When Mommy Was a Kid...Movies I Loved

When I was 12, I was absolutely certain that he was the most beautiful male on the planet. Turns out he had a beautiful, kind heart to match. Hope you're safe in Heaven Chris.

Ethan loves it too. I wanted to go to that chocolate factory soooo badly when I was 6.

I told you I loved these apes. I guess the spelling of her name is Dr. Z-I-R-A.

When I watch this as an adult it depresses me to no end. Still, it was great then and even better now. As a kid, I missed all of the subtext--which made the movie madcap and kind of funny. If I had realized everything that was really going on, I would not have liked it all.

The ultimate taboo movie for a Catholic grade school girl in the 1970s. And rightly so. Still, John Travolta was a fabulous mess in this movie wasn't he?

The book haunted me as a girl. Not because of the blood and supernatural references. Actually,I was really sad that young girls could treat each other so badly. In years to come, I witnessed a few Carrie-esque moments. More than a couple of the girls at Mitty High School from 1980 to 1984 were really, well...mean. I hope they developed "sensitivity chips" in years to come because they sure were missing them as teenage girls.

Star Wars...the love affair continues...

Can you believe that the girl is Paris Hiton's aunt (Kim Richards)?

Every girl wanted to be Brooke Shields. And for good reason. She was stunning. As an actress...not so good. But we didn't care about that silly detail.

I thought Quinn Cummings was the best name ever when I was 11.

I didn't get caught up in the hype but the movie still gives me chills.

The problem here is that the theme of the movie is that if you're innocent and pure, you're not gonna get the guy. In the end, Sandy had to slut it up to reel her man in. Not a good message. And not at all true either. Still, it's a classic that I adored when I was 11ish.

I cried my eyes out over this saccharine, schmaltzy, over acted piece of dribble. But because it was a memorable cry indeed, I included Love Story in my list. When you watch it as an adult, it's actually laughable. "Love means never having to say you're sorry". Who wrote that? Love actually means that you have to say you're sorry all of the time.

I remember seeing this with my Dad.

Because of this film, I still scan the night sky and think that we very well may not be alone.

Life is a Caboret-o-chum...so come to the Caboret!

More Brooke Shields. Whatever.

When Mommy Was A Kid...TV I Loved

When I was 8, Mary Tyler Moore was everything I thought a woman should be. At 41, I still kinda think that.


Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was on weeknights at 11pm. Way too late for a fifth grader but you guessed it--I was up. Way before it's time. I could see this making it on HBO now. Check out Mary Kay Place! What an underrated actress. She's great on "Big Love" as Nicky's mom.

More my mom's era than mine but I loved Mickey Mouse club reruns. Annette and Darlene were my favorites.

Loved Flipper.

What normal kid was up watching Tom Snyder? On occasion, I was. I just loved him for some reason.

The worst of the 70s--really.

My grandma would laugh, laugh, laugh at Geraldine. Who couldn't?

I adored Family Affair. Poor Buffy.

The first time I ever heard the word "gay" as a reference to something other than being happy. Family was a little sappy but still pretty good. I don't know if it can stand the passage of time though. I haven't seen it since I was 11 or 12.

Loved the reruns on channel 2 after school.

Saturday night, channel two, hosted by some guy who's name escapes me. Popcorn. Grandma's house.

Barnaby Jones. I was a weird kid--clearly.

Scooby Dooby do, where are you? We got some work to do now.

All in the Family. Perfection.
Not a single show has rivaled it--before or after.
Not a single one.

This reminds me of living alone with my mother in an apartment in Los Gatos.

What a guy. I loved his house.

When Mommy Was A Kid...Toys I Loved

Doesn't every little girl go through the horse stage? My friend Katy was way into the horse adventure world. She might even still have her collection.

My Dad got me this and I loved it. It was huge.

Kids still like these. Ethan and McKenna have their own versions.

Dr. Zera from Planet of the Apes. I was obsessed with all of the Planet of the Apes movies. I was pretty sure I could become Dr. Zera.

Fortune Telling Magic Eight Ball

Klackers? Huh? For some reason, getting two plastic balls to bang against each other was big fun.

Chrisie...her hair "grew" by pulling it and then you could magically crank her mane back into her head.And we thought this was fun because?????

It seemed cool at the time.

I LOVED my Mickey Mouse transistor radio!

Every single girl I knew had one of these.

Mine looked exactly like this. Third degree burns on your finger tips were a rite of passage for a girl growing up in the 1970s. Light bulb heat source. Who thought of that?

Malibu suntan Barbie

and her camper

Boring is underrated.

Ethan told me last night that he felt sorry for me because I "had to grow up with such crummy toys". He may have a point. But I thought they were pretty great at the time.