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    35 Things '90s Black Girls WIll Always Miss About Summer In The City

    Back in the days when I was young / I'm not a kid anymore, but some days I sit and wish I was a kid again.

    1. Shorts sets

    2. Sidewalk chalk...

    3. ...Used to draw Hopscotch, or lots of rainbow-colored hearts.

    4. Casually walking back and forth past the basketball courts.

    5. You probably didn't live that close to the beach, so you never "went swimming," but you did "get wet."

    Via open fire hydrants...

    Or running through the sprinklers...

    Or stylin' in your new swimsuit in your ~own~ pool.

    6. And if you did get wet, you tried everything to make sure your hair didn't.

    7. What you and all your friends were reading. (If you read anything that summer.)

    8. When the ice cream truck finally hit your block, being the first person to catch it and yell "Stop!" made you a hero.

    9. Marathon Double Dutch sessions.

    10. Cheesing with your new whip.

    11. Going to the candy lady's house with a whole dollar to stock up on sweets like this:

    12. One word: chews.

    13. These suckers were the stuff dreams were made of.

    14. And these suckers all looked like watermelon slices, though each was a different flavor of amAAAAzing.

    15. But sometimes you didn't even bother eating candy. You'd just put sugar in a bag and add dry Kool-Aid.

    16. When a quarter bag of chips actually cost a quarter.

    17. Also, you'd never go thirsty if you had a quarter.

    18. When your mom was braiding your hair, you were always squirming around like, Please hurry up so I can go play.

    19. After playing all day, you never made it back home with the same number of knockers or barrettes.

    20. Sometimes you wanted your hair straight, but it was too damn hot for this foolishness.

    21. But at least you didn't have to wear "tights" with your church dress.

    22. Getting your matching T-shirts for the family reunion was bomb.

    23. ...And learning that, gotdamn, you got a LOT of cousins!

    24. And you tried to learn the line dances all your aunts and uncles knew how to do.

    25. The weather was finally nice enough for backyard birthday parties.

    26. Where there was ALWAYS a MANDATORY dance contest.

    27. Also: BLock PartieZ!

    28. You filled up on these because nothing else at the barbecue was ready on time.

    29. This is how you decided who was "it."

    30. You'll never forget chants like Bang, Bang Choo-Choo Train or Punchanella at the Zoo.

    View this video on YouTube

    And doing the "dances" that went along with them. Before there was twerking, there was "popping."

    31. Or hand games like Miss Mary Mack, Slide, I Don't Wanna Go to Mexico, and Zing, Zing, Zing (Like a Washing Machine).

    View this video on YouTube

    Via YouTube

    "I don't wanna go to Mexico no more, more, more/ There's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door..."

    32. When it came time for back-to-school shopping, you wouldn't DARE show up on the first day without a new pair of crispy all-white Air Force Ones...

    ...and a fresh pair of wheat Timbs for the fall.

    33. When you visited grandma's house, for some reason it was always your job to remember where this was.

    34. And because she'd never turn on the air — no matter how hot it was — there were never enough of these high-tech, all-important coolant devices.

    35. And this is how grandma said good-bye after Sunday dinner.