My theory - GenX vs Millennial parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Nah, it’s none of that.

Kids are swimming in a pool of toxicity today.

Social media is toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Nah, it’s none of that.

Kids are swimming in a pool of toxicity today.

Social media is toxic.

I have a thing about people who start a response with no. Especially when it should be yes.

You’re proving the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Agreed. Coming from a Gen Xer whose child has nicknamed them helicopter Hailey, no matter what generation we are, those of us on 10 could tone it down a bit and let our kids have more fun and engage a bit more in what they want to do. We can still keep them on track and assertively guide them along. Some of us need to put down the bag of bricks and stop caring what people think. We are doing the best we can, one foot in front of the other.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I was talking with some school administrators and teachers who have been around for years recently at a mixed party about the helicopter parenting of the boomer generation and today. The millennial Moms are much more into themselves, are less likely to do volunteer work for the sake of volunteering, less likely to brown nose the teachers/staff and more likely to confront them and many of them aren't as panicked or fearful as the boomer generation.

[Anonymous]

The most helicopter parents I have ever met have two things in common: they have only one child and had them very late (like in their mid forties). I always assumed it was because they had their one and only and need it to count.

[Anonymous]

I’m a boomer and I can see why younger generations hate us. We were of the belief that slow and steady wins the race and it looks like we won. We also weren’t very materialistic and did not need to impress people with “things” as much as younger generations do.
And if you’re a Gen X or millennial or younger and you voted for Trump, you lost your right to complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Strongly disagree with this. You really think this is worse than friends being shipped off to Vietnam and dying? Or what about what people experienced during WW2. The average American was greatly affected by shortages and there was a constant fear of being invaded or losing the war.

I’d argue social media and constant news is a problem, but it’s not 9/11 that’s so dramatically different from events that happen almost every decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Strongly disagree with this. You really think this is worse than friends being shipped off to Vietnam and dying? Or what about what people experienced during WW2. The average American was greatly affected by shortages and there was a constant fear of being invaded or losing the war.

I’d argue social media and constant news is a problem, but it’s not 9/11 that’s so dramatically different from events that happen almost every decade.

Yes, but we didn’t have social media during or after WE2 or Vietnam.
There is no argument to be had. Every decade has not had social media. SM did not hit millennials until they were older but everyone born after that is like damaged goods. Enter what’s going on today and I’d say this is not your Mama’s brand of dysfunction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Strongly disagree with this. You really think this is worse than friends being shipped off to Vietnam and dying? Or what about what people experienced during WW2. The average American was greatly affected by shortages and there was a constant fear of being invaded or losing the war.

I’d argue social media and constant news is a problem, but it’s not 9/11 that’s so dramatically different from events that happen almost every decade.

[Anonymous]

I'm a millennial, and my friends all parent differently. One friend is all about her work, and her DH is a SAHD who does all the parenting. Another friend works part-time and is a hardcore helicopter mom, but she's so brilliant and self-aware that she tries not to be - like she reads books about how to be a freerange parent and tries to implement it, but can't help but be super involved in everything. I have a hard time making sweeping generalizations about how my fellow millennials parent, even among my peer group.

[Anonymous]

As a GenX parent, I mostly notice that millennial parents seem to have trouble saying no and just creating rules for their kids, so their kids are sort of out of control which makes everyone involved miserable (including the kid). They also seem to overcomplicate things--like sometimes the kid is crying because they are hungry/tired and you just need to address the issue instead of having a 30 min talk with them about their feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a boomer and I can see why younger generations hate us. We were of the belief that slow and steady wins the race and it looks like we won. We also weren’t very materialistic and did not need to impress people with “things” as much as younger generations do.
And if you’re a Gen X or millennial or younger and you voted for Trump, you lost your right to complain.

In nearly spit out my coffee reading your fantastical description of a boomer. Not “very materialistic” is the whopper of the bunch. No need to mores others? You basically invented the entire concept of coolness which has plagued our culture ever since you guys entered the scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on the way our country is I don’t think any kids in these groups are going to beOK. The stress and anxiety is unprecedented. These parents and kids have lived through 9/11, the DC sniper, school shootings and extreme competitiveness. These generations are going to deal with the problems brought on by this administration for the rest of their lives. Let’s stop being critical and let’s go out of our way to encourage and support young families.
There is no way it’s going to end well for these generations. They are paying the price, and will continue to, for the rest of their lives.

Strongly disagree with this. You really think this is worse than friends being shipped off to Vietnam and dying? Or what about what people experienced during WW2. The average American was greatly affected by shortages and there was a constant fear of being invaded or losing the war.

I’d argue social media and constant news is a problem, but it’s not 9/11 that’s so dramatically different from events that happen almost every decade.

DP but I do think it might be worse mentally because while there are always things like war, terrorist attacks, economic depressions, all of which can cause huge amounts of stress and trauma, these events are... real. These are real things people live through. As awful as they are, surviving them is meaningful and can bring people closer together, and help them recognize fundamentally what matters.

Social media and the current online culture dies the opposite. It alienates people, causes them to fixate on things that ultimately don't matter, and offers no potential end point or moment of victory. A war ends. A depression ends. The en$hittification of our lives via social media, technology addiction, and now AI just deepens with every passing year.

[Anonymous]

My parents were helicopter parents. I turned out better than fine because of all of the helicoptering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a boomer and I can see why younger generations hate us. We were of the belief that slow and steady wins the race and it looks like we won. We also weren’t very materialistic and did not need to impress people with “things” as much as younger generations do.
And if you’re a Gen X or millennial or younger and you voted for Trump, you lost your right to complain.

??? Do you have Alzheimer's? How did you forget about the extremely materialistic 80s???