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1. Being the lead in the school play = career as actress.
2. Jameson Parker was the hottest man alive. (I was not alone!)
3. A dollar at the Handy Store near my Nonna’s house was A WEALTH OF CASH.
4. Hitting boys was a good way to make them love you.
5. I should not have to go to bed.
6. I should not have to get up.
7. I didn’t need a babysitter.
8. I would love my Snoopy doll forever.
9. Coats were for losers.
10. I was going to get married when I was 20.

1. Curlers looked better IN hair than NOT in hair.
2. My stuffed animals were alive when I wasn’t looking.
3. If my mom would put more water in the bathtub, I could totally SWIM.
4. White patent leather shoes were the utmost in style. With kneesocks.
5. I should not have to go to bed.
6. I should not have to get up.
7. Nailpolish is a God-given right.
8. My “Angel Cake” Strawberry Shortcake doll was the best smelling thing on earth.
9. My brother should do whatever I say.
10. I was going to get married when I was 15.

Well, at least SOMETHING to tie together a toilet paper ad and early Kevin Bacon films, besides possibly the extent of fluff involved and the close relationship with… well… crap.

But the ACTUAL theme for the rest of the week here at the ‘Com is Things We Were Obsessed With As Kids.

In my case, two of those things were fluffy television kittens and Kenny Loggins kickin’ off his Sunday shoes.

For you, it could have been Transformers or an EZ Bake Oven or a BB Gun or Lego or the stone you used to write on the cave walls. Especially since the age range of people coming here stretches from 15 to 83! And my dad, somewhere in the middle.

So…

1. What stands out in your memory as the favourite toy of your childhood/early teen years?

2. What song do you remember listening to repeatedly as a kid?

3. What item of clothing sticks out for you as something you a) wore too often and b) didn’t wash enough because it was so cool and you had to put it on every day?

The looking-through-of-boxes went off without a hitch last night, though I have to say it was surreal to be reunited with strange items like my Rowlf the Dog Ceramic Piano and the now-mangled trophy I received for winning the Journalism 12 award (in grade ten.)

Sometimes it surprises me to look back and see the things I loved (a doll that smelled like oranges?), and sometimes, it makes absolute sense… because I still love those things.

What things?

Well, my Kermit the Frog with velcro flippers, my Snoopy doll with the wardrobe of clothes (including his rainwear, his baseball uniform, his surgical scrubs, and his track suit), and my “minky”: a large, fluffy monkey my Uncle Dave bought for me when I was six or seven.

Now, initially, I did not like the minky, because he was as big as my upper body and furry in a way that none of my other animals were. I believe I rejected him on sight, actually, which led to a series of follow-up gifts attempting to win back my heart (probably a bad precedent to set, but it worked out just fine for me.)

Fortunately (as with half the guys I’ve dated) I got past his weird looks and hairiness and fell utterly in love.

(With the minky, not my Uncle Dave.)

I also got to re-discover a bunch of my old elementary-age poetry and some report cards that indicated that a) I had an oddly vocal sense of humour in first grade; and b) I did not feel math was relevant to my future (grade three.)

I’ll be posting some photos of my “art” and excerpts from such fine treatises as “How To Care For a Dog” and “Lola and Lana the Christmas Mice”. Oh, and the photo of me winning the pumpkin carving contest in second grade in which the pumpkin and I are missing the same tooth.

Awesome.