Students and teachers remember childhood toys

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LeeAnn Mills

     It is often fun to reminisce and indulge in the remembrance of joyous past events. Youth years tend to be a common source of joy and pleasantry for many people, and in most cases, people had certain toys, games, or shows they remember remarkably well. These cherished items and memories can vary among people living in different areas or eras. Students at Hamburg may have more memories with technology than some of the teachers much older than them. Nonetheless, reminiscing on positive childhood memories with niche toys is bound to be a mood booster. 

     Riley Mohn and I share quite similar youth toy and game memories, even though we share a three-year age difference. We both remember playing with ZhuZhu hamsters and Monster High dolls. In my childhood, I preferred Monster High dolls over any other toy, while Riley loved her ZhuZhu hampster. Riley recalls quite a lot about her rolling hampster. At some point, the wheels stopped working, so Riley and her brother would push it down the hall together. Riley has many memories about her ZhuZhu hampster, while I only remember having the toy. Most of my toy memories come from the aforementioned Monster High dolls. These dolls took up boxes of storage, some from my cousins, and some given to me as gifts, and were well loved. 

     Riley and I have a plethora of memories of tangible toys from our young years, but we also have memories of games behind the screen. Riley played on the Webkinz app until recently when it was removed from the internet. While I played a video game called Purple Palace. These games have more stark memories than that of some of the physical toys for us.

     Teachers also share fond memories of their childhood. Mr. Lowe recalls lots of Nintendo games such as Super Mario Bros. He said he spent hours upon hours playing these games and once got so mad he stomped on his console and broke the screen in half. Mrs. McCarthy remembers Cabbage Patch dolls and specifically how they came into her possession. Mrs. McCarthy was standing in line with her mother and sister waiting to get these dolls. Her mother, who was 6 foot, ran into the store, pushing and shoving, and grabbed them their own dolls.

     Regardless of age, generation, or gender, everyone can enjoy the pleasantries that come with reminiscing about their childhood.