Summertime is finally here. And it’s apparent that the theme of the season is leaning into a ‘90s summer. As a ‘90s kid, I was ecstatic to hear that parents are all about exposing their kids to ‘90s nostalgia. My social media feed has kids watching movies on DVDs and VHS, screen-free days, and enjoying the outdoors. As a parent, I quickly subscribed to fully diving into this theme, so I decided to go all out and do a ‘90s week with my kids.
While the ‘90s era holds a special place in my heart, I wanted to figure out what it was about this time period that made it so special, other than it being a blur of fond but distant memories. I prepped for this fun week by doing something very 2026: I loaded up my Pinterest board with ‘90s activities, analog ideas, and ‘90s food I ate as a child. However, there were some things I learned as a parent that I wasn’t expecting.
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How I prepped for a ‘90s week with my kids
I define growing up in the ’90s as playing outside from dawn until dusk. But to prep for this week, I also did some online research for ‘90s activities to do with my kids. I even reached out to my dad to see if he had our old VHS player lying around (which he did!), so my kids could fully comprehend that streaming movies on Netflix wasn’t always a thing. If only I had my original Tamagotchi to show them that this popular ‘90s toy prepared me for parenthood. I even headed to the store to stock up on food that were ’90s staples growing up: Bagel Bites, pizza rolls, Cosmic Brownies, fish sticks, Pop-Tarts, Lunchables, Capri-Sun, and Hot Pockets—you name it.
I wanted to give my kids the whole ‘90s summer experience. From making analog bags to purchasing the best water toys for the summer to having my kids try a Pop-Tart for the first time, I was finally ready to give them the best week ever.
The week made me remember my ‘90s childhood
I kicked off our summer by making a summer bucket list and loaded the kids in the car to head to our local craft store to pick out supplies for DIY analog bags. Another activity I was so excited for was to queue up the VHS player with all the best ‘90s movies and watch their eyes widen at the idea of a VHS tape. I imagined us watching Mulan, The Parent Trap, and all the classic films of the era. It was going to be the only screentime they were allowed and nothing more. Because in my head, the idea of a ‘90s childhood meant a screen-free summer. But if there is anything I’ve learned in parenthood, it’s that not everything goes as planned.
My ’90s week hit a hiccup when I realized that I didn’t have all the proper wiring to hook up my dad’s VHS player. While a bummer, I decided that displaying this ‘historic’ piece on the kitchen counter as if it were in the Smithsonian would suffice. A quick pivot meant that I was letting my master plan go, and letting them watch a movie on Disney+, because it really wasn’t all that different to them, anyway. Plus, my ’90s movie marathon turned into my kids just watching Toy Story—and only that—because it’s their favorite movie. Can I blame them?
Then it got me thinking: what was my ‘90s childhood really like—behind all the magical memories I’ve always held on to?
I watched a lot of television in the ‘90s
Because the more I thought about it, my siblings and I watched TV all the time. Shows like Boy Meets World, Full House, and Saved By the Bell helped raise me (and let’s be real, a little bit of the Maury show, too). So, while I didn’t let my kids watch television all day, I wasn’t beating myself up about it either.
Unstructured summers look a little different today
I also can’t fail to mention the pressure I put on myself to go ‘all in.’ I thought that if I was going to immerse myself in a ’90s week with my kids, then that also meant being fully available. However, looking back, my summers were so unstructured because my parents had to work, too, and childcare really wasn’t an option for us the entire summer.
With my kids so young, I couldn’t exactly let them take care of themselves either. I contemplated taking a full week off from work, but in reality, that just wasn’t a realistic option. And that’s OK. My kids went to daycare as usual, and I still logged in for work during the weekdays.
I was bored a lot as a kid
When I thought about the activities I did as a kid and reflected on my mom’s ‘90s parenting, it wasn’t all about curation. Yes, I have to acknowledge that I didn’t see all the prep my mom did behind the scenes. But I will say, when it came to deciding what to do for the day, she didn’t make things complex. Most days were met with grocery store runs, spending time at the library, random walks to the park, or simply staying at home.
