Only True 90s Kids Know This Feeling

16/03/2016
Cai Burton

Cai on the 90s and how nostalgia makes us reflect on both the past, present and the future.

We get it okay… Everybody loved the 90s.

39 awesome things only 90s kids will remember. 33 of the best things only 90s kids will appreciate. 30 things only those who are true 90s kids would understand. We get it okay, everybody loved the 90s. Even I – born in 1996, thus spending the majority of the 90s either in a womb or in nappies – look back on the 90s with fondness. Ah, wasn’t it great. Seven reasons why 90s dummies tasted the best. 26 letters you only learned if you were a true 90s kid. But perhaps I’m simply bitter that I didn’t get this idealistic 90s childhood that people are always going on about.

Source: YouTube

In all honesty, the 90s did sound great and what I experienced of them was too. They were making some quality Disney films back then, the ‘Goosebumps’ books still give me chills remembering them and Pokémon Red will always be my favorite game. Even though I didn’t exactly get the full 90s experience, it’s still something I’ve got a connection to. I look back on those years with nostalgia, and – along with everyone else born before the noughties – I can’t help but compare it to the way kids grow up today.

I look back on those years with nostalgia…

You hear it all the time – ‘Kids these days don’t know what it’s like. They’ve got it so easy, with their iPhones and their YouTubes and all of the selfies that they’re always taking. Don’t they just have it easy? They’re always getting things handed to them on a plate. Things were better in my day.’ There are queues of people lining up to have a dig at the youngest generation for something or other.

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I mean, have you actually listened to the words in the Macarena recently?

But I mean, were they really better?

While the 90s was idyllic childhood in my head, the reality was probably very different. You say that ‘The X Factor’ is bad, and that people these days will do anything to get on TV? Well during the 90s, there was a show where people actually did anything to get on tv. Simply search for ‘The Hopefuls’ on YouTube and you’ll choose ‘The X Factor’ any day. I didn’t actually like much of the music and I think most of us would choose wifi over dial-up any day. Don’t even get me started on some of the fashion trends. Perhaps I’m only remembering the best bits from my childhood, and I’m letting those bits define my generation.

Source: Pinterest

Everyone thinks that the time they grew up in was great. We’ve all got those moments that we’ll never forget, and there were times when we all loved being a kid. Just as equally as we all think our childhood was the best, there will always be an older generation that thinks that their childhood was the best. ‘Kids these days’ will always ‘have it easy’, whether those are 90s kids, millennials or 2090s kids.

Source: Bustle

When I look back on my childhood, I remember the good bits.

Nostalgia is a weird thing.

On the one hand, it makes you feel warm and fuzzy when you look back on something you liked at the time. However on the other hand, it can make you blind to all the negative things about it. When I look back on my childhood, I remember the good bits. Which is why I think the 90s (or rather the early noughties if I’m being honest with myself) were so great. In many ways, the 90s were so much fun, and there are plenty of lists that tell you exactly that too. But there were equally a lot of bad things about them too, and we mustn’t forget that it wasn’t all perfect and rosy.

To pick apart a child’s upbringing because they don’t have the same things that you do isn’t fair. There are so many good things about being a kid today – they can watch entertaining videos online, they can keep in contact with their friends easily and they don’t have to wait until a song comes on the radio for them to record it onto a tape to listen to their favorite song. Nostalgia is great, but it shouldn’t cloud how you feel about today. It wasn’t always a better time when you were growing up. Pokemon Red however, will always be my favorite game.

What was your favourite thing about growing up? What do you think you’ll miss when you’re old? Get in touch and let us know on our Myspace or MSN Messenger

Or you could check out Rife Guide? It’s tight, man.