the best sales at http://northshorerummage.blogspot.com/?m=1. See you at the next sale!
No power and little money summarizes my adult life pretty well. :) I love garage sales still.
I was a cereal mixer... my favorite: Cracklin' Oat Bran ("90s healthy") mixed with Lucky Charms and Raisin Bran. (sounds odd, but try it.) I loved cereal so much that I was renamed "Aunt Cereal" by my niece and nephew. It is all SO GOOD. :) thanks for the memories.
Honey Nut Cheerios for sure! We never had any sugary cereal, but every now and then my parents would get Honey Nut Cheerios. What about Life Cereal? That's a pretty bold name, don't you think? How could the food cereal company think that their cereal is so good they call it LIFE?? Why not, "little squares" or oaties? They think, oh no, this cereal is much bigger than that- This cereal is life I tell you! It's LIFE!!!! -Jerry Seinfeld
I had such a love-hate relationship with Life cereal, because it would get completely soggy and nasty so quickly. I think it's much better dry as a snack. But I don't eat cereal anymore because I am ravenous about 30 minutes after eating it. I eat more filling things now.
Biking down to 7-11 on a hot summer day with friends, getting a Slurpee in a 'baseball trading cup.' (I don't think I'm making this up but I'll have to verify!) Then coming back and finding a park and enjoying every icy bit of the Slurpee as an antidote to Southern California heat. Bonus if the trading cup had a Dodger player on it.
I wasn't making them up! https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/memorabilia/7-eleven-baseball-slurpee-cups
Sugar Pops and Captain Crunch. Honey Nut Cheerios weren't around when I was I kid, but I love them now (multi-grain is a close second). During the Covid lockdown I got back into doing jigsaw puzzles. I have one now, waiting right now for the dinning room table to be cleared of all my hubby's baseball cards I discovered in a box in the basement.
Chris, I was a true sugar fiend when I was a kid—my brother and I would eat an entire box of Frosted Flakes (and those days, there was no inflation box-shrinkage) at one sitting. There was usually about 3/4 of an inch of sugar at the box bottom; I'd eat that too. I still eat cereal all the time, but "healthy" cereal with much less sugar. Sigh.
Happy to see someone mention one of my favorites - Frosted Flakes! With Tony the Tiger!
Favorite cereal was always Cheerios, plan Cheerios, but then I'd put a tablespoon full of sugar in it and on the side, melted chocolate chips I could dip strawberries in. My mom melted chocolate chips nearly every morning. When I tell people I ate chocolate-covered strawberries for breakfast as a kid, they think I'm really bougie. ;)
I am actually using this post as an excuse to buy a Nintendo Switch. I used to love playing video games as a kid - and every once in awhile throughout my adult years - but for some time, I've thought of it as too frivolous for my busy life, so I gave my Playstation away. I was recently at a friends house, she was doing work and while I was waiting for her to get done, I played Mario on her Switch and just had a great time. So I'm going back to gaming!
The Switch is great! I bought one during COVID and it was and still is a great way to relax and have fun (Mario Kart especially).
PS: I can’t believe no one has named my favorite: Fruity Pebbles! I only indulge occasionally nowadays, but monstrous mounds of those amazingly colorful, artificially flavorful puffed rice grains may have made up most of my caloric intake as a child.
I think the advice young Chris would give old Chris would be “If you want to get your courage back, man …maybe shoplift once in a while? Gotta keep your edge!”
As a guy who had a shoplifting "business" for three years in high school, I know what you mean. But these, days, I think I'll garden instead.
I loved both Captain Crunch and Freakies. They tasted the same, but the Freakies cereal was shaped differently than the Captain Crunch and came with little rubber Freakies in the box. The fact is that I still love Captain Crunch, although I seldom eat it these days.
Captain Crunch was great—except when you ate it passionately, as I did, the roof of your mouth might bleed.
The oral injury was such a small price to pay!
You did make me laugh on that one.
I loved this and by the way I eat Cheerios still today. I was such a lucky kid my childhood memories are so amazing. I grew in the great outdoors of Colorado, fishing and camping with my sisters and our parents right there with us. Life was simple then and I live that way today. Thankyou.
frosties... coco pops.. especially in the mini packs.. for little people.
climbing trees, making rose petal perfumes, going in other people's attics.. making my doll do the garden assault course.. why do we work? Remind me.