Nice going, Mom!
I did something so dumb. But first? A little background…
Does anyone remember Wacky Packages? They were stickers that made fun of everyday products and they were sold like trading cards, along with a stick of gum? I used to LOVE those things. I think I was into them in about the mid-seventies and it was a full-blown fixation. I couldn’t wait for the next time we were within a quarter mile of a 7-11 or Little General so I could beg my mom to stop and let me buy a pack or two. It was just so exciting to rip open the wrapper, which as I recall was kind of a waxy paper, and see what stickers were awaiting me inside.
My favorite was Fruit of the Tomb which was a spoof of Fruit of the Loom t-shirts. I don’t know why but I really got a kick out of that one. The funny thing is that as I have been perusing some of the old Wacky Packs collections online, I realize how much of the humor went right over my head. There were some stickers that always made me groan when I got them because they didn’t seem very funny but now that I’m older, I totally appreciate them.
So the other day I went to Target with the kids. TQ wanted something green to wear to school for St. Patrick’s day since they relax the uniform policy that day and considering that she’s even more Irish than I am, I couldn’t refuse her. While we were there, I saw that they had Wacky Packages. I had no idea they were making them again so I picked up a couple packs and just like when I was a kid, I was so excited!
That evening, after dinner, I remembered about the Wacky Packs and brought them to the table, waving them around like a little kid. I opened them up and start perusing my sticker booty and then I realized that these might require a little explaining because my 6 year old daughter might not understand the sort of satirical, and often gross and/or morbid humor of Wacky Packs.
She thought the Kids Cursin’ (Kid Cuisine) was funny even though I had to explain what cursing is (using grown-up words) and she found the Fancy Feet (Fancy Feast) one to be gross but amusing so I thought “Hey! She totally gets it! It’s cool” but when I showed her the Pillsburied Deadsticks (Pillsbury Breadsticks) she studied it for a moment and then tears began to well up in her big hazel eyes.
Me: What? What, honey? Why are you crying?
TQ: This makes me saaaaaaad. *tears pouring down face*
Me: Oh, baby it’s just a joke. They’re making fun of advertising and products and stuff. The doughboy and breadsticks aren’t really hurt.
TQ: *sobbing* But I like happy things. This is saaaad… *more sobbing*
Me: *thinking* I am a total idiot. My excitement over these stupid stickers made me completely forget that my daughter has a big, soft, squishy, empathetic heart. I feel awful. *dons parental dunce cap & tries to make teary-eyed daughter forget about traumatizing Deadsticks by giving her the stick of gum*
Nice going, Mom. Way to make your kid cry & scar her for life!
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Okay, now humor me for one more minute while I engage in some motherly gushing and bragging…
Here are a couple pictures of my adorable baby girl on Friday wearing her green striped shirt and green pom-pom socks for St. Patrick’s Day (a day early). And check those leprechaun ears!!!
She was student-of-the-month (Woohoo! Yay TQ!) so we had a celebratory lunch with her at school!
(Note to self: Next time skip the lunch and just buy a two chocolate milks like you did back in high school because school lunches? They still suck)
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I don’t remember those but I do remember garbage pail kids. I loved those and I loved the trip to 7-11 to get them.
They still make those!!!! I’m so excited and I’m heading to the store right now to find some. I have so many happy memories around those (and yes, I remember the waxy folded paper they came in). I also loved “Gold Rush” gum that came in the bag (yellow, red or purple gold nuggets) and “pixie stixs” - pure coloured sugar in wax paper straws. Good times, Izzy, good times.
LOVED Wacky Packages, the stickers used to be kind of silky rather than paper.
OMG that is too funny. How is it that our best intentions can earn us the “worst parent of the year” response??
I cannot BELIEVE I missed out on Wacky Packs as a kid. I feel so jilted. I think I will have to talk to my therapist about that one. And the fork sticking out of the dough and the crossed eyes made me literally spit my water out laughing.
But on a serious note, how adorable that your daughter has such a big heart. Declan would be the same way. Who knows where he gets it.
I don’t remember those either - but to Tuesday. Garbage Pail kids are back! I got some for my kids at Target. Still as disgusting as ever!!
Many times my allowance (ranging from 50 cents to $1.00) got saved up for whacky packs. Cool they’re making them again, and your little student of the month is adorable.
I don’t remember those…we were all into pop rocks and those bubble gum packs. But they sound fun! I’ll have to keep my eye out. P1 is all into jokes these days.
How cute your little Irish sweet heart is. :)
That TQ is a cutie! I love the green bows in her hair.
I somehow missed the wacky packs when I was young - they sure are funny. So sorry they made her sad.
