People have a lot to say about only children, but if you are one, you know one thing for certain: We're a resourceful bunch. In fact, there are many ways only children entertained themselves in the '90s that pretty much encapsulates just how good we are at being on our own. Sure, only children often get the bad reputation of being spoiled or always needing to be the center of attention, but people tend to overlook the fact that many only children are great at spending time alone and entertaining themselves.
Without siblings, we rarely have "built-in" playmates — which means that when friends, parents, or other family members aren't around, we're hanging out with just our own reflections. Even as an adult, this can sometimes be a little lonely, but as kids, we had to dig deep and find ways to make ourselves happy. And if that happened to be whipping out the ol' Game Boy, so be it. Being an only child in the '90s was particularly fun because we had so many new technologies and forms of media at our disposal.
1. Pretending To Be Harriet The Spy
So long as you had a composition notebook, binoculars, and vaguely interesting neighbors, you were good to entertain yourself for at least an afternoon.
2. Reading Every Single Book In The Baby-Sitters Club Series
If your parents didn't let you sit in front of the TV, it's likely you turned to reading to keep yourself busy. And what was better than working your way through the entirety of The Baby Sitter's Club? That would keep you entertained for days — or a lot longer, as the series grew.
3. Styling Yourself With Your Entire Closet
No matter what your sense of fashion was like, I'm willing to bet you spent at least some weekends digging through your entire closet and matching the perfect butterfly clips to your brand-new jelly shoes.
4. Developing Elaborate Storylines For All Of Your Toys
Whether you loved American Girl dolls or Beanie Babies, you know you broke down at least a few times and gave them all names, back stories, and lives full of drama and twists.
5. Exploring The Internet In All Of Its '90s Glory
Oh, the internet in the '90s. What a glorious, creative time. And let's be real: You know that you spent a lot of time perfecting your AIM profile and your Geocities website.
6. Asking Your Parents Incessant Questions About Life
As every only child knows all too well, sometimes your parents or guardians are the only people around. Thus, they heard you ask a lot of questions from the mundane to the big picture — what only child didn't ask their parents about the meaning of life while sitting at the kitchen table?
7. Calling All of Your Friends The Minute You Got Home From School
If you weren't allowed to go over a friend's house immediately after school, you know the very first thing that you did when you got home was grab the cordless phone and tie up the phone line for a few hours.
8. Watching Reruns Of Family Sitcoms On Nick At Nite
Oh, family sitcoms. Old episodes of The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family let you pretend you had a huge family of siblings for half an hour before bed. Then you got to turn it off and enjoy the silence.
9. Perfecting Every Single Move In Your Favorite Spice Girls Music Video
Hey, you had to make sure your Sporty Spice moves were on point for when you and your friends performed at the middle school talented show, right?
10. Crimping Your Hair Into Sweet Oblivion
I can still feel the warmth of my loyal crimping iron in my hands. Crimping took basically forever, but hey, at least you didn't have to worry about sharing the bathroom with anyone else, right?
11. Maintaining A Highly Detailed (And Secretive) Diary
In my youth, I was a diary fanatic. I had a ton of them that I would use for a week and then move on to the next — and of course I hid them everywhere, only to forget about them until months later. But how else was I going to remember my deepest thoughts and queries at the tender age of 9?
12. Daydreaming About Your Crush Of The Week
If you're an only child, you know very well how often we all daydream. Whether you're a romantic at heart or pragmatic to the core, you can always entertain yourself very well with just some peace and quiet and your own active imagination.
13. Taking Long, Wistful Walks Around Your Neighborhood
As an uncoordinated child, I took a lot of walks around my small town just to get some fresh air and exercise, even when my friends weren't around. I'm willing to bet many of us also rode our bikes and Rollerbladed solo, too.
14. Curling Up On Your Couch With Your Good Old Game Boy
While there are plenty of single player video games, there was nothing quite so convenient as playing with your Game Boy when you were hanging out with yourself.
15. Talking In Detail About Your Day — To Your Pet
Hey, dogs are a kid's best friend, right?
Images: Paramount Pictures; Giphy (15)
