Tag: nostalgia

Favorite Childhood Movies (part 1)

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In honor of the 20th anniversary of The Little Rascals and the cast coming together to recreate the movie poster, I thought I’d reminisce a bit and think about some of my favorite childhood movies. These are the ones that I watched really often, either in school or at home. (Also, I’m not including any Disney animated features here because well, that list would get really long.)

It breaks my heart a little bit when people don’t get that I’m making references to (memorable scenes that I often quote included!):

  • The Little Rascals

    When people don’t understand why I squeak through this song, I am almost as embarrassed for them as for myself.
  • The Sandlot

    A friend once thought I was having a stroke because I was saying “for-ev-er” so weird. I wept for him on the inside.
  • Annie (1999 version)

    Starring a young Lalaine, Sarah Hyland, and Victor Garber, who I would always refer to as “Daddy Warbucks” no matter how many other roles I saw him in.
  • The Brave Little Toaster (technically distributed by Disney)

    This movie was kind of scary, I had a hard time finding non-nightmare-inducing clips!
  • The Land Before Time + sequels

    I think about “Big Water” really often… and tree stars.
  • Older Scooby Doo films

    I had a teacher who loooooved Scooby Doo and rewarded the class if we behaved by showing Scooby Doo movies. Every single one had this old theme song.
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

    The only film to have Disney characters side-by-side with Looney Toons. This was a great one, rest in peace Bob Haskins.
  • Jumanji

    My brother was TERRIFIED of the poacher in this movie but I watched it multiple times at home anyway. Rest in peace Robin Williams.
  • The Parent Trap

    My friend who teaches fencing says that a lot of kids used to cite this movie as the reason they started fencing. Now they’re getting too young for that. Rest in peace Natasha Richardson.
  • Babe

    Baa ram ewe! I didn’t go vegetarian for a long time after watching this, but I definitely thought about Babe when I did.

That’s a good list for now. I need some time to reminisce and be nostalgic for a little bit.

Are these movies as important to you as they are to me?
What are some other key movies from your childhood that you still quote today?

Favorite Childhood Books (part 1)

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I often find myself wondering if elementary school students today are reading the same books that I was reading back in the day. Even though new books get written, I like to think that some will be read by generations of children who want to read them to their own children someday.

Here are a few of my favorites books from early childhood, mostly pre-elementary to elementary school. I know I’ll have more to add to this soon:

  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • The Art Lesson by Tomie DePaola
  • Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
  • Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
  • Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series  by Betty MacDonald
  • Wayside School series by Louis Sachar
    Sideways Stories From Wayside School
  • Max and Ruby series by Rosemary Wells

Honorable mention goes to The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, because it was kind of a tradition for me to read it every holiday season although I don’t remember much about it. (You know that all I really took away from the movie was that stellar hot chocolate musical number.)

Another honorable mention is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, which I never really loved as a child, to be completely honest. But again, it was kind of a tradition for me to read it when I was young.

Where_The_Wild_Things_Are_(book)_cover.jpg (400×355)

I definitely have more to add, but I’ll leave you with these for now. I had fun reminiscing, so I’ll be back with more!

What were your favorite childhood books? Did I mention any of them? Which ones did I miss? Have you read all of these?

Slow Dance Songs [playlist]

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Prematurely hot weather always reminds me of certain summer feelings. Today, it reminded me of things like prom, summer camp dances, and driving home after a fun evening with friends.

Here are a couple of slow dance songs that I thought of today. Some of them have memories of specific slow dances I shared with someone, but not all of them are. I haven’t told the boys I danced with that I always think of them when I hear these songs, but I secretly hope that they think of me — even if for just a fleeting moment — when they hear them, too.

I don’t want to feel lonely thinking about slow dances. I like them because, as much as I love grooving out on the dancefloor, sometimes you need a break. Sometimes you get caught up over whether you’re holding someone or not during this break.

This is not the definitive list and I’ll be adding to it as time goes by. I’ll let you know when I do, but for now, here is a little playlist.

Earth Angel | The Penguins // In Your Eyes | Peter Gabriel // Can’t Help Falling in Love | Elvis Presley // At Last | Etta James // Smoke Gets In Your Eyes | The Platters // The Way You Look Tonight | Frank Sinatra // Take My Breath Away | Berlin //

Enjoy!

Name the movies that some of these songs come from!
What’s a slow dance song that hold a special memory for you?

Bonus question: have you seen the movie where I got the still for the playlist image?