I loved those too! (Sorry that they made your beautiful gal sad though!)
I totally remember Wacky Packages! Wish I’d saved the ones I’d had. I’m SO buying some when I see them again!
Thanks for the memory!
I don’t remember these? Maybe I missed out? I do recall the Garbage Pail Kids that the others commented on. My mom thought they were the devil’s toys. (HA)
Izzy, my daughter was about the same age when I sang a silly song I remembered from my days in Girl Scouts called “I’m Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover.” She had the exact same reaction you described. There would be no singing of dead dogs in her presence, thankyouverymuch. If it’s any consolation, now that she’s 15, her sense of humor is as sick and twisted as one would expect from my spawn.
I don’t remember those either. I have to say though, your daughter is so cute!
I totally remember those! Thanks for the great trip down memory lane. Your daughter is adorable!
I don’t remember those either. They sound really cool though. I’ll look for them at the store.
I used to love Wacky Packs! I didn’t know they were making them any more, either. Next time I’m at Target, I’m getting some.
That Gold Nugget gum was fantastic! I wonder if they still make that stuff.
i loved all the seriously twisted stuff - whacky packages, garbage pail kids, stories of henry viii…
congrats to the student of the month!
Your daughter is the most adorable little girl!
My kids have the student of the month type thing, but it is called Hard Work Cafe, and it is a breakfast. All the parents bring food, so it isn’t bad. I never thought I could feel so proud of my kids, and I am sure you feel the same way.
I loved wacky packages! I forgot all about them until this post. Wow, those bring back some memories…..
And your daughter’s reaction? Awww…how cute. She is a real sweetie. You know, I had lunch at my son’s school recently, and you are right. The lunches Do still suck.*Gag* I started making his lunch after that so he wouldn’t be forced to eat the slop *LOL*
My daughter flipped out over the Garbage Pail kids, cried her eyes out. Course her brother LOVED them. lol
She looks so much like you in that second photo, and those ponytails are adorable!
We NEVER got candy except at Easter, and my parents didn’t let us “collect” anything either. I was so deprived!
That’s a great story. It really is. And congratulations on the “student of the month.” That’s outstanding! Did you put the bumper sticker on your car yet?
And school lunches don’t “suck.” At least, the square pizza didn’t. A friend of mine teaches at a local middle school. I go by for lunch sometimes - but only when they’re having that square pizza.
No, you\’re right. The square pizza and the grilled cheese are good but the burgers, the vegetables and the beans and rice, in particular? SCARY!!!
The huz says no bumpersticker on the car because it\’s like advertising that you have a young child and what school they go to etc. and it\’s not safe soooo we told her she could hang it on her bulletin board.
Never heard of Wacky Packs, but I love the picture of the Pilsbury Doughboy holding the dying bread stick! Kids today don’t know the Doughboy and his soft tummy that made him giggle when pushed. My kids think he is a rabbit. Progress!
I have to also voice a hearty approval for square pizza. My elementary school had the best square pizza ever.
Your daughter is a doll. You must be so proud!
Wacky Packs are awesome. I actually have some from the seventies in a scrap book I made when I was six. I’ll have to go dig that out.
Thanks for the memories.
I don’t remember Wacky Packs, but then again, I think I’m older than you are, so maybe they were after my time.
Congrats on your student of the month. My kids’ school doesn’t do that sort of thing; our district doesn’t believe in “singling kids out” so that no one gets hurt feelings. Sheesh! Our principal won’t even let us publish news about our school, so our students read all about the accomplishments of other schools, but our school’s activities are never published so we look like deadwood. Sigh.
Congrats again to your cutie girl, and to you, too, Mom!
The old Wacky Packages unopened are worth a fortune on Ebay…too bad we didn’t act like mutants and not open them and save them for 30 years…D’oh
I’ll remember to pass you up for the mother of the year award.
(love the pics!)
I was in the States in the 70’s so I didn’t get the chance to collect those stickers.
Your baby girl is all grown up, she’s adorable in the hat and what a smarty pants she is.
ohmigosh! i remember those stickers!
right on for student of the month, thats awesome!!
OMG she looks so much like you, what a cutie.
I LOVE the wacky packs as well.
I think it means we’re inherently evil, though. Cuz some of them always were a little mean.
YES! Wacky Cards! Hahah; I don’t even REMEMBER there being any gum involved, I was so enamoured with them! :P They took up quite a lot of room in my sticker collection… ’sighs.
