Pink Phones and Zit Stickers

If you ask me, a carefree childhood should be the only option. I hear too many stories about kids that are forced to deal with adult situations at a young age. It seems as if society is asking kids to grow up too fast, but what for? I miss the days of forts made of bed sheets and pillows. I wish I could sprawl out on the family room floor with thousands of Legos in hopes of building a fire station or hospital. The biggest problem was figuring out what Barbie was going to wear on her date with Ken. He was such an easy man to please; after all, he was always smiling.

I was lucky to have grown up in a neighborhood with kids my age. The more kids, the more varieties of toys and adventures. Some of my fondest memories with my girlfriends were spent playing board games. I’m not talking about Battleship or even Twister; I’m talking about Dream Phone, Girl Talk, and Mall Madness. You know… girl stuff.

I’ll never forget the Christmas when my Grandma Nelson got me Dream Phone. For those of you who don’t know, it’s the game with the giant pink phone used to call “friends” to try to figure out who “likes” you. Of course, Steve was the hottie, but anytime I heard, “You’re right! I really like you!” my whole face smiled. In fact, I still try to get my sister to play it with me when I go home. Key word: try.

Girl Talk was another popular game with a similar motive. The weird thing is, all that I really remember about the game where the zit stickers you had to put on for some reason or another. Why can’t real life zits just be stickers?

Then, of course, there was Mall Madness. I can still hear the computer telling me which stores to place the sale and clearance signs in. Man, that game rocked. “There is a sale at the chi-chin store” (it was supposed to be kitchen… never sounded like it).

These games were sure fun, but eventually we all graduate to Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble. Games get more difficult, just like life. However, it’s always fun to remember pink phones and zit stickers.