Over the years, I have enjoyed teaching my kids to say pop culture quips from my childhood / young adulthood that are completely irrelevant in their world.
Although many parents protect their kids from pop culture, I love pop culture -- especially references from my childhood -- because it bonds people together. Nothing like the memory of brushing My Pretty Pony's tail to bring together two 20-something or 30-something ladies.
I do, however, teach my kids to be an outsider of pop culture. I don't recommend jumping on the bandwagon, but instead to watch it, reflect on it and appreciate the folly and absurdity of it.
Regarding the pop culture quotes they know, it's humorous to hear them say some of these expressions and, I admit, back in the day when I was stranded at home with two droolers for hours on end, I got a little bored at times. Consequently, teaching them little expressions like this would jazz up my afternoon more than any Muppet was capable of doing.
Here are a few pop culture sayings I taught my kids -- or expressions that they just picked from hearing me say them:
1. "What you talking about, Willis?" (Gary Coleman's character, Arnold, was famous for saying this in the TV show "Diff'rent Strokes.")
2. "De plane, de plane!" (Herve Villechaize's character Tattoo often said this in "Fantasy Island.")
3. "Wonder twin powers, activate!" (From the "Super Friends" cartoon. Some believe the Wonder Twins invented the fist bump.)
4. "It tastes like burning!" (Ralph Wiggum from "The Simpsons." This one works any time food is too hot.)
5. "Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place." (From "The Breakfast Club." My kids don't say this one yet, but they will, because I use this line quite frequently.)
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
