As graduation season nears closer by the day, everywhere you go you will be bombarded with “2023 Grad!” decorations in gold, silver, and black. You will probably start to stress about graduation gifts for your friends, finding time to attend graduation parties, and finding the motivation to finish your senior year before grad rehearsals and award ceremonies begin. There is no better time than now to take a step back and reminisce on what made the Class of 2023 who we are, not from a COVID high school experience, but from the things that made our childhoods, big and small.

The Class of 2023 is made up of both 2004 and 2005 kids.  I am going to preface my compilations by saying that I am not going to distinguish between both birth years and that not all of these shows, movies, toys, foods, etc. came out in the distinguished years, but they were popular at the time. I hope that I can bring back some memories for all those that are graduating this year to remind ourselves how far we have come. But also, I think that most everything will relate to everyone who is currently in high school, so even if you are not a senior, read on and see what you recognize. For the things that I think are especially hard to remember, I provided a gallery of photos and labels so that you can see to believe what I am talking about. I am going to begin with a list of TV shows:

• Max and Ruby- whenever I think of this show I think of the theme song and I can remember the pink cake with sprinkles that Ruby is decorating and the mud pie that Max is decorating and just how much I wanted to eat that pink cake.
• Little Einsteins
• The Berenstain Bears- I bet that’s not how you thought it was spelled- Mandela Effect!
• Wild Kratts- probably singlehandedly the first inspiration for my interest in wildlife research as a career.
• Dora the Explorer
• Go Diego Go
• Barbie Life in the Dream House
• My Little Pony
• Strawberry Shortcake
• The Lorax
• Bolt
• Over the Hedge
• Open Season
• The Backyardigans
• Oswald
• The Fresh Beat Band- to me, this show was the origination of the phrase, “cool beans.”
• Yo Gabba Gabba- horrifying now, a staple back then.
• Ni Hao, Kai-Lan
• Wow Wow Wubbzy
• Ms. Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends
• Peppa Pig
• Pocoyo
• Caillou
• Lazy Town- Stephanie (the girl with the pink wig) had to be a personal hero for all of us.
• Imagination Movers- this show was so far deep in my memory that I could barely remember the name, but the blue jumpsuit and the gears graphic are unmistakeable.
• Octonauts
• Special Agent Oso
• Doc McStuffins- I can’t forget this theme song as hard as I try, this girl knew it all.
• Choo-Choo Soul
• Chuggington
• Thomas the Train
• Bob the Builder
• A Little Curious- this HBO show was necessary to me as a toddler, but looking back… I am questioning everything (if you have 5 minutes look up the theme song for this show, you won’t be disappointed).
• Jake and the Neverland Pirates- personally, there are never too many shows with connections to Captain Hook.
• SID the Science Kid
• Wonder Pets
• Veggie Tales- I am pretty sure I even had the Veggie Tale movies on DVD, how could you not?
• Super Why!
• Clifford the Big Red Dog
• Arthur

The next group of TV shows are shows that we would have watched that were less of “kid shows” as we have gotten older, they are definitely more Disney-Channel-esque but might resonate with some of you more if you have trouble remembering what you watched when you were really young:

• Shake It Up
• Wizards of Waverly Place
• Lab Rats
• Kickin’ It- is this why I started karate when I was younger… maybe.
• Suite Life of Zack and Cody
• The Amazing World of Gumball- my sister hated this show but she gave in to watching it eventually. I mean, if you can’t appreciate Darwin of all characters, I’m concerned about you.
• Teen Titans Go- Starfire and Robin and Beast Boy and Raven taught me everything I know about relationships.
• iCarly
• Monsters versus Aliens- this movie was so weird and I definitely could not understand it until I was at least 10 years old but that white-haired girl has never left my memory.
• Ice Age
• Camp Rock
• What’s New, Scooby-Doo?- who doesn’t remember the Hex Girls…
• Jessie- I don’t think a day went by that I did not watch this show when it was airing on Disney Channel and available On Demand.
• Ant Farm
• Tarzan
• The Princess Diaries- iconic then, iconic now. Remind yourself if you haven’t indulged in a while.
• Kung Fu Panda
• Sharkboy and Lava Girl
• Spy Kids
• Good Luck Charlie
• 16 Wishes- now that I have been 16 I am realizing that Disney really had no perception of age or teenagers in general- one of the most important things to this girl was a purse… okay.
• Finding Nemo
• Toy Story

Toys:

