If you were born in 1986 like me, then you were raised in what might be the weirdest, most wonderful, delightfully awkward time in history: the 90s.
Before WiFi, before smartphones, and definitely before “aesthetic” was a thing, we had jelly shoes, cassette tapes, and a whole lot of neon.

We were the last generation to grow up analog—and the first to go digital.
Which means we know how to write in cursive and program the VCR (sort of).

So here’s to the decade that raised us, humbled us, and gave us way too many butterfly clips an late fees at Blockbuster.

---

📺 Saturday Mornings Were Sacred

Before binge-watching was a thing, you had one chance to catch your favorite cartoon—and if you missed it? Too bad. You were stuck waiting a whole week (or hoping your friend taped it on VHS).

We lived for Doug, Recess, The Magic School Bus, and Clarissa Explains It All.
Bonus points if you had a sugary bowl of cereal in front of you and your feet tucked into some glittery, fluffy slippers from Limited Too.

---

📞 “Get Off the Internet, I Need to Use the Phone!”

Ah yes, the sweet screeching screech of dial-up internet. Nothing builds character like waiting 5 minutes to log onto AOL just to read one email that said “fwd: fwd: fwd: UR CRUSH LIKES YOU.”

And if someone picked up the landline?
GAME OVER.

We had AIM away messages with tragic song lyrics and screen names like CutiePie86 or XoSk8rChickXo. And we thought we were SO cool.

---

👖 The Fashion Was… Unforgivable

Jelly shoes.
Windbreakers that swished with every step.
T-shirt clips.
White eyeliner.
Overalls with one strap down.
And chokers—so many chokers.

We layered like it was an Olympic sport. And don’t even get me started on butterfly hair clips or scrunchies that matched literally nothing.

---

🎶 Mixtapes Were a Love Language

We didn’t have Spotify playlists—we had mixtapes. Carefully crafted from radio recordings (with the DJ’s voice halfway in there), or burned CDs that you wrote on with a Sharpie.

If someone made you a mix, you knew it was serious.

And we all knew every word to TLC, Alanis Morissette, No Doubt, Coolio, and every single track on the “Now That’s What I Call Music” CD.

Now and Then was sacred, scary movies were all the rage, and the payphone was the place you ran to to tell your parents you’re ready to be picked up from the movie theater. “Please accept a collect call from……Momthemovieisovercomeandgetus”

---

😎 Growing Up With Freedom (and Danger)

Our moms told us to “go outside and be home before dark.” We like weren’t allowed inside, like ever.
We rode bikes helmet-free, drank from garden hoses, and created full-blown imaginary kingdoms in backyards and cul-de-sacs. No GPS. No Life360. Just us, some fruit snacks, and the honor system.

We played Oregon Trail in the school computer lab and died of dysentery with pride.

We tried our hardest to keep our Tamagotchis alive, but to no avail.

Our Lisa Frank notebooks and folders filled our Jansport backpacks.

We passed notes in class that had more drama than a Netflix series.

And if you got to hold the TV cart remote in school? You were royalty.

---

🧡 Why It All Still Matters

Growing up in the 90s gave us something rare: a little bit of innocence, a lot of imagination, and the ability to entertain ourselves without a screen for a few solid hours.

We learned how to wait for things.
How to rewind our favorite movie with a pencil.
How to exist in the awkward, unfiltered, hilarious in-between space of childhood and teenhood—without a highlight reel.

We may not have had smartphones, but we had something better: freedom, weirdness, and slap bracelets.

---

Final Thought

Being born in 1986 meant we were just old enough to remember how things used to be, but young enough to still adapt to how things are now. We’re the nostalgia-loving, meme-understanding, still-slightly-traumatized-by-MySpace generation.

And honestly? Besides the fact that I still don’t know where Carmen Sandiego is…

It’s true what they say…
If you know, you know.