Sadly, they are long gone as I think I graciously gave them to a boyfriend’s younger sister as a kind of gift. Ah well - spread the love!! ;)
“Me: *thinking* I am a total idiot. My excitement over these stupid stickers made me completely forget that my daughter has a big, soft, squishy, empathetic heart. I feel awful. *dons parental dunce cap & tries to make teary-eyed daughter forget about traumatizing Deadsticks by giving her the stick of gum*”
Awww… don’t be too hard on yourself; your intentions were good (great, even! :P), and I’m sure it will make a great story some day (especially when she’s older! :P ). What a sweetie, though; I can empathise with being an empath! :P It can be… interesting(!), to say the least! Especially the whole ‘having empathy for inanimate objects… I mean, talk about taking personalisation to the nth degree! :P
Ah well; some of us are just ‘wired’ that way. I’m turning 28 and I’m only just beginning to be able to tolerate taking inventory of myself (i.e., my feelings, thoughts, beliefs), no matter how preposterous/painful they may seem. I have faith (a stranger, I know, but still!) that she can and will learn how to set boundaries, etc., to minimise on those kinds of ‘traumatic’- emotional-response-type ‘events’, and this will better ensure that her life remains pleasant and manageable as confidence, assertiveness and knowing your mind (at least to a certain extent! :lol: ) I think are essentials for being grounded firmly in our respective selves. She should have little problems, especially with such an awesome-sounding Mum as yourself! :)
Knowing yourself and your boundaries - such an important lesson. Wish -I- had received some coaching in it as a child ;)
Thank you for your post; it was most enjoyable :) My apologies for all of this blathering in your comments ;) All inspired by your creative genius! ;)
Your daughter is absolutely stunning! And Student-of-the-Month, to boot! Congratulations to her; great going!!
Keep it up, Izzy Mom! :)
Peace,
~Ank
LOL, she’s not scarred for life. It’s ok. But she is adorable.
Wacky Packages were the BEST! This entry takes me back a spell, Izzy. Back to when I was bud a wee lad with imaginary friends and a thumbsucking problem.
Oh! I collected those. I even loved the stale gum. I liked the butter one best “Land O’ Flakes” or something. They were all america-centric so were funny, yet oblivious to my canadian ways and knows.
Oh she is so beautiful. Kudos to your daughter.
Wacky Packs… WOw I hadn’t thought of those in FOREVER.
I saw recently they’ve also come out with Garbage Pail kids stuff again. Oy.
A happy Belated St.paddy’s day to you Dear lass…
And to your lovely Lassies…
And as for the stickers…
I totally remember them…
Makes me wish I lived in the states so I could pick me up some…
Congrats on student-of-the-month! That’s awesome. Can’t imagine how proud you must be. And thanks for answering the bumper sticker question. Couldn’t picture you putting that on the car. Hubby gave you a nice out!
I totally remember those! I can’t believe you found them at Target. I need to keep my eyes out. Don’t worry about making the little one sad- who knew? Its such a crapshoot. Somedays they cry over anything (just like we do- am I right?)
Never heard of wacky packs but we had garbage pail kids and I got my 6 year old son some recently..I had to explain them but he still liked them.
I’ll have to see if my husband had these. They seem centric to his sense of humor.
I have never heard of Wacky Packs, and now feel like I was even more sheltered than I ever knew. And I know I was sheltered. Man! How fun!
Your daughter is ADORABLE! Way to go on the SOTM! Cute shirt and socks, too.
I used to collect those Wacky Packages too! I would have been just as excited upon finding them.
I love TQ’s green pom-pom socks. She is completely adorable and you must be so proud of her award! Gush away…
what a flashback! my cousin kept all her wacky packs in her sticker album - do you remember them? - with her huge collection of scratch-n-sniff stickers too. rootbeer was always my favorite. popcorn: not so much.
Something that I would TOTALLY do…I love it.
I love those pictures too…
Yeah the wacky packs are probably more for the fourth-grade set. That seems to be the age when morbid and scatological humor set in big time. TQ is such a sweetheart though :)
What about scratch n sniff stickers that smell like gross/weird stuff - I thought those were fascinating when I was TQ’s age, although I also really enjoyed a good sparkly butterfly or fuzzy/puff rainbow too.
I get sad about dead bread too. Any inedible carbs makes me want to cry so really, I relate. The photos are spectacular. What a charmer!
I would have the same reaction that your daughter did, even as a grown up. Of course I live with a man who thinks it would be hilarious to bake and slice the Pillsbury Dough Boy with him crying out the whole time ala Mr. Bill.
I’m getting teary just thinking about it.
OMG! I had forgotten all about Wacky Packs! I had a pair of their PAJAMAS and they were just too cool. I wore the top to school with jeans. It was Rice-A-Phonie. I have to get some of these. Oh, those wacky 70’s!
I had forgotten all about the Wacky Packages. I loved those. What a hoot. Thanks for the time travel.