January 2012

"The Very Special Episode"

The shows explained these topics in ways which kids could understand.

What ever happened to the “very special episodes” of sitcoms? I kind of miss them. Many 80s and 90s family sitcoms had these episodes. These episodes usually taught a lesson to kids and teens. Many network TV shows which were appropriate for parents and kids to watch together would air these types of episodes. Some of these programs included: Blossom, Diff'rent Strokes, Family Matters and Growing Pains.

These “very special episodes” were more serious than usual episodes and touched on the then very taboo topics of rape, drug use, anorexia, underage drinking, racism and more. The shows explained these topics in ways which kids could understand. The hope was to teach kids the right thing to do if they found themselves in bad situations. Many times at the end of the episode, some of the stars would talk out of character using their real names to promote a charity or help line that was related to the topic of the episode. Parents and kids would sit down and talk about the shows together.

What's Up with Kids' Birthday Parties These Days?

What’s up with kids’ birthday parties these days? Have you noticed the growing number of lavish events? When I was a kid, my mom used to throw me lovely parties at our home. Some were day time parties and everyone would leave happily with a goodie bag. Sometimes me or one of my classmates would have a party at McDonalds and jump in the ball pit; this was considered a super special party at the time. As a tween and teen, I began to have sleepovers which were awesome. I have the greatest memories to this day of staying up all night with my friends and playing silly games.

These days, it seems like a kid’s party has to have chocolate fountains, a pony and belly dancers to be considered cool. We see the super-rich throwing their children all sorts of expensive parties on reality shows, but this craze even extends into middle class America. Many parents are running up credit card debt or using up their savings just so their kids can have a birthday party that keeps up with the Joneses.

Awesome 80s Toys Remembered

I used to hide from the doll because it reminded me of Chucky from the horror movies.

Kids of the 2000s are used to all of their toys being electronic and ready to connect to the World Wide Web. Us kids of the 80s were happy with simpler items that to this day I consider totally awesome. Let’s take a look back at some of the tubular (yes, I said tubular) 80s toys.

Popples

 Popples were one of my personal favorite 80s toys. Popples were wonderful and cuddly little creatures. To this day, I am not totally sure what Popples were supposed to be. Were they bears? These cute little friends had pom-pom tails. The best part of all is that they had their own pouches so that they could curl into a ball. You could play with the ball and then pop it back into a pet. I had the blue Popple, what about you?

Teddy Ruxpin

Thinking back, Teddy Ruxpin was a little ahead of his time. Teddy Ruxpin was a talking bear. He had a cassette in his back and would read stories to you. I am not sure if Teddy Ruxpin was supposed to encourage youngster to love learning to read or if he was an excuse for parents not to read bed times stories to their kids, but nonetheless he was considered really cool at the time.