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14 ‘latchkey kid cuisine’ essentials Gen Xers whipped up in the ’80s

“Hot dogs in the microwave”

By

Emily Shiffer

latchkey kid, latchkey kids, latchkey kid food, chef boyardee, 80s food
Photo credit: halfmeasures611 & Djf47021/Reddit – Gen Xers share their favorite “latchkey kid cuisine” essentials.

The 1980s ushered in a new kind of childhood: the latchkey kid. With both parents working, these children used a latchkey to let themselves into their homes after school.

And they were hungry. By the ’80s, microwaves had entered most kitchens, making it quick and easy to prepare food—something latchkey kids treasured after long school days.

Gen Xers on Reddit shared the “latchkey kid cuisine” they made for themselves after school. Some jokingly called their concoctions a “crime,” while others still crave the classics.

Here are 14 of their most memorable creations:

Hot dogs

“Hot dogs in the microwave.” – Fabulous-Airline-473

“I ate 2 hot dogs after school every day of either 6th or 7th grade. Couldn’t eat them again for at least a year.” – Second_City_Saint

Canned pasta

“Raviolis from the can. I remember housing the family size can all the time.” – hey_suburbia

“Spaghetti O’s with a Kraft single melted into it.” – joy_to_the_world_

“Wow, look at rockafella over here. Beefaroni 4 life, my friend.” – n10w4

Eggs

“We used to have ‘eggs in a basket’ as my Mom called it all the time as kids. The best part is taking the little circle of bread and making a mini French toast with it.” – Kronos1A9

Cinnamon, sugar, and butter on toast

“Cinnamon, sugar, and creamed butter mixed together to form a sort of cinnamon icing, spread onto slices of bread, bagels, whatever, and then toasted in the broiler until the sugar caramelized and turned into a crunchy crust on top. That was my childhood go-to for breakfast or snacks.” – ilikeaffection

“Latchkey kid food was cinnamon toast.” – kathatter75

Frozen pizza varieties

“Pizza Rolls.” – RojoRugger

“Or bagel bites if I was extra good.” – Prestigious-War-1825

“Frozen pizza for me.” – JD_tubeguy

Ramen

“For us, it was Top Ramen” – blueyedwineaux

“I used to make a cup noodle/top ramen on the stove and add a sautéed hot dog. I was 10 thinking I was a chef.” – Euphoric_Management8

Quesadilla

“Sometimes a tortilla with shredded cheese microwaved for the worst quesadilla ever.” – blueyedwineaux

Frozen dinners

“Starting the Schwanns frozen dinner if you were fancy.” – Weekly_Library9883

“As a Latchkey Kid this delight from Swanson [fried chicken dinner] fed me, many a times after school, while watching reruns of The Little Rascals, waiting for my parents to come home from work.” – CharlieMcN33l

“Micro Magic (discontinued brand from the 80s) burgers and fries. These were so good. All you did was open the box and nuke it for 90 seconds. These hit hard. Good old Gen X stuff that doesn’t exist anymore.😥” – Setsuna00XN

Canned soup

“Canned beans/soup with toast for this guy!” – skinnyminnesota

“My other go-to was a family size can of Campbell’s beef vegetable soup with an entire sleeve of Town House crackers dumped into it.” – hey_suburbia

Chipped beef on toast

“This was called ‘sh*t-on-a-shingle’ in our house.” – po_ta_toes_80

Nachos

“My latchkey go-to was microwave nachos.” – billskns5th

@itskatherineblanford

Spent my childhood making my own nachos and watching Maury and cartoons all day long. ♬ original sound – Katherine Blanford

Sandwiches

“Saltine crackers and peanut butter, always the full sleeve because nobody was there to stop me.” – SaskatchewanKenobi

“I was a grilled cheese or Spaghettio kid.” – PlatypusFreckles

Cereal

“Yep, I put way too much sugar in a bowl of cheerios, collapsed in a sugar coma for about 25 min and skateboarded the rest of the evening.” – Combatical

Pot pie

“Frozen pot pie made in a toaster oven” – hisamsmith

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  • Anne Hathaway shares the ‘unintended consequence’ of her iconic ‘Princess Diaries’ makeover
    Photo credit: Reddit – Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries.
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    Anne Hathaway shares the ‘unintended consequence’ of her iconic ‘Princess Diaries’ makeover

    One of the film’s most memorable moments came with a “terrible side effect.”

    Heather Wake

    It’s a trope as old as time: the charming, yet conventionally unattractive girl gets a makeover, and suddenly her looks match her winning personality, opening an entire world of possibilities…and love interests. 