“When I thought about the activities I did as a kid and reflected on my mom’s ’90s parenting, it wasn’t all about curation.”
As a kid, I was bored a lot, but it wasn’t a bad thing. I spent a lot of time making crafts (and getting glue everywhere), calling my neighborhood friends’ landline phones, and asking their moms if they could play. Sometimes it was easier to just show up at their doorstep. My mom wasn’t always planning every minute of every day to keep me entertained. I found a lot of joy in my own boredom.
So, during my kids’ ‘90s week, I stopped overplanning. When my eldest repeatedly told me he was bored, I smiled. I told him that sometimes being bored is a great thing. It forces you to be creative with your time. 30 minutes later, I found him playing with his Toy Story toys, and he made an old shoe box into a car.
Getting outside was essential to a ‘90s childhood
If there’s one thing that was essential to my ‘90s childhood, it was being outside. My siblings and I would wake up every morning, even in the summertime, at 6 a.m. to play with our friends. As long as we were home by dinnertime, my mom gave us the independence to roam free around our neighborhood. While I think my kids are still too young to roam freely on their own, it is something I hope they can experience one day. Getting outside to experience nature and meeting up with old and new friends at the park is what made childhood so fun.
Fortunately, my sister and her kids live in our neighborhood. So, if the kids wanted to get together, it was easy to meet up at each other’s houses. Plus, taking walks and playing outside (usually) fixes their moods.
What a ’90s week with my kids actually taught me
In the ‘90s, kids didn’t have cell phones. Text messages looked like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) or passing notes in the form of paper fortune tellers. It was about connecting with people intentionally. It looked like calling my friends to catch up, having face-to-face conversations without worrying if it would be blasted on the internet, and dancing ‘like you just don’t care’ and not worrying whether or not your moves were cringe. There wasn’t this overwhelming outside force of social media telling you how to act, what to like, or who to be 24/7.
The ‘90s were about intentional connection
I know my kids will one day be introduced to the internet. I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate it all. But what I do know is that I want to show them all the other ways to connect with their friends and family that don’t require an electronic device. During our ‘90s week, I taught them about writing letters. My kids can’t write full sentences yet, but we sat down to write one together. My eldest decided to write to his best friend. He asked what he did that day, drew a cute stick figure, and requested that his friend send a letter back. (Maybe a snail mail swap is in our future?)
That’s when it hit me. I realized why we want to give our kids a ‘90s summer or childhood. It’s all about intentional connection. Back then, we were connecting with ourselves through boredom and not filling the void with our phones. We met up with our friends in person, and our parents weren’t curating every minute of our lives. There was slowness in waiting for a letter to be received. There was a mystery in not knowing what your friends were doing at that very moment. It led to organic conversations by asking how someone’s day went (without social media telling you already). And kids weren’t always met with FOMO because an Instagram reel, TikTok, or Snapchat told them everyone was having fun without them.
’90s magic comes from doing less
Giving my kids a ‘90s week was simpler than I realized. I still had fun doing some of the activities I had planned. Drinking a Capri-Sun, eating a Cosmic Brownie, and reminiscing on the ’90s sent me back in time. But we spent the rest of the week putting my ‘90s list of to-dos away, watching TV, playing outside, and welcoming boredom. However, if you were to ask my kids what they did during this time, they’d tell you we ate Pop-Tarts—and lots of them.
Patty Schepel, Associate Editor
As the Associate Editor, Patty works with The Everymom’s team on pitches, creating original articles, updating existing content, photo sourcing, writing shopping product descriptions, editing freelance articles, and more. With Patty’s passion for writing, experience as a mother of two, and expertise as a pediatric nurse, she brings a thoughtful and informative perspective to The Everymom.
