Every Saturday and Sunday morning I would wake up early and run into the living room, prepared to fight my brother for the remote to the TV. Sitting on the couch for hours, I would watch the cartoons that were playing on our family television and every 30 minutes I would switch off the remote with my brother, so we could enjoy the show of our choice. In no particular order, some of the cartoons that I enjoyed watching as a kid (most of which I still enjoy) are as follows: 

1. Dragon Tales. Whenever Max and Emmy put their hands on the enchanted dragon scale, I felt like I was being transported to Dragon Land, with them. As a kid who liked to sing and enjoyed shows involving mythical creatures, I found myself watching Dragon Tales every time it was on TV. 
2. Caillou. Almost every memory I have as a kid on a Saturday morning involved watching Caillou! Although the TV show didn’t involve magical creatures that sang, it did have a kid who loved to spend time with his friends and family and used his imagination in every episode.  
3. Cyberchase. Cyberchase was one of my favorite cartoons growing up because it featured three kids who worked together to fight off an enemy. As a 5-year-old, nothing interested me more than seeing other kids fight off a villain without the help of their parents or other adults. They were who I wanted to be! 
4. Rugrats. Rugrats will always be a part of my childhood identity. With the show running a total of 13 years, I enjoyed watching the adult-like babies solve problems and go on adventures, every Sunday morning. 
5. The Powerpuff Girls. Yup. It’s a classic. The Powerpuff Girls were my first real exposure to “girl power” on television, and I couldn’t get enough of it! From being the strongest and most powerful characters on the show, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, were my idols as a young girl.  
6. Recess. I loved Recess growing up because I wanted to be like the kids in the show. Looking back, the kids in the show were only in fourth grade, but as a kid who was only in about kindergarten or first grade, I thought the characters on Recess resembled the cool kids in school. And who doesn’t want to be like them? 

Although most of the cartoons I watched growing up didn’t involve much spelling, math, or problem solving like most cartoons being shown today, I found that I learned different lessons in the shows I watched. From broadening my imagination to inspiring me to be a strong and fearless young girl, I like to think that the cartoons I watched impacted my childhood and my adult life in a very positive way!