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    An era-defining transformation

    One lasting example of this is the makeover scene in The Princess Diaries, wherein Mia Thermopolis (played by Anne Hathaway) goes from adorkable to refined thanks to a bit of hair straightening, plus some makeup, contacts, and intense eyebrow tweezing. 

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    …with “unintended consequences”

    As a result, however, the message many audiences read was “curly hair is unattractive,” which Hathaway labeled as a “terrible, completely unintended side effect.”

    If the comments section was any indicator, Hathaway was correct in saying the “unintended consequence” of that scene was the profound effect it left with viewers. 

    “I (a curly haired girly) started straightening my hair after I saw the scene at 12.”

    “Yeah, watching this movie when it came out as someone who had curly hair and glasses did something to me lol.”

    “I had curly hair and glasses when this movie came out and was bullied for both. I was in middle school and to this day I can’t watch this movie because it made me feel like the bullies were right. As an adult I know better but the gut feelings are still there.”

    Granted, the creative decision might have been made in part for practical reasons, but let’s not forget that this movie came out in the early 2000s…a fairly rigid time period for beauty standards overall. The Princess Diaries was far from the only movie to portray curls (or glasses, or freckles, or anything past a size 2) as “ugly.” For all its good parts, the film was definitely a product of its time. 

    Straightening out the curl narrative

    Thankfully, we’ve seen a lot of progress in this department. Not only do we see far more characters in media sporting their curls, but, thanks to social media, there’s a much larger wealth of knowledge for how to style and take care of curly hair.

    Truly, there’s an entire language (I’m 2C to 3B type myself…iykyk) dedicated to curls now that simply did not exist at an earlier time. Not knowing that curls require an entirely different routine left many of us to resort to straightening or making peace with feeling like the ”ugly” one. 

    Even still, curls that aren’t styled and left in their Mia Thermopolis state are still often viewed by society as unprofessional, undesirable, or unclean in some way. That’s why representation matters. It’s so important to have our pop culture reflect a different reality so that we might start internalizing a different story and unlearning harmful stigma.

    All this to say…Princess Diaries 3 should definitely let Mia’s curls go free. Just sayin’. 

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  • Disney re-animates 3 iconic songs to include ASL, and the Deaf community calls it ‘incredible’
    Photo credit: The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Animation Studios/Youtube – Moana 2, Frozen 2, and Encanto
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    Disney re-animates 3 iconic songs to include ASL, and the Deaf community calls it ‘incredible’

    “We’ve never done anything like this at Disney Animation before”

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    @drunkcrier

    The Little Mermaid TV show Season 2 Episode 6 #ASL #AmericanSignLanguage #LearnASL #SignLanguage #TheLittleMermaid #GabriellaMermaid

    ♬ original sound – Jon

    “We’ve never done anything like this at Disney Animation before,” shared Osmund. 

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    “As someone who is partially deaf in one ear, I fully support this and think it’s very important and heartwarming that they’re doing this.”

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    Where to watch

    Songs in Sign Language is currently only available to stream on Disney+, but we know it’s only a matter of time before the Internet does its thing. 

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  • At 6:30 a.m., Japanese radio plays ten minutes of ‘Radio Taiso’ and it’s getting people moving
    Photo credit: Canva – Two people exercise in a park.
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    At 6:30 a.m., Japanese radio plays ten minutes of ‘Radio Taiso’ and it’s getting people moving

    “Radio Taiso was inspired a century ago by a similar radio program in the United States.”

    Cecily Knobler

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    Good for all ages

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    100-year history

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    Simple movements

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    Kodomokai

    I reached out to an old high school friend, Nathan Hillyer, who has been living in Japan for quite some time. He confirmed that while it still exists, it’s mostly practiced by and beneficial to the elderly. “In the park near where I live, old people tend to go there to do it. It is run by NHK Radio 1 at 6:30 in the morning,” he shares.

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    Hillyer also recalled that the radio exercises began in the West. “I remember watching old American comedies in black and white, maybe W.C. Fields or something like that. They were in funny situations in which someone is trying to do their radio exercises and hearing the voice, but either they can’t keep up or something happens in the real space which is not matching the radio routine.”

    He adds, “In Japan, it is quite the phenomenon because the Japanese tend to be very community-oriented.”

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  • Fake towns on real maps: Why ‘phantom settlements’ exist and how one became real…sort of
    Photo credit: Canva – What do you do when you see a town name on a map but it doesn't actually exist?
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    Fake towns on real maps: Why ‘phantom settlements’ exist and how one became real…sort of

    Algoe, New York, was a fake town at the heart of a legal dispute between two mapmakers.

