Saturday, March 1, 2008

Sugar and spice and everything nice.

The husband kept asking me this morning as he posted about video games whether I wished I was a boy. Well, being a girl really sucked after I hit about twelve or so, but before that, I had some experiences which rival Marcus' memories of playing video games with his brothers.

First, there are the entire Saturday afternoons that I spent reading
Babysitters' Club books outside on the swings:




Or the evenings in the fourth grade when I would come home and read
Animorphs while listening to Backstreet Boys and Hanson:


Oh the crushes that I had on Jake and Marco.







Oh and the even more serious crushes on Brian and Taylor. There were some feelings there.

And then the fact that I would also play with my Barbie dolls. My next door neighbor, Jana, who was two years older than me (and the coolest girl in school-- everyone thought so) would come over, and we would pretend that our Barbie's had boyfriends (because once you got married, things were boring). My favorite Barbie outfit (which I can't find a picture of) was a bright pink going-out dress that looked like a Spandex bodysuit with a giant tutu attached to it. Man, oh man.








I totally had this Barbie doll.



And this Barbie Jeep.

And, in my spare time, when you know I wasn't totally trying to impress Jana, I would read
American Girl books.


Felicity was my favorite.

And then when I got a little older (you know, the ripe old age of 11) and decided that I needed to read about more grown-up things, I started on the Sweet Valley High books. Those are such gems.



Those books really taught me what to expect when I went to high school. All the drama with friends and boys and crazy parties. You know, all that stuff that I experienced in high school.

And I also never nonchalantly worked my way through
Anna Karenina for about two months or so.

So, while I may not have memories of different video game systems, game books, and television shows like Marcus does, I was getting done as a kid. Super getting it done.

2 comments:

Charlotte said...

Yay for girls! I also read every single Babysitter's Club book I could get my hands on, and I loved every second.
I had three American Girls dolls and their book collections: Samantha was my first, then I got Kirsten, and then Felicity. Felicity is a serious beauty. Her red hair. Samantha is the strongest in my memory, though- when I got her was when I was into it the most. I read all the books so many times and would dress her up in the proper outfits. I even had a matching dress for me, which was terribly flattering on my rotund pre-growth spurt body.
I was never into Animorphs or Barbie dolls. I do however feel you ultimately on the Brian crushing. Only I was 16 at the time. Let's just keep that in mind.

Reagan said...

I also loved Babysitter's Club books, but a little earlier than you and Charlotte, so I probably didn't make it as far as you in those or the Sweet Valley High books. And the American Girl dolls just got started when I was in middle school. I had Kirsten, and now Jenny and Reagan have her, along with their own. Girls are much more fun than boys!