Life

13 Emotional Victories All '90s Kids Experienced In Their Fullest Force

by Megan Grant
Nickelodeon

The '90s were the time to be a child. We had the greatest toys, technology was taking off at an alarming rate, and it was still socially acceptable to feed your children food that was full of gluten and artificial sweeteners. Life was good, and there were those emotional victories all '90s kids new — the feeling of winning a round of Super Mario 64 even though you couldn't steer, or sneaking into the theater to see Titanic even though you definitely weren't old enough (boobs!), or recording over your mom's carefully planned out answering machine greeting message with fake fart sounds. This was the '90s. (Sidebar: she. was. pissed.)

It wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, though — oh no. We had our own problems and challenges, like trying to make prank phone calls without getting caught and fudging the F on our spelling quiz to look like an A. (That took serious talent.) Do you thinking growing up in the '90s was easy?

That only made the victories so much sweeter, though. From surviving the most popular (and panic-inducing) games to pulling off chic '90s fashion, here are some of the emotional victories we savored the most as children of the decade.

1Successfully Getting Through Another Round Of Operation

Any day you could remove the wish bone without having an anxiety attack was considered a win.

2Finally Memorizing All The Words To The "Fresh Prince" Theme Song

You couldn't leave the '90s without this. It was against the law.

3Having Enough Frosting For Every Dunkaroo Cookie

Do you even understand how much self-control and planning this took? You had to put just the right amount of frosting on each cookie in order to have enough at the very end.

4Getting The Straw In Your Capri Sun Without Soaking Your Face

Heck, getting the straw in period was an accomplishment in and of itself. Whose idea was that, anyway?

5Wearing Jelly Shoes All Day And Not Getting Any Blisters

Beauty is pain, and those sandals were deadly. But they were so stylish that we just didn't care. Bring it, blisters.

6Getting Down The Slip'n'Slide Without Fracturing Anything

Some parents outlawed these because they were so dangerous; your neighbor had one, though. So you'd take off running and pray you didn't wake up in the ER with a concussion.

7Getting Away With Writing In Pen At School

Miss Steinerberger specified you were to write in No. 2 pencil, but you went with pen anyway, and she was so disappointed. You don't own me, Carol.

8Snagging The Last Zebra Cake In The Kitchen

You knew your sister would want one as an after-school snack; but you never liked your sister, so you ate it out of spite. You weren't even hungry! Mwaha!

9Getting The Exact Toy You Wanted At The Bottom Of The Cereal Box

You told your mom you wanted that cereal because you liked the way it tasted. You lied. It was all about the toy. SUE ME.

10Fruit Stripe Tattoos That Lasted Way Longer Than You Were Planning

They even survived your bubble bath, which was just, like, super impressive.

11Play-Doh That Never Dried Out

There was no greater feeling in the world than soft, smushy Play-Doh.

12Blue Eyeshadow That Never Smudged

In true '90s fashion, you'd cake on three layers, because two just didn't feel right.

13Cartoon Marathons On Summer Vacation

Your butt left a permanent dent in the couch and you didn't even care. That was the life.