Recently, I stumbled upon a YouTube video that brought tears to my eyes: “Nick Commercials 1995.” The tears I cried were ones of joy brought on by the nostalgia of growing up during the ‘90s.

Then, deep down, I began to pity today’s generation of children-children who were born into a decade without the fundamental building blocks necessary to maintain a good childhood. The ‘90s were the perfect era to be a kid. It was the last decade before computers really took over and gave imagination the boot. Just think of what the ‘90s had to offer.

I suppose the lifeblood of the ‘90s was Nickelodeon slime. Everything good and awesome in the ‘90s seemed to be held together by Nick. I remember being a kid and wanting to live at Nickelodeon Studios-getting to hang out with the cast of “Salute Your Shorts” by the slime fountain was a dream of mine.

Well, Nickelodeon Studios doesn’t even exist anymore; it closed in 2005. Let’s face it, Nickelodeon died years ago. I know kids today will argue that Nickelodeon is still alive and 10 times better, but I beg to differ. This so called “Nick” of today isn’t even a hair on the butt of the ‘90s Nick.

The ‘90s Nick had “legit” programming such as: “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” “Doug” and “Rocko’s Modern Life.” “iCarly?” Please, I’ll take “Clarissa Explains It All” any day. Even Nick Jr. was off the chain-remember “Eureeka’s Castle?” That show was created by R.L. freaking Stein! Speaking of R.L. Stein, remember “Goosebumps?” “Goosebumps” was probably the greatest work of literature ever to be released in the ‘90s. Even if you were like me and didn’t read, you still bought the books solely for their cover art.

Another thing that kills me about kids today is that they totally believe that their technologically superior games and toys are way better. For example, I have a little cousin who is totally obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog.

I found this odd because there hasn’t been a decent Sonic game since 1996. Every time he shows me a new Sonic game he bought, he tries to sell me on the idea that he is a Sonic master. I always reply with, “Come back when you beat ‘Sonic 2′ without saving.” Of course, he can’t comprehend beating a game without saving, so he just stands there confused.