I recently saw an advertisement for Jiffy Pop popcorn, and I thought to myself, THAT is something I need to pack in my grandma bag to share with my grandsons next time.

Considering their delight in watching air-popped popcorn pop — and attempting to sing the Too Pooped to Pop song while we watch — I imagine Bubby and Mac would get quite a thrill out of watching the Jiffy Pop foil top grow as kernels pop and puff up inside.

Jiffy Pop has been around forever, it seems, and still keeps on popping, entertaining and making folks smile.

Below, in no particular order, are 9 things I wish were like Jiffy Pop — still around to make me smile, make my heart sing... or to just plain make life a little more pleasant on scales large and small.

This isn't one of my grandsons — they've never had a landline. (Photo from Pixabay.com)Landline phones. I definitely don't want one at my own house, but I sure would enjoy calling up my grandsons' house and not knowing who might answer the phone. I can just imagine the squabbles and squeals of Bubby and Mac as they'd run to get a ringing phone. And my delight — hopefully theirs, too — when they said "Hello?" and found it was Gramma on the line.

Newspaper boys delivering on bicycles. Exactly how my newspaper arrives on my porch shouldn't make any difference, but how adorable were little boys riding around flinging papers from their packs? I'd get up early every morning just to see that.

Arranged marriage. This isn't — and shouldn't be — for everyone, but there are times I wish I could set my eldest daughter up with the man I think would be perfect for her. Once I found him, that is. No more praying that a kind and responsible man who would cherish my daughter fully and completely would show up in her world. And no more writing of posts like this or articles like this. Things would be so much easier on her heart... and mine. (Feel the same about your single adult son? Let's talk.)

Wizard of Oz once a year. And only once a year. Watching the Technicolor tale was a far more momentous occasion when it was shown on television once a year. Kids — and adults — can see it any day or night on any variety of screens anymore. Yet another example of our society's devaluation of delayed gratification.

Drive-in movie theaters. Speaking of movies, I'd like to still have the option to see a flick on an outdoor screen. Especially in the summer. Jim and I had a few date nights at the drive-in when we first got together. We eventually had a few more family nights there with our daughters in tow. Unfortunately that drive-in was closed down... and a Walmart built in its place.

Pizza Puffs. As a teen, I loved Pizza Puffs. I don't know what company made them, but they were THE best snack chips ever. Thick, crunchy puffs of something or another — far more dense than Cheetos and such — and coated with savory, pizza-ey flavorings of unidentifiable sorts. Jim and I used to search for Pizza Puffs in every small town we'd visit... to no avail. They're no longer made. If you had them in the past, you likely miss Pizza Puffs, too.

Community dances. I'm not a good dancer by any stretch of the imagination. But I'd like to be. And I might be if community dances — from Downton Abbey-like affairs to small-town square dances — were still the norm, still something people were expected to attend.

Family Sunday dinners. Some of my favorite times in the full nest were the Sunday dinners. Kids learn the art of conversation around the dinner table, right along with their manners. Such weekly gatherings still occur in empty nests across the globe when adult kids visit for a weekly meal. Not mine, though. Brianna has been coming over for Sunday dinners with Jim and me — mostly so she can stick around and watch The Walking Dead with us afterward. And I love that. Yet I'd love it even more if her sisters and their loved ones joined us, too. Of course that would mean the following would need to still be the norm, as well.

Less family sprawl. Families used to stay in one general vicinity, for the most part. Back in the day — a day before my day, to be honest. And, sure, some families still stay in one place, generation after generation. I would like that — on one hand. On the other hand, I wouldn't like it if my daughters didn't have the opportunity to go where their hearts led them... even if that's far from me.

I admit family sprawl has its upside, at least for those interested in sprawling.

The demise of Pizza Puffs, though? No upside to that at all.

Today's question:

What do you wish was still around, still the norm, still an option?