The year is 2050. A teenage girl lies on her bed, scrolling through her social media apps on her iPhone XXX. Her UGG-clad feet dangle over the side, and Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream blares over her speakers. Her room is covered with vintage One Direction posters. “Ugh,” she sighs, “I was born in the wrong decade.”

The end of the 2010’s upon us. This is the 1st decade that we have lived through in its entirety. 

With this in mind, we’ve compiled a Decade Top 10 list for those of us who came of age during these years.

1. Disney Channel Originals. Need I say more? Disney gave us some of its best shows – Hannah Montana, Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Suite Life on Deck, Phineas and Ferb, and more – in the early years of the decade. Its mid show segments, like Pass the Plate, in which a Disney Channel celebrity traveled to a foreign country and gave a tour to show how healthy foods, like mangoes and bananas, were used and enjoyed by children, graced my TV frequently. You can’t forget about the Disney Channel Original movies, either, like the High School Musical and Camp Rock franchises.

2. Nickelodeon shows. Namely, iCarly, Victorious, Drake & Josh, Big Time Rush, and SpongeBob SquarePants. While I was always a bigger Disney fan, there’s no denying that Nickelodeon presented its fair share of iconic shows.

3. Silly Bandz. Do you remember seeing kids come to school with their arms covered in elastic bands of various colors, shapes, and sizes? Silly Bandz became so popular at my elementary school that they eventually were banned. That didn’t stop us from gathering them, though. I had a robust collection of Silly Bandz, filled with glow-in-the-dark bands, sparkly bands, and neon bands.

4. ToysRUs. The company ceased operations in 2018, but re-opened its 1st store in New Jersey on November 27, according to a USA Today article. Nevertheless, the store – fluorescent lighting, neon colors, toy-filled aisles, and all – was a quintessential part of my childhood. I remember receiving the ToysRUS advertisements in the mail before Christmas and eagerly flipping through each page. 

5. Club Penguin, Webkinz, and Animal Jam. These were 3 of the biggest online games of the day, and I heard legitimate debates in elementary school about which platform was the best. I only really played Webkinz, but I cared for my animals religiously. My 1st Webkinz animal was a pink poodle named Cassie, and my younger sister still has the stuffed animal. 

6. ivivva clothes. Lululemon’s extension to the children’s clothing market manifested in the ivivva brand. Identifiable by its diamond-shaped logo, you couldn’t walk through the halls of local middle schools without seeing girls wearing ivivva leggings, shorts, jackets, or headbands and toting a reusable ivivva bag for their lunch.

7. Rainbow Loom Bracelets. When I was in fifth grade, I had some friends who would bring their entire Rainbow Loom sets to school, and we would all make bracelets with colorful rubber bands during our snack and lunch breaks. I could never master the more complex patterns, but I received some very intricate designs from others. 

8. Fidget toys. Do you remember hearing the faint “click-click-click” of a fidget cube or the whirl of a fidget spinner as you sat in math class? These gadgets were marketed as ways to calm those with ADHD and anxiety, but most every middle schooler had at least 1. 

9. Feather extensions. In 2011, girls from around the world could be seen sporting feathers in their hair. Celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez certainly popularized the trend, but I’d argue that it would have flourished on its own – what’s not to love about adding pink and turquoise feathers for a temporary new ‘do? According to Glamour, the feather extension craze went so far that the beauty industry and fly-fishing industry began competing for feathers.

10. The music of the 2010s. I was going to pick one artist, but there were honestly too many to choose from. Does The Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling remind you of elementary school? What about Kesha’s song, TiK ToK? Baby by Justin Bieber? What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction? Classic by MKTO? Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5? Royals by Lorde? Taylor Swift’s old songs, like 22 and I Knew You Were Trouble?

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