As we grow up, not only do we learn to master many new skills, become more and more independent, smarter and build our own character, but also see the world in a very different way. And it actually does change as we grow older – what used to look nice doesn’t impress us anymore, something that we dreamed about looks meaningless and some friends who looked perfect with time turned out to be not so saintly.

But you know what also changes dramatically? Our understanding of wealth and money. As kids, we tend to look at things such as matching plates at our friends house or full shelves of snacks or desserts that were on display in some bakery and think that only super rich people can have that. However, it turns out that actually, they are not that fancy, and most of us can actually afford to have them without being multi-millionaires.

Well, it is still fun to remember them and look at these things now as we grow up. We just don’t feel as fancy anymore when, let’s say, drinking soda from a straw instead of the bottle. So speaking about that, recently one Reddit user started a thread asking folks what they used to think was fancy as kids that is actually not. And I believe that every one of us can relate to many of them.

More info: Reddit

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#1

My friends whose kitchens were filled with junk food like Captain Crunch, Twinkies and Ding Dongs, hot dogs and American cheese. I thought they were so fancy and I was so jealous. My mom cooked from scratch every day, and we thought we were so neglected because she wouldn’t buy that s**t for us to eat. We were so lucky. Thanks, Mom.

#2

Back in my day, kids who had crayola 120 colored pencils were considered the elites of society.

#3

Viennetta ice cream cake was the peak of fancy for me.

#4

My grandparents had a laundry chute in their bathroom- the dirty clothes would land in a basket in their basement next to the washing machine. I thought this was amazing and the #1 thing I would look for in a house one day.

#5

Ferrero Rocher chocolate.

#6

I thought that having a second, older fridge in your garage meant your family was rich. Actually, h**l, if you had a garage at all I thought you were rich.

#7

A fridge with an ice dispenser built in

#8

Cutting sandwiches diagonally.

#9

Glass desks. Now I realise they’re just easily breakable pieces of s**t

#10

Shirley Temple/Roy Rogers drinks. I remember when my parents would take us to a “fancy” restaurant and we would be able to order these. I felt so adult! With the skinny straw and the maraschino cherry…

#11

Double front doors on a house or having a 2- story house. A pool or ping pong table. Getting a store bought Halloween costume instead of one cobbled together from the “dress up” box. A Schwinn bike (mine was a Free Spirit from Sears.)

#12

When I was young I used to refer to brands like Adidas as “designer”. I was obviously wrong, but for a kid who was only bought knock-off brands, usually from the local market, it was very aspirational.

#13

Desserts in the display cases (eclairs, bon bons, petifores, etc)

#14

Nothing was better then Pizza Hut when I was a kid.

#15

Having funky grips for your pencils in first grade. Glitter glue, light up sneakers, having webkinz, having a bunk bed. I recall getting a webkinz and felt so rich 😹😹 any drink that was in a glass with a stem because I felt like an adult, and build a bear. i felt so cool rocking the little house box. When I turned 18 I got a job there and I apologized to my mom for asking for a build a bear every chance I got 😹 they’re so expensive.

#16

Vanity license plates and checks with custom backgrounds. I thought my parents were so lame for not having these and thought both were so fancy. Now as an adult I find the idea of paying for either to be a complete waste of money and tacky.

#17

The blue toilet cleaner in the water. I always thought we were getting out the hood with that one.

#18

Red lobster. And any hotel or motel- even c****y ones.

#19

Buying the expensive package of school photos

#20

Restaurants with table cloths.

#21

Swanson TV dinners with the dessert included

#22

Shrimp. When my brother and I got good grades or if there was any reason to celebrate, our dad would take us to Red Lobster or Long John Silvers and we’d get shrimp. I thought it was the height of luxury

#23

Getting to eat McDonald’s all the time…

#24

When mom sometimes bought the large box with handmade chocolates from the chocolaterie in Husum near Copenhagen. Granted, they were more expensive than the factory-made ones, but not crazy expensive. They did taste way better, though. Maybe because they were freshly made. XD Fancy was also going to the warehouse Magasin (upper middle class) or Illum (upper class) in Copenhagen, instead of going to the cheaper warehouse Daells Varehus, which were for workers. They had basically everything you might need; their clothes were maybe not the latest fashion, but they lasted well, and they were fairly sturdy. Mom was very proud when she could apply for and get an account card for Magasin. 🙂 Fancy was also dad getting a brand new car for the first time ever, in the late 1970’s, when he had been repairing on the old Opel station wagon with chicken wire and plastic padding, because the bottom of the car was rusted through. He was tired of buying c**p used cars, so getting a brand new shiny Opel from the dealer was big stuff for us. 🙂

#25

Old cars from fancy brands. Kids are always like “whoa he drives a BMW” without realizing it’s not impressive to drive a 1999 BMW in 2023.

#26

Lunchables.

#27

Olive Garden

#28

Movie theatres. I thought it cost hundreds of dollars (which was millions in kid speech). I actually felt bad that my family kept taking us so I said no thanks its to expensive and they all laughed at me and took me to the movies lol

#29

Small pickles called gerkins

#30

Commercial air travel

#31

Name brand potato chips. Mom would always buy the cheap store brand chips. Her flawed logic was that they lasted longer than the brand name chips, and thus were a better value. The reality was that the store brand chips sucked, and nobody liked to eat them. The name brand ones were great, and they disappeared quickly. We had the good stuff when Dad did the shopping.

#32

Chicken Kiev

#33

Sizzler

#34

Cheesecake Factory

#35

Pot of Gold assorted chocolates.

#36

Keebler rainbow m and m cookies

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