Child of the 70s

One of my best friends sent me this by email and it made me all nostalgic and wistful for my youth. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at some of the ridiculous things we latched onto as “cool” and it brought back a flood of other memories. I’ve bolded the original description and then added my comments after. Enjoy. Let me know what it brings back for you.

IF YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 70′S…

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it. Or at least if you were my best friend you did. If you were me, you had a bright red one, with chopper style bars and a red and white striped seat that your Dad made. At the time, I was mortified. 34 years later I’m grateful for such an amazing father.

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels. I did have these. I first had the type that strapped on to your shoe though. After the pair pictured I graduated to rubber wheels with the big rubber toe stop. I spent every Saturday morning at Wheels Roller Arena thinking I was all that and a bag of chips.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!) So embarrassing, but yes, yes I did. I was also insanely jealous of Vicki Stubing who got to live on the boat.

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island. There was this one episode in particular with dummies. I’m still scared to death of ventriloquists. Also Tattoo creeped me out.

You had either a ‘bowl cut’ or ‘pixie’, not to mention the ‘Dorothy Hamill’.
People sometimes thought you were a boy. Oh dear lord, yes, I did have a Dorothy Hamill. I also had a Farrah Fawcett. I looked good in neither.

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days. Moon boots rocked. Even though I never had a pair, I just envied the cool kids that did.

YEAH! You owned a ‘Slip-n-Slide’ , on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.
Thought about buying one of these for my kids until I remembered my own personal experience with wedgies and skin getting caught on dry surfaces and face plants.

You owned ‘Klick-Klacks’ and smacked yourself in the face more than once ! More dangerous than numchuks. Can you imagine putting these things into the hands of your child today?

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession. I was Holly Hobbie obsessed.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers. Sadly, yes.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon. This game rocked and had loud beeping sounds which drove parents crazy. Bonus points for that.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sunshine family.
Yup. Guilty as charged. I also didn’t know who was prettier.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the
Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture;
and you despised Nellie Olson! Yes! Yes! Yes! I hated that Nellie and I totally wanted a little house on the prairie. I still do.

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.
I did know who these characters were before they got all gussied up for my children and turned into real tarts.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic. With the thermos, inside some were glass and broke the first time you dropped them. The Muppets rocked. Still do. Totally owned this.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.
No. Not really. I would however get my chips, dip and Pop Shoppe pop every Friday night and watch them torment Boss Hogg.

It was a big event in your household each year when the ‘Wizard of Oz’ would come on TV.
Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!
Sort of but the monkeys really scared me. *shiver* It was an equally big event when The Ten Commandments came on. Now that kept me glued to the TV.

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: ‘Who will I marry.
Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?’ D’uh, no I didn’t. I used to imagine they would all fight over who was going to marry me! I’m kind of thankful these were only childhood fantasies. Did you see how Leif Garrett turned out?

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.
I most certainly did. Grease especially. I played out that part when Olivia Newton-John stamps out the cigarette at least a thousand times. Maybe I should blame them for my early smoking habit?

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker. The trick was to have one finger on record and one on play and try to press them at the exact moment the DJ would stop talking and shut off before the commercials cut in. This was a real art my friends.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books.
(Are you there God, It’s me, Margaret.) Oh my god, I remember reading these and thinking “My mother would have a kitten if she knew I was reading this”. This is probably why I loved them so.

You thought Olivia Newton John’s song ‘Physical’ was about aerobics. It’s not about aerobics? What?

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs. Yup. On the white leather running shoes. With my Pentimento or Jordache jeans.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer. I was more a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader wannabe, but I watched Solid Gold faithfully. I also though Denny Terrio from Dance Fever was super cute. Oooh, oooh and remember Captain and Tenille? Sonny and Cher. Ah, the good old days of the Variety Show.

You drowned yourself in Love’s Baby Soft – which was the first ‘real’ perfume you ever owned. I could not get enough of this stuff. Sort of like how my teenage stepson can’t get enough Axe on him. I now know how truly offensive I must have smelled.

You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it dripped off. (Kissing Potion, I believe it was called) Thinking back on it, this was probably the beginning of my addiction to lip products. Lip balm, lipstick, lip gloss, it’s the one thing I can’t go without.