I’ve read a lot about this current youth generation: The Millenials. You know them. They’re the children of the Boomers and the Gen X’ers. They’re special, they’re “all” winners, they’re rewarded for “everything” they do. They have shelves of trophies, certificates, scrapbooks, and photo albums. They have extravagant birthday parties. The girl’s moms buy them $500 prom dresses.
I should know all of this…I have three of them (my fourth is considered a member of another generation due to birthdate). And I am just as much to blame for the above.
I compare their lives to my youth life. I went through all of my family movies and took out any clip that had me in it. My family has about 120 minutes of footage spanning about a twenty year period. I found 6 1/2 minutes worth that contain footage of me.
I don’t even know how many “hours” of footage each of my children have. I won’t even mention how many photos I have of each of them, or how many scrapbooks and photo albums they already have. None of them have yet reached adulthood.
My three older children are members of “The Millenials: The Next Great Generation.” I am a member of “The 13th Generation” (aka Gen X). I guess that is why I spend so much time and effort making them feel special; because I never did. I don’t say this to be a martyr. It’s simply an observation that I have made over the years concerning why we parents today coddle and sacrifice so much for our children. I think that it is because we didn’t get that from our parents. So we do it for our children. It makes me wonder what kind of parents our children will be.
Cute video, insightful message. I would like to say I don’t indulge my children, just my neighbors do. Then I look at my daughters American girl wardrobe and sigh. I however watched most boomer parents including mine trading stock portfolios for BMW’s. What message did that send? Yes, I know what the stereo type say about generation X. I still think we tend to be more fiscally secure and independent minded than than most boomers. You gotta love an ever growing 403b, even is we are still paying into a SSS that will support or parents. As for the “Millenials” It is a fact that we spend more time with them. I hope in the end that covers some of our flaws.
Mom, I loved your video. I couldn’t believe the resemblance of you and Little Sis. Very interesting blog… it made me want to read up on it more, I’ve honestly never taken time to think about it until now. Thanks.