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    Two women looking at a map. Photo credit: Canva

    The confusing nonexistence of Algoe, New York

    One of these phantom settlement map traps was (or wasn’t?) Algoe, New York. If you’ve read John Green’s novel Paper Towns, you’re probably familiar with it. It’s not a real town. It never existed.

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    Who knew a general store could be enough to prove a place existed? Photo credit: Canva

    In an ironic twist of events, an “Algoe General Store” had been built at the intersection where Algoe was located (but didn’t really exist) on the map. The store owner had seen Algoe on the map and named his general store accordingly. Rand McNally claimed it had obtained the coordinates for Algoe from county records. And those records showed the Algoe General Store located at that place on the map, hence Algoe showing up on their map.

    Do map traps still exist in the age of online maps?

    Though there wasn’t a real town there and the shop didn’t last long, the general store’s name was enough to prove that a place called Algoe did exist. In fact, it was apparently included on Google Maps up until 2014, even though it was never actually a real place.

    TIL that an official map of Michigan once included two fictional towns, Goblu and Beatosu, in reference to the football rivalry between the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University.
    byu/pengweather intodayilearned

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    It’s hard to know how many phantom settlements in countries around the world have snuck into our modern navigation systems, but by now, it’s safe to guess they’ve mostly, if not entirely, been weeded out.

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    Sometimes allyship is simple
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    Texas dad and son have first encounter with a trans woman, and dad sets a powerful example

    It’s a simple message that speaks volumes.

    Annie Reneau

    Upworthy Staff

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    A small moment with a big lesson

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    @oddragon226

    our first trans woman experience #trans #transwoman #transpeoplearepeople #transrights #translivesnatter

    ♬ original sound – oddragon neckbeard

    “When I tell you how happy it made me,” he said, beginning to tear up, “to be able to see somebody be out and open to the world here in small town Texas. You just gotta know how much bravery that takes. Right, Mikey?”

    “Hell yeah!” the son agreed.

    Barlow wanted to say something to her, but he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, either.

    “But if you’re a trans woman and you came here to the Landmark truck stop in Clyde, Texas, just know we’re proud of you,” he concluded.

    The internet was moved by his reaction

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    “Indoctrinate your children with kindness, compassion, consideration and respect for others.” – Toddthmpsn

    “When I was younger I would get my hair cut by a woman named Liz. She spoke Spanish so it was hard for to understand her English sometimes. My dad spoke Spanish so would translate for her and me. I noticed Liz looked a little different then other women. But I never said anything, I never felt any differently about her. She never scared me, or made me question anything. She was just Liz. As I got older I realized she was a trans woman. And it literally changed nothing. She was still just Liz. Liz was always kind and treated everyone warmly. I havnt seen her in years but I hope she is doing well. I really liked her.” – PerplexedPoppy

    “This literally happened to me as a child in the 80s. A cashier at a store we visited suddenly started dressing in a feminine style and it appeared that they were transitioning. My mom explained to me in an age appropriate way that sometimes people decide they want to be a man instead of a woman, or a woman instead of a man. She told me that people would probably be mean to the cashier and it was important for us to remember that and always be polite to her, as we would anyway. This was way before trans issues were as mainstream as they are now, but my mom had seen an episode of Phil Donahue where trans woman discussed their stories, and she recognized it as a medical issue. Core memory for me.” – ZipCity262

    “As a trans woman, im deathly afraid whenever I have to go to rural areas. I can instantly feel physical tension when I walk into a gas station or a restaurant in these areas. Thank you for being supportive. Trans people need you now more than ever.” – rainbow_lenses

    This is what allyship actually looks like

    As this dad and son showed, it’s a simple matter to demonstrate non-judgmental acceptance in front of our kids so they hopefully will grow up without being bound by chains of bigotry they’ll later have to learn to unload.

    This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.

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  • The one reason Americans can’t build quaint, walk-up apartments like they have in Europe
    Photo credit: via About Here/YouTube – Why North America can't build European-style apartments.
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    The one reason Americans can’t build quaint, walk-up apartments like they have in Europe

    The stairs themselves are the problem in North America, though that’s starting to change.

    Tod Perry

    Upworthy Staff

    One of the most beautiful features of old European neighborhoods are the rows of quaint, walk-up apartments that are the backbone of walkable neighborhoods. They help create a community where people can exit their front door and walk to a local café or market without getting in their car. Unfortunately, these neighborhoods are hard to find in the United States, where these types of apartment buildings are exceedingly rare.

