If you grew up as a 90s kid
Or you’re the parent of someone who did
Then this poem may just resonate
‘cos life back then was really great
This rhyme started as a spark inside my brain
When I got a Panini sticker book once again
Remember football players, teams and shinies
In playgrounds and swap shops back in the 90s?
And what about the other crazes:
Yo-Yo’s, Pogs and Beanie Babies
Did you ever try to make sea monkeys grow,
Or ‘feed’ a Tamagotchi all those years ago?
Remember begging your folks for popper trousers?
And tying knots at the front of summer blouses?
Scrunchies and braids; the green and yellow Man U shirt,
Crop tops, cotton cycling shorts and my best denim skirt.
What about the shoes that we had on our feet:
Reebok Classics and Kickers, man they were sweet!
High tops and sneakers when they weren’t even cool
Jelly shoes were essential at the beach or the pool.
Now there might be a thousand channels to flick through on Sky
But in the 90s I don’t think we had Channel 5
‘The Playbus’ and ‘Andy in the Broom Cupboard’ on CBBC
Then ‘Fun House’ and ‘The Hurricanes’ on CITV
We were scared of the Child Catcher but we loved Power Rangers
Saw ads for Calgon, being Tango’ed and ‘stranger danger’
The theme tunes for the shows were classic as well –
Remember ‘Hang Time’, ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Saved By The Bell’?
Weeknights meant ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Home and Away’
Then ‘Top of the Pops’ after tea on a Thursday
‘Live and Kicking’ was the start to a childhood weekend
But it was on Saturday night TV that we came to depend
Baywatch got things going, what a start to our night!
Gladiators next (to inspire our play fights)
Then Cilla, ‘our Graham’ and the fun of ‘Blind Date’
We finished with Casualty (BBC1, ten past eight)
If we were bored, we went outside to play
Swingball and hopscotch were the games of the day
We tried to hula hoop for as long as we could
I made my sis go in goal – she was younger, she should!
Six week summer holidays, the sun always shone
Ironically global warming seems to mean those days are now gone
But when not playing outside or watching TV,
We listened to music on a tape or CD
I remember when ‘Wannabe’ was number one
And arguing whether Mel C or Mel B was more fun
Eternal, Take That, Backstreet Boys and then Hanson
Mmmbop and Whigfield, they both got us dancing
The Macarena routine is stuck in my brain
We practised those moves again and again
The Fresh Prince rap is one we all know
Not to mention MC Hammer and of course Coolio
We actually grew up alongside Harry Potter
Scared ourselves reading Goosebumps and later Point Horror
Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario arrived
We spent hours on Gameboy and keeping Lemmings alive
We welcomed email and the Internet age
But it took over a minute to load one single page
When you called up a friend, you used the house phone
And if no one was in: “Please leave a message after the tone.”
Pick n Mix at the cinema was a big part of the trip
We all saw ‘The Lion King’, ‘Beethoven’ and ‘Free Willy’ doing the flip
When we left my Grandparents’ we got two jelly teddies as treats
Spent pocket money at the corner shop on penny sweets
If we were thirsty we had Panda Pops, UmBongo or Capri Sun
“Can you get your straw in? Me either! Help me Mum!”
We made ice-lollies with squash and ate Petit Filous
Fish fingers were yummy, potato waffles too
If you’re a 90s kid I hope you made sense of the rhyme
Just a few of my memories from back in time
Don’t stay in the past – we’re long out of school
But being a 90s kid… man, that was cool!
thatinkingfeeling 