Dates Me

This morning I was bragging to Joseph about my remarkable childhood. He said "You had a cool childhood, Lara. A cool, really unpopular childhood."

And I realize I did. Looking back, I think my childhood kicks bum bum, and at the time, I too thought it kicked bum bum. It was only when I went to school and realized that most kids weren't like me that my childhood became "unpopular".

I was a 90s baby. 

I never listened to NSYNC. I knew some of the songs because of Kids Bop though. And I knew about kids bop when we got cable. I was seven years old. And Rugrats was played from that day forward nearly non stop.

My mom didn't like us watching the Amanda Bynes show, (it was annoying), so we didn't watch it.  

I also never listened to Brittany Spears, Backstreet Boys, or Aaron Carter. Again, I knew about these shows because of Kids Bop.

I got a portable CD player when I was about 10 years old. It would skip songs if you bumped it. I loved it. 

I got a radio for my room when I was eight, maybe. It was completely amazing. I had just one CD, a Disney CD, and it was played until it broke. 

Just because I didn't listen to the mainstream music doesn't mean I didn't listen to music. Oh contraire! Every Saturday was a dance party in my house. This may be why every Saturday is still a dance party in my home with Joseph. So what did we dance to?

We'd dance to Arabic music. That stuff rocked. My siblings and I would listen to Santa Baby in secret and giggle, when we were old enough to know that the lady in the song LIKED Santa. Like... she had a crush on him!

I listened to the Bee Gees* like none other. Eventually I got a Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and that thing was my jam. 

*I just learned that Bee Gees stands for Brothers Gibb. And my world has been forever changed. 

I listened to the Doobie Brothers. When all the cool kids were talking about their favorite Back Street Boy, I would awkwardly jump in with "Oh yeah, and the Doobie Brothers? Super cool, right?" And people would look at me weird so I'd impress them with how quickly I could climb on top of the monkey bars. 

My breakthrough was with Enya, Simon and Garfunkel, and Josh Groban. First, Enya, I guess. In elementary school, I realized that Enya was an artist who's reign of "fame" was less than 20 years ago! So I latched onto Enya. Memorized lyrics. That would impress the kids. Simon and Garfunkel was another breakthrough, but that was in high school. Josh Groban became my "celebrity crush" at a young age. 

I don't think it was until my Junior year that I actually started listening to, and enjoying, music that was recent. 

It comes in handy now, since I've inherited my husband's iPod, and most of the music is 80s kinda stuff. I think I married the right guy.

The thing is, though I never really clicked with kids at school in the sense that they'd never gape in awe at my collection of Brittany Spears CDs, and they'd never giggle under my posters of Aaron Carter, I really really loved my childhood. 

I loved the songs I listened to, even if they weren't popular. And I still love them. I loved being raised on Bread and ABBA. I don't think I'd trade any of it for anything. And I think my kids will be raised on old stuff too. 

Because some day, they'll find someone who likes old stuff too, and that's a forever bond, that is. Being able to belt out lyrics to the songs on the old stations.

I know this old stuff to me wasn't old stuff to other people. Getting cable when I was 7 would have seemed like witchcraft in ages long past. But whatever. This totally dates me I guess, in a young kinda way, which is something I hate, but yeah. Anyways so...

Moving this weekend, hooplah!