Let’s be honest: if you had a Crock-Pot of some kind of cheesy dip simmering on the counter yesterday and were in charge of the charcuterie board, you probably weren’t really tuned into the big football game for the actual football. 

You were totally there for the halftime show. You know, the one featuring the megastars of your teenage years. The one all the moms in the car pick-up line were squealing about for the past two weeks as they dusted off their burned CDs from the late ’90s and early 2000s and relived the magic of their youth.

Because that’s what this year’s halftime show was actually about—nostalgia.

And in a time when we’ve all suddenly realized we’re the grow-ups in the room, music like the old jams from Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dog, and 50 Cent is like a breath of fresh air reminding us hey, we used to be kind of fun. 

All you have to do is take a spin through the internet today to figure out we Gen Xers/Millenials/Xennials (honestly, just choose your favorite!) have all the feelings about what we witnessed on our TV screens for 15 glorious minutes on Sunday evening. 

It was a fleeting reincarnation of our youth. A throwback to simpler times. A tiny little respite from adulting and parenting and being responsible for all the things—and it was so, so good. 

Have a look for yourself, first up, from Emily Solberg: 

That one just hit different.

That one felt special for us millennials/Gen Xers.

Maybe that’s because it brought us back to a time that felt simpler and safer and way more fun.

Maybe that’s because even though we haven’t heard those lyrics or danced like that in literal DECADES, we didn’t skip a beat.

Maybe that’s because here I am, a mid-30s mom of two—a far cry from the girl who broke it down to “In Da Club” in an actual club—struggling through one of the hardest and most isolating times of my life.

But when they all came together up on the stage like that at the end . . . it felt like seeing a group of old friends.

Maybe that’s because it felt like home.