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    It all comes down to staircases

    “Quaint walk-up apartments … are a beloved feature in cities around the world,” Lee says in his video entitled “Why North Americans Can’t Have Nice Apartments.” “They’re inviting and full of character. But, here in North America, they are not allowed to be built today. Instead, our apartments are big and imposing, often stretching across the entire block and the reason why it really comes down to one reason: staircases.”

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    “Staircases take up a lot of space and fitting two of them in a small building means that there is much less usable floor space on every floor,” Lee says in the video. “As a result, developers here construct much larger buildings so that the staircases and hallways take up a much smaller proportion of the overall building. It’s why apartments in North America, in general, are much bigger and wider than their European counterparts.”

    So why didn’t Europe make the same call?

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    The two-staircase regulations in the U.S also made it harder to build units greater than one bedroom because the buildings needed long hallways which reduced the number of layout options.

    Now cities are rethinking the rules

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    Cities like Seattle, Washington, were early adopters, but the movement has since gone national. As of 2025, seven states have passed bipartisan legislation allowing single-stairway apartment buildings, including Colorado, Montana, New Hampshire, and Texas, with 19 states and Washington D.C. having introduced bills since 2022.

    “Now, if all this makes you a bit nervous, I get it. After all, these codes are about our safety. But I do want to mention that these codes do change over time as our technology and our understanding of safety evolves,” Lee finishes the video. “It’s important that we discuss and update these rules as our world changes.”

    Pew Charitable Trust reports that small, single-stairway apartments actually have a strong safety record, sharing that those kinds of buildings as tall as six stories are “at least as safe as other types of housing.” As we gather data and learn more, we should be able to adjust our regulations. So maybe, hopefully, there are more quaint apartment buildings in our future.

    This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.

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  • Woman who lives on a cruise ship shares the hardest part about her otherwise dream life
    Christine Kesteloo has one big problem living on a cruise ship.
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    Woman who lives on a cruise ship shares the hardest part about her otherwise dream life

    “I could have anything I wanted, and I want it, I absolutely want it.”

    Tod Perry

    Upworthy Staff

    A lot of folks would love to trade lives with Christine Kesteloo. Her husband is the Staff Chief Engineer on a cruise ship, so she gets to live on the boat pretty much for free as the “wife on board.” For Christine, life is a lot like living on a permanent vacation.

    “I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it’s often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don’t cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“

    The one thing that makes it hard

    Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.

    @dutchworld_americangirl

    The hardest part about living on a cruise ship is that I am surrounded by free food all of the time anything I want I just had lunch but it’s 2 o’clock in my body tells me it’s either cookie time or time for a hamburger. The hardest part is telling myself not to eat. #hardestpart #cruiseship #livingatsea #koningsdam #weliveonacruiseship #cruisefoodie #foodtok #itsaproblem #halcruises #hollandamericaline

    ♬ Pieces (Solo Piano Version) – Danilo Stankovic

    “One of the hardest things about living on a cruise ship is that I know right now, if I just leave my cabin, I can go and have cookies, pizza, a shake, I could have anything I wanted, and I want it, I absolutely want it,” she said in a TikTok video that received over 400,000 views.

    “I am laying here. It is 2 pm. I had a salad for lunch, I had some fresh fruit, but that didn’t fill me up,” she continued. “Right now, all I can think about is eating a burger with some French fries and some mayonnaise.”

    “And that, folks, is the absolute hardest part about living on a cruise ship,” she said. “I am surrounded by food all the time.”

    She added, “The hardest part is telling myself not to eat.”

    She is not alone in this struggle

    Kesteloo’s trouble is a common problem among people on cruise ships. A study by Admiral Travel Insurance found that over 60% of people who go on a week-long cruise anticipate gaining weight. Seventeen percent of people say they gain 2 to 3 pounds on a cruise, while 14% say they gain 4 to 5 pounds.

    Other estimates show that the average cruiser will put on 5 to 10 pounds on a weeklong cruise. Imagine living on a cruise ship for half the year, like Kesteloo. She could quickly put on 100 pounds a year if she’s not careful.

    “I’d be huge if I lived there. I would feel like I’m on a constant vacation, and who diets on vacation?” Theresa Gramelsapcker-Wilson wrote in the comments.

    “This is my main reason why I couldn’t do this HHAHAHAHAHAA,” Cara Mia added.

    “I never thought about those who actually live on a cruise ship. I would be 500 pounds,” Lucky Penny2468 said.

    cruise ships, dieting, all you can eat, living on a cruise ship, tiktok
    A woman eats and drinks while enjoying the view on a cruise ship. Photo credit: Canva

    Kesteloo’s battle with temptation shows that in every life, a little rain must fall. Nobody ever truly has it perfect. Kesteloo seems to be living the perfect life on board a cruise ship, but she still has to fight temptation every moment of the day or make good use of the ship’s gym facilities. But, obviously, having access to too much food is far better than having too little.

