1. You got to experience all the haphazard weirdness of 1990s YTV.
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Like this robot ballerina. Why? Because why not?
2. And came home to PJ Phil and Snit every day after school, where you learned world-class sass from Snit.
3. You were let in on the secret of the majestic House Hippo.
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Which you still look for in open bags of chips.
4. You, then, could enjoy a nice bowl of Trix while watching Inspector Gadget on Saturday mornings.
Canadian kids have been denied the Trix experience since 2005.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Trix is apparently here, IN CANADA, for a limited time this spring.
5. You had TWO fantastic options if you wanted to scare the bejeezus out of yourself.
BUT due to this guy, you probably couldn't pee with the shower curtain closed until adulthood.
Well, maybe you still leave it open. Just in case.
6. Or, if you wanted a milder thrill, you could watch Freaky Stories.
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Which made you start all your own stories with "It happened to a friend of a friend of mine."
7. The States had Hanson, but we had our own "brothers" boy band to swoon over.
Was it a requisite that at least one member of a '90s boy band have long hair?
8. You were lucky enough to be around for the RIDICULOUS EXCITEMENT over the very first Toonie.
When you'd carefully put away a $2 bill in your piggy bank *knowing* that it'd be worth a fortune one day.
9. On a hot summer day, you could drink a raspberry Clearly Canadian.
You may or may not have pretended it was a Growers cooler like mom was drinking.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: These are coming back too!! See? No one can deny the power of the '90s.
10. And because pretending to do grown-up things was the thing to do, you could also "smoke" these chocolate cigarettes.
Actually, it's probably a good thing these aren't around anymore.
11. You knew you were stylin' when you wore your Northern Getaway "Spice Mice" shirt.
Such swag.
12. Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod had your back and taught you how to "keep fit and have fun".
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Where do kids get fitness tips these days?
13. You could play The Grape Escape.
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Because what child doesn't want to create grape friends just to send them through a maze of torture devices?
14. You got to experience the best "is it or isn't it?" relationship in the history of Canadian television.
15. You were still allowed to play grounders at school during recess.
And crazy ball. And dodgeball. Kids these days have nothing.
16. On sick days, you could binge-watch Franklin on TreeHouse without your older siblings judging you.
And it was NOT computer animated.
What is this travesty?
17. You could even order the newest Franklin book with your Scholastic Order form.
God forbid your mom forgot to send the little envelope full of toonies and loonies for your order.
18. You could go to Jumbo Video, get free popcorn, and pray that there was still a copy of Titanic.
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In double VHS, of course.
19. You got to feel a bit grown-up and risqué for watching a "teenage" show like Student Bodies.
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It also inspired you to try to start your own school paper...which, of course, was full of stick men and the fascinating exploits of all your friends during recess.
20. If you were up for a little escapism, you could always dream of high school on the high seas.
And settle instead for wearing board shorts to school.
Also, Ryan Gosling...obviously.
21. If you ever got tired of dying from dysentery in Oregon Trail, you could play Crosscountry Canada during computer lab.
22. And finally, you could dress up and put on a perfectly choreographed dance to "Miss You Like Crazy", "Wannabe", or "Backstreet's Back" WITHOUT your parents posting it on Facebook.
Take THAT, 2015.
