Millennial childhood

@sissy15 (13515)
United States
September 6, 2026 9:45pm CST
I always say if stores catered more to millennials, they'd make a fortune. If they brought back all of our childhood toys or sold things from our childhood, we'd eat it up. There are retro stores, but to be able to buy new versions of our childhood or find brand-new furniture that is a replica of what we had in our houses during our childhood. If restaurants went back to the designs of our childhood, back when McDonald's was a happy place to go, and Pizza Hut and Taco Bell had their looks back in the day. I've seen that there are several Pizza Huts that still look like they did in the 90s, but it's only a handful of them, and you have to look for them. I just feel like when Millennials grew up, so did everything else. The 90s were one of the best times to be a kid. We knew what life was like before the internet was in every home, but we also got to be some of the first to use the new technology. I look back, and I think about how amazing all of the advertising was back then. They went hard on commercials for children's toys and snacks. There was a jingle for everything, and it got stuck in your head, and kids would find themselves asking their parents for a product they saw on TV. My parents rarely bought me anything outside of Christmas and my birthday, so I'd get a list going, and I would get some things on my list, but I never got everything I wanted. I felt fortunate to get the things I did get. There are only a handful of things I never got that I was genuinely upset about. One of those things was Moon Shoes. I wanted them so bad. I begged my mom, and she never got them for me. Looking back, I think she knew what I wouldn't have admitted to myself, and that's that I was uncoordinated and probably would have broken my ankles. I have been seeing old 90s advertisements for toys popping up on my FB that have me remembering a lot of the toys from my childhood that I did actually get. I have a lot of friends who are jealous that I actually got Mall Madness, and I still own it to this day. There are several toys I saw commercials for that I wanted and never got. I moved on from the vast majority, but there are still a few I see here and there that I wish I had gotten because I probably would still have them. I kept a few things from my childhood. My parents threw out or got rid of a lot of my childhood toys, some of which I wish I still had. I would have loved to give them to my son. I don't want much as an adult, but I do miss things from my childhood. I think one of my biggest grievances from childhood was always that my mom refused to ever let my brother or me play in a McDonald's play place. We couldn't play inside or outside. We didn't have a McDonald's with a play place near us, but when we did go to one, I never got to play in it. My parents didn't want to watch us outside, and they said the one inside had too many germs, something I now understand, but at the time it was a sticking point. I would watch enviously as all of the other kids got to play while I was stuck on the outside looking in. I also remember kids getting to have birthday parties at McDonald's; I never got to be one of those children, nor did I ever get invited to one, but several of my classmates had them, which I didn't get invited to because I wasn't popular. I remember one of the nearby McDonald's had an N64, and my parents did let us play with that. I remember when we were really lucky, we would go to the mall, and my brother and I would get to go to KB Toys, which we never got to buy things from, but we got to browse. We would get to buy something from the Dollar Tree at the mall, and we would get to look at the pet store there and the bookstore, and then from the mall we would occasionally get to go to McDonald's or Burger King. I am always looking at thrift stores or retro stores for parts of my childhood. I rarely buy anything, but once in a great while I'll find something I can't pass up, because it represents a large part of my childhood. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I find I can't help myself if it's the right price.
4 people like this
3 responses
@rsa101 (42052)
• Philippines
7 Sep
I think every generation has its own version of the best years, based on how they define and experience them. As someone born in the 70s, I’d say we had our own unique ways of doing things, different from those born in the 80s, 90s, and beyond.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13515)
• United States
7 Sep
You're right, they do, but the 90s are making a major resurgence in a way other generations have not, probably because this is the first resurgence with social media taking front and center, minus the 80s resurgence, but it still wasn't built up quite the way the 90s are. The 90s is the sweet spot of all of the decades because it's the last generation that had a life before technology took over, but that had access to the internet and computers in a way no other generation did.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (42052)
• Philippines
7 Sep
@sissy15 Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were born in the 1950s and kicked off a tech trend that we in the 70s followed, building on the innovations they started. By the 80s and 90s, a whole new generation benefited from these advancements, growing up without ever having to use typewriters.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13515)
• United States
7 Sep
@rsa101 I know it all started well before the 90s, but the millennial generation got the best of both worlds in a way no other generation before or since has seen. We got a world before the internet and computers were in every household, while also being among the first to have them in our homes and learn how to use them. Every generation had new technology come out during their childhood, but the millennials kind of got the fast track to everything.
1 person likes this
@Wrexxo (8306)
•
7 Sep
the moon shoes thing got me, i wanted those so bad too and now as an adult i get why our moms said no lol. mall madness is a legit W though, thats a solid childhood flex. the mcdonalds play place ban is so relatable, my mom was the same about germs
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13515)
• United States
7 Sep
Moon shoes were probably the worst idea ever, and yet every child wanted them. The idea of them was exciting. As an adult, I can fully understand why I never got them. I'm sure my mom probably saved me from so many illnesses as a child by not letting me play, but the adult version of me is still a little salty that I never got to play. I never got to take my son to places like that because they weren't a thing around here, but now that he's too big for it, I'm seeing play places are making a comeback.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (128143)
• United States
7 Sep
I had an Urkel doll, from the show, Family Matters. You pulled a string, and it said, “Got any cheese?”, “Did I do that?”, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”, and so on. I remember it cost $7, and I bought it after saving up my allowance money. I had it until my twenties when my dad found it in the garage and threw it out. I don’t know how he didn’t realize how much it would be worth one day, but he didn’t. What a shame. Oh, and we have a Mall Madness game still, too!
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (13515)
• United States
7 Sep
A lot of the time, parents just want to get rid of clutter, not realizing exactly what they're getting rid of. I saw several years ago that they made a newer version of Mall Madness, but I only ever saw it once and wasn't able to buy it. I was going to buy it later, but I couldn't find it anymore. It didn't seem to sell as well as the 90s/00s version did. My son and I have whipped out my game a few times and played. He surprised me by actually liking it. My game has seen some better days, and I have had to tape up the cardboard part that goes over all of the stores, but it is still in mostly decent condition. I still have the voice stuck in my head: "eww, long line, try again later" or "your item will be 5 dollars more".
1 person likes this