    This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.

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  • A teacher asked 7th graders what 40-year-olds do for fun and their answers are merciless
    Photo credit: Canva Photos – 7th grade students guessed what hobbies 40-year-olds have and the answers are hilarious.
    ,

    A teacher asked 7th graders what 40-year-olds do for fun and their answers are merciless

    Elder millennials are feeling attacked, but the kids aren’t exactly wrong.

    Evan Porter

    Like it or not, kids will tell you what they really think. Their naive honesty is refreshing, hilarious, and at times, a little bit rough on the self-esteem of the adults around them. Regardless, they don’t shy away from telling it like it is, or at least how they see it.

    That’s why 7th grade teacher Shane Frakes loves to frequently poll his students for their opinions on, well, almost anything.

    Going by @7thgradechronicles on TikTok, Frakes regularly goes viral for his hilarious content and observations about his Gen Alpha students. But more than just building a platform and side hustle for his own gain, Frakes makes great use of his social media savvy to keep his kids energized and engaged in the daily lessons.

    In a recent video, he asked his students to weigh in on this question: “What do you think people in their 40s do for fun?!”

    @7thgradechronicles

    Back In My Day 😆🥲 #teachersoftiktok #teacher #teachertok #middleschool #middleschoolteacher

    ♬ Le Freak – Chic

    The responses are not for the faint of heart. Here’s the list the kids came up with:

    • Play Wordle
    • Watch TV in black and white
    • Go gamble!
    • Spoiling all [their] grandchildren or nieces and nephews
    • Play Pickleball! A sport that doesn’t move as much
    • Count coupons
    • Go on Facebook
    • Go and buy home decor
    • Grill food on Sundays
    • Saying No to everything I ask for
    • Bingo
    • Take their medicine
    • Knitting
    • Play golf
    • Sitting in a chair on the patio yelling, “Get off my lawn!”

    The internet could not handle the accuracy

    Commenters in their 40s wanted to be offended, but had to admit that the kids had them pegged.

    “Home goods is accurate,” one wrote.

    “I needed this laugh right before bed and I see no wrong answers,” a commenter said.

    “40 and I scored fairly high on this,” said another.

    “The accuracy. I feel attacked,” added another user.

    “These are more accurate than I would’ve guessed,” another summed up perfectly.

    Millennials have been called the Peter Pan generation because of their apparent delays in “growing up.”

    They look younger, seem younger, and even feel younger than a lot of their predecessors. It’s a well-documented phenomenon, in fact. Part of it has to do with cultural and societal factors that have delayed major life milestones. Millennials came of age in a time where earning high-pay in their careers, getting married, and buying a house were more difficult than they ever were for their parents. Many people in the “Peter Pan generation” are just beginning to really get on their feet in their 30s.

    Millennials also hold a deep fear of aging, more so than Gen X does. That may drive them to cling to styles, cultural references, and other preferences from their younger days. But it’s not weird, no. This blurring of the lines that define what a generation is has actually been pretty seamless.

    “A millennial parent can post a TikTok dance with their kids, binge Stranger Things, or geek out over a Marvel premiere without feeling like they’re stepping out of their lane,” says Stacy Jones, a pop culture expert and founder and CEO of Hollywood Branded. “Earlier generations were pigeonholed into what their generation was supposed to be. Millennials are defining that instead. That cross-generational cultural participation blurs what ‘age’ looks and feels like. And it doesn’t stop there. Today’s 50-year-old doesn’t look or act like the 50-year-old of yesterday. Wellness, skincare, acceptance of Botox, fitness, and social media have redefined what ‘middle age’ even means, pushing the whole curve of youthfulness upward.”

    Jones definitely has a point about how people look; there must be something in the water. This is what a 40 year old looked like just a few decades ago. No offense to the great Kelsey Grammer, but by today’s standard, the style and hair would have most people peg him to be in his (late) 50s.

    All the more reason that Mr. Frakes’ students’ list is absolutely hysterical. If there’s anyone bound to be playfully offended by being prematurely aged, it’s us millennials. But the fact of the matter is, whether we like it or not, we are getting older and settling down. Many of us truly do enjoy shopping for home decor and playing a round of low-impact pickleball.

    What the kids don’t understand is that we’re still rocking the hottest music of 2001 and wearing our baseball cap backwards while we do it.

    This article originally appeared one year ago. It has been updated.

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