Dear 1990s, You Were The Best As A Teen

Dear 1990s,

Thank you for being the most gloriously wild decade to grow up in. You were loud, crazy, and completely obsessed with slap bracelets and glitter… and honestly? You made chaos look fabulous.

You gave us Tamagotchis that died every 6 hours, frosted tips that defied gravity, and enough butterfly clips to start a small business. You raised us on Lisa Frank, Lip Smackers, and a dream that one day our denim overalls and mood rings would lead us straight to fame… Or at least a shout-out on TRL.

👗 Closet Chaos & Glitter Goals

Our closets were a fever dream. Neon windbreakers. Platform Skechers. Bucket hats that made no sense and chokers that were the ultimate accessory. We wore jelly sandals that gave us blisters and called it fashion. We applied body glitter like it was sunscreen and strutted into school like we were headed to the Kids’ Choice Awards.

🎒 Hallway Legends & School Day Glory

Thank you, 90s school life. You were epic. You turned school supplies into status symbols. We proudly marched into class with Lisa Frank folders featuring space dolphins and sassy unicorns like they were limited edition artwork. Our Trapper Keepers? Fort Knox for friendship notes. BookIt rewards meant pizza parties and endless bragging rights that made reading seriously cool. And if you had a pen with six ink colors in one barrel? You were elite. Possibly royalty.

💌 Notes, Crushes & Glitter Pens

We passed notes like spies. Folded with expert level origami skills. Inside? Bubble letters, song lyrics, and boxes to check if your crush liked you back. If your note got intercepted by the teacher? May God have mercy on your soul. Also, R.I.P. to all the friendships ruined by someone circling “Maybe.”

🍕 Cafeteria Royalty & Snack Time Glory

School lunch was controlled chaos with a side of sugar and mystery meat. Fruit by the Foot wrapped around fingers like edible friendship bracelets. Ring Pops were the bling we proudly wore (and licked). Pizza day was practically a holiday, rectangle slices and all. Nacho day meant orange cheese that defied science, and if your lunch came with a chocolate milk and a side of tater tots? You were living the dream. But if someone unzipped their lunchbox to reveal Dunkaroos? Game over. That kid ruled the lunch table like cafeteria royalty.

🌳 Outside Until the Streetlights Came On

After school, we were backyard legends in training. We bolted out the door like we were being released from jail. Tag? Extreme. Kick the Can? Life or death. We built forts out of sticks, scaled trees like squirrels, and swore we saw Bigfoot behind someone’s shed. There was always a quest, always a race to the ice cream truck, and always a challenge to sneak out past curfew.

🎡 School Events That Were Actually Fun

School events in the 90s were legendary. The fall carnival meant costumes, face paint, and cake walks where we circled folding chairs hoping to win a Funfetti masterpiece. We’d bob for apples, win goldfish in plastic bags, and leave with glitter all over our faces and candy in our pockets. Then came Field Day: the crown jewel of end-of-year celebrations. We raced in potato sacks, cheered for our class tug-of-war team, and lined up to dunk our favorite teacher in the dunking booth. After that, it was movies, popcorn in Styrofoam bowls, and orange soda in tiny wax cups until the final bell rang.

☀️ Summers Were an Endless Vibe

Thank you, 90s, for giving us the kind of summers that felt like magic. Summers that stretched on forever, filled with popsicles, bike rides, and sprinkler runs in the front yard. We stayed out until the streetlights flickered on, chasing lightning bugs and playing Ghost in the Graveyard barefoot in the grass. There were backyard barbecues with hot dogs, Kool-Aid, and cousins we only saw once a year. We spent days at the beach digging moats, days at the pool perfecting our cannonballs, and days at the lake tubing behind boats and skipping rocks until sunset. No phones, no plans… just summer, the way it was meant to be.

📺 TGIF & Saturday Morning Royalty

TGIF nights were our Super Bowl. Full House, Boy Meets World, Step by Step. We watched like our lives depended on it. Saturday mornings? Nothing but cartoons, cereal, and the sweet sound of Saved by the Bell reminding us to never trust a man with a cell phone the size of a brick.

📼 Blockbuster & Blanket Fort Heaven

Blockbuster nights? Peak luxury. We wandered those aisles like detectives on a mission, hunting for the perfect movie treasure. We acted like movie critics, giving Oscar-worthy reviews before even hitting play. Let’s not forget “Be Kind, Rewind” was not a suggestion… it was law. And you better believe we made a blanket fort to watch The Sandlot for the 84th time, quoting every line like it was Shakespeare.

🎶 The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Music was a whole thing. We made mix CDs with titles like “SUMMER CRUSH” and “Do Not Touch!!! For My ears Only.” We’d sit by the radio for HOURS waiting to hit “record” the second No Scrubs came on. MTV was our news source, TRL was our religion, and the iconic trio that dominated our radio was NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Britney.

😍 Heartthrobs, Posters & Pop Culture Dreams

Oh, and the heartthrobs. JTT ruled the world. We plastered our walls with posters from Tiger Beat and Bop like they were sacred scrolls. Justin Timberlake, Rider Strong, Devon Sawa, Andrew Keegan, and Joey Lawrence (whoa!)—they lived rent free in our daydreams. We truly believed we’d meet one of them at the mall food court or in line at Claire’s. Sadly, we did not.

📚 Books, Book Fairs & Binge Reads

Books were our personality. Babysitters Club taught us responsibility… sort of. Goosebumps gave us nightmares and we liked it. Sweet Valley High brought the drama, and Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys had us solving mysteries like junior detectives. And the Scholastic Book Fair? Straight-up euphoria!

🎲 Game Night Gold & Fortune-Telling Fun

Game time was chaos. Dream Phone told us our crush “liked our laugh.” Mall Madness gave us a fake credit card and a thirst for shopping. We wore plastic tiaras in Pretty Pretty Princess, yelled “YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP,” and screamed every time Perfection exploded. And MASH? We fully trusted a scribbled game on notebook paper to determine our entire adult future.

🎤 Sleepovers, Karaoke & Late-Night Laughs

Thank you for slumber parties with prank calls, karaoke performances, and enough Cheeto dust to stain our pajamas forever. We choreographed dances we thought would launch our careers. We stayed up too late talking about boys, ghosts, and whether or not our Tamagotchi could be brought back from the dead. (It couldn’t.)

💖 Dear 1990s, You Were the Vibe

And finally—thank you for letting us grow up just slow enough. We made real phone calls. We developed patience waiting for film. We played outside until the streetlights came on and came home covered in bug bites and bruises. We lived life unplugged, but fully lit.

So thank you, 1990s. For the beepers, the Beanie Babies, the Backstreet Boys, and the bonkers joy of it all.

You weren’t just a decade. You were a full blown ERA.

Still undefeated.

Yours Truly,
Your favorite 90s kids ~ still wearing scrunchies and still quoting Clueless ~
Katie