• Polly Pocket
• Zu Zu Pets
• Pillow Pets- I have no shame that my panda still sleeps with me at night.
• Furbys
• Silly Bands
• Rainbow Loom
• Magic Wonder Worm- I swear these were the toys that brought people into Wonder Works and when I found out that they only moved because they had a string attached, I can’t explain my disappointment.
• Leapster- our version of an “iPad kid” (I am guilty).
• Cabbage Patch Kids
• Click Pens- why have one color when you can have them all in one?
• Easy Bake Oven
• Hot Wheels
• Lite Brite
• Fidget Friend- hairless Furbys basically.
• Calico Critters
• Tech Deck
• Littlest Pet Shop
• American Girl Dolls
• Elefun
• View-Masters
• Silly Putty
• Barrels of Monkeys
• Hungry Hungry Hippos

Books:

• Rainbow Magic
• Magic Tree House
• Geronimo Stilton- and they came out with Thea Stilton, that is something I could get behind.
• Book Fairs- do they even still do these??
• The Kid’s Section of Barnes and Noble- probably because we were kids but still I can’t remember the last time I saw kids in there.
• Good Night Moon- this made me who I am.
• The Giving Tree- honestly anything Shel Silverstein was a big part of my childhood and continues to be something I look at every once and a while (we cannot forget Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Light in the Attic if those might help you remember better).
• Curious George
• Junie B. Jones
• Biscuit
• If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
• No David!
• Who Was– taught me everything I know about everyone.
• Ramona and Beezus- young Selena Gomez.
• Skippyjon Jones- a kitten or not? The greatest plot twist ever.
• Judy Blume
• Beverly Cleary
• I Spy- I don’t know about you guys but when we were required to check out a book in the library every week in middle school… this was the first thing I was running for.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• Dork Diaries
• Pete the Cat
• Warriors

Food:

• Trix Yogurt- found a petition on change.org for these to come back…
• Lunchables
• Kid Cuisine- when I was younger these looked so unhealthy and delicious but now I am so glad I did not indulge because how did these things even get past the marketing phase.
• Sunny D
• Danimals
• Strawberry Scooter Bars- still popular now but my first choice back then too.
• Apple Jacks
• Bugles- the finger hats of America (I’m serious).
• Bomb Pops
• Spongebob Popsicles- if these weren’t melting down your arms at the water park, you weren’t doing it right.
• Honeycombs
• Reese’s Puffs- I know that you remember the iconic commercial.
• Fruit Rollups with Tattoos
• Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks
• PEZ- the dispensers have to be collectibles at this point.
• Fun Dip
• Hubba Bubba

Miscellaneous:

• Video Star- this videos I made on this app are probably forever lost but the parodies and effects it offered, Video Star was king from elementary to middle school.
• Wii
• Pencil Toppers
• Jump Rope for Heart- “Cinderella dressed in yella went upstairs to kiss a fella by mistake she kissed a snake how many doctors did it take… “
• Pacer Test
• Lip Smacker
• Jelly Shoes
• Club Penguin
• Talking Tom/Angela- did anyone ever find out if these apps had cameras on us??
• Cut the Rope (app)
• Where’s My Water (app)- I think that during every Disney commercial break, there were at least 5 commercials for this app (and it was just as underwhelming as the name).
• iPods
• Razor Scooter
• Brain POP- our teacher from 6-8 grades.
• Heads Up 7 Up
• Hedbanz
• Starfall (the website)
• Reading Rainbow
• Fun Runs
• Sock Hops
• Dance Mat Typing- the goat is the reason I can type so fast now I promise.
• Fireboy and Watergirl
• Papa’s Games
• Google Draw
• Concentration 64- the game that ruled our lives from the time we learned to speak.

Some things that are just too oddly specific to fit in any category:

• Disney’s Fast Play Advertisements.
• Those foam animals in plastic capsules that you have to put in water (Magic Grow is one of these brands).
• Disney’s Monstober.
• The rubber circles that would jump up when you flipped them inside out (I am going to use the term “poppers” for these).
• “Bubble gum bubble gum in a dish how many pieces do you wish…”
• The toys with the tennis ball and the velcro plate that you had to catch it in.
• The rainbow playground parachute that ran PE.
• The gummy Krabby Patties people would give out on Halloween.
• The fair game with the rubber ducks floating in water and you would have to guess which ones had colored dots or certain numbers on them.
• The “I’m a Gummy Bear” phenomenon.

Overall, I hope that everyone was able to find a few things that resonated with them and I hope that these reminders can help you saver the rest of senior year and remind you where you started from. If you have a minute, take some time to go down memory lane and dig through your old toy boxes (if you still have them), you won’t regret it.

Gallery • 40 Photos

Max and Ruby