Did your mom scratch some other mom's eyes out at the toy store to get you the last Cabbage Patch Doll on display? No? Then I suppose you didn't grow up in the 80s. Or perhaps you had a sensible mom. These three fine Cabbage Patch Doll specimens come from my co-editor Jenn Gruden's collection. She says their names are "Adam, Victoria Anne and Veronica Elspeth." The redhead is Victoria Anne, should these things matter to you. Anyhow, I was born in the 70s but my kid-years were in the 1980s, and here's why I think that was the best decade ever: 1. Cabbage Patch Dolls. Duh. 2. Jelly bracelets. Always confiscated by the teacher, but still so much fun. Then came Madonna writhing all over Venice like a virgin, and we scrapped the colourful ones and got into the thick black ones. 3. Handwritten folded-up notes: "Will you be my boyfriend? Circle Yes No Maybe" 4. Duran Duran. 5. Stirrup stretch pants. 6. Hi-top sneakers: British Knights and LA Gear. 7. Crimped hair. 8. Those little square buttons you wore on your jean jacket with heartthrobs on them, like Micheal Jackson or Tommy Howell. 9. Wondering who the hell the band Menudo was, and why they were on the cover of Tiger Beat magazine. 10. Jumpsies, played with a hand-knotted rope of  like 10,000 rubber bands you stole from the kitchen rummage drawer. You had to do a cartwheel to nail the top height. 11. Nerds candy. 12. Runts candy. 13. Track suits that were sewn inside-out. 14. The Cosby Show. 15. The Billie Jean video. And the Thriller video. 16. The Commodore 64 and the Apple II. 17. Strawberry Shortcake. The doll, not the food. 18. Speak & Spell. 19. Head of the Class. A TV show about a class full of smart kids. Huh. Imagine that on TV today? 20. Big Wheels tricycles, borrowed from a neighbourhood friend. 21. My Little Pony. The original. 22. The Goonies. 23. Bananarama. 24. Your mom's shoulder pads. 25. Dirty Dancing. 'Nuff said. So? What did I miss? Tell me, tell me! -Helen (Photo credit: Jennifer Gruden.)