A Webkinz Tale

Sitting alone in the dark, unlit corner of my mom’s unfinished basement, I logged into the internet for the first time.

I was only ten years old, desperate to create a Webkinz account for the stuffed dog I had newly acquired hours before. Her name was to be Princess, naturally. She was fluffy and white, and she cost ten whole dollars. I got her at the craft store, after whining to my mom for too long.

I figured out how to turn on the computer after a few minutes, with the push of a giant button on a glowing tower under the desk. The monitor suddenly zoomed to life, a vibrant cobalt blue screen flashing before my eyes. It was so magical and mysterious, especially while sitting in the dark. Why didn’t I have any lights on? That could be why I need glasses now. I called my mom down from upstairs once I got frustrated, after realizing I had no other ideas on what to do next. My ten-year-old brain only went so far.

Minutes later, Princess was running across my screen and was officially the cutest thing I had ever seen (virtually). She had a bedroom bought with the KinzCash I was gifted upon arrival, but I had no additional funds to decorate it. I immediately spent my time playing various games to make money; the sounds of the cheery and vague music blasting through the air in the basement. I mined for diamonds in the Curio shop, stacked milk cartons in Cash Cow, and drove a sledding snowman up and down hilly slopes. I sat down there for hours in the dark, making fake money like the little businesswoman I was. After all, I didn’t want Princess to suffer in an empty pink bedroom. I played that first night until my mom called me up for dinner. It was baked chicken with peas. Back then, I never realized how hardworking of a person she was to work an entire day, and then come home and immediately make dinner. Hindsight is so interesting.

During dinner, my brother asked if he could play online with me, and as an older sister, I of course said no. I later redeemed myself a few weeks after Christmas, when I let him add his green crocodile, Crocy, to my account. I was so generous. From then on we sat downstairs together, taking turns on who got to sit in the nice chair and who had to sit in the folding chair (I mostly got the nice chair).

Fifty-nine pets and one hundred and ten virtual rooms later, eventually Webkinz sat untouched after a while. Both virtually and physically untouched, with 59 stuffed plushies littered around the basement floor in various cliques (based on animal type, size and ranking of course). The basement computer turned into a place where bills were paid, and games for teens were played instead, but not as often. We grew up to Club Penguin, Wizard101, Lego Indiana Jones, and The Sims. It was a rite of passage being in the 2010’s and playing games online, but so was chatting to friends on Facebook, and trying to figure out how to make an Instagram.

I tried logging into Webkinz a few years ago to make sure I could access all of my hard earned KinzCash, but couldn’t remember the password. It was the irony of having millions of dollars in fake online money being unattainable that made me laugh.

Things are different now and the internet is much more of a vast and scary place. I hope my kids will still want to play Webkinz too, someday.