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Boomer parents and grandparents sure do have some interesting habits.
When it comes to intergenerational conflict, you never hear too much about Gen Z having a hard time with Generation X or the silent generation having beef with the baby boomers. However, there seems to be some problem where baby boomers and millennials just can’t get on the same page.
Maybe it’s because millennials were raised during the technological revolution and have to help their boomer parents log into Netflix, while the grandparents get frustrated when their adult children don't know how to do basic homemaking and maintenance tasks. There’s also a political divide: Millennials are a reliable liberal voting bloc, whereas boomers are the target demographic for Fox News. Both generations also have differing views on parenting, with boomers favoring an authoritative style over the millennials' gentler approach, which leads to a ton of conflict within families.
A Redditor recently asked Xennials, older millennials, and younger Gen Xers born between 1977 and 1983 to share some quirks of their boomer parents, and they created a fun list of habits that can be both endearing and frustrating.
The users shared that millennials are frustrated with their parents' abilities to use technology but are touched when they send them a greeting card.
Baby boomers are a fascinating and endearing group. Giphy
Of course, it is reductive to reduce generations into a series of stereotypes, whether it’s millennials or baby boomers. But, for many, hearing that they aren’t the only person who gets frustrated with their boomer parents can be pretty cathartic and make them feel less alone.
Here are 15 boomer parent quirks that Millennials just don’t understand.
1. They save everything
"They save EVERYTHING (containers, jars, boxes, etc.) just in case they might be able to use it for something later. I feel like this habit was handed down from our grandparents' Great Depression upbringing."
"Absolutely! Shopping bags, empty yogurt containers, boxes that some product came in…..although I love me a 'good box!' I have all my iPhone boxes for no reason."
You know the old saying: Is she really a grandma if she doesn't rinse out used plastic baggies to save for later?
An average boomer's basement. Photo by Tania Melnyczuk on Unsplash
2. Scary texts
"Will text something foreboding like 'we need to talk;' then turns out she forgot a recipe."
"My dad will text me 'You need to call me right now' when it’s nothing. And not tell me major life events until well after the fact. Like my aunt had a heart attack and I found out a week later from her son. (And my dad did know.)"
It's true, generations have been battling over tone and punctuation in texts for years.
They love to scare their adult children with dramatic texts. Giphy
3. Stranger death toll
"My mom is ALWAYS telling me about dead people I’ve never met. I really do not care. I know that sounds awful, but I don’t have it in me to be sad for everyone on the planet when they pass."
“You remember my friend Carol? Her aunt had that above-ground swimming pool in her backyard. We swam in it a couple times one summer when you were about 9. Anyway, Carol’s mom just lost her brother-in-law. They were very close. Thought you’d want to know.”
Boomers love to talk about random people who have died, and large-scale tragedies. Giphy
4. They don't travel
"They act jealous of us traveling but refuse to go anywhere."
"Ooh good one. Mine act jealous of anything we do/buy that they can't solely because they can't get out of their own way and actually make things happen."
And, in general, they have more money and time to make it happen! But they often insist on being homebodies, to their own chagrin.
Boomers love staying at home for no good reason. Giphy
5. They print everything
"My Boomer FIL prints out EVERYTHING from his computer. I understand printing out instructions or recipes to help remember but do you really need a file cabinet full of forwarded emails from friends and sale adverts from 5 years ago? Oh well, at least he keeps it organized. Also, both TVs in the house run 24/7 playing reruns of 'CSI: Who Gives a Sh*t Anymore?'"
"I'm not on Facebook, but my dad is. Last year, he made a celebratory post on my birthday and all his church friends liked and commented on it. He printed up the post and all of the comments, stapled it into a little book, and MAILED me the printed Facebook comments..."
If it can't be held in their hand, they don't trust it. Giphy
6. 'From, dad' texts
"My dad sends text messages with, 'From, Dad' at the end of them. It cracks me up every time. He also states who he is every time he calls me."
This has to be one of the more endearing things the boomers do. Please never stop.
7. Irrational fears
"One quirk my dad had was that he was deathly afraid of the house burning down. Not from the standpoint of the danger of fire but when he was growing up, if your house burnt down, you were basically homeless and destitute. My mom is much more level headed about it. She always told my dad, that is why we have homeowners insurance."
8. Expired food
"My mother-in-law doesn't throw out expired food. She has food in her pantry that is several years past their expiration dates. Same with condiments in her fridge. You just can't trust any of the food she has on hand because more than likely than not it's way expired. When we have brought this up, that she needs to throw some stuff out, she insists it's absolutely fine. It's not. "
"My grandmother is the same way. Once, she opened her refrigerator, and there was a jar of pickles with mold floating on the surface of the liquid. I pointed it out, and she said it was still good. She would just scoop the mold out at a later time. She has an incredibly strong stomach and immune system."
They also love to stock up on and freeze certain staples, even milk.
They'll keep food for way, way too long. Giphy
9. Smartphone addiction
"You always hear a kids 'these kids always on their damn phones.' But when it comes to phone addiction, boomers are far worse."
"My mom drives five hours to see us, then spends the whole time texting people from her church or looking at Facebook."
"I once sat in their living room for over an hour before they decided to put their phones down and speak to me, only to phub me and pick them right back up."
It's not the Gen Alpha kids keeping Bejewled in business!
10. Rigid gender roles
"My dad still clings to the traditional division of 'men's/women's work.' He'll fix a car, do any outside work, clean out a clogged drain. Cooking? If it's any more complicated than making coffee or calling in a pizza, he can't/won't. I don't think he even grills anymore. Laundry? Hell no. Taking care of small children? He'll play with them but that's it."
They still hold onto outdated gender stereotypes. Photo by Frankie Cordoba on Unsplash
11. The TV is constantly on
"In-laws leave the TV on for all waking hours. And FIL gets irritated if someone talks over the episode of MASH or Walker, Texas Ranger, that he's already seen 50 times. Like clenching his teeth and stomping the floor."
"TV on 24/7. Constantly flipping between some version of Law and Order, HGTV, and Guy Fieri. Asking me 'did you see that commercial where…' No mom. I don’t have cable. I don’t see commercials. All of the time."
This is the generation that invented TV as background noise. Giphy
12. They are always right
"My dad...he's has to be right about everything and doesn't know what to do if you beat him to the point on something. He once was giving me a recipe that required cinnamon, cardamon, and clove and told me just to use Pumpkin Pie Spice! It's the greatest thing! 'Dad, I don't need to. I have all those spices on hand (I bake)' But...no! You have to use this. 'No, I don't. I don't need to buy something that I already have" It happens all the time."
"My parents are always right and they are not impressed about anything."
13. Obsessed with the weather
"Yes, my dad should have been a meteorologist. He used to have a weather alert radio that would sound off in the middle of the night and he would watch the weather channel constantly. We all had to quiet down when your local weather forecast on the 8's came on. He gets really excited about severe weather like when we might get thunderstorms or a tornado."
There's nothing quite like the thrill a boomer gets from relentlessly tracking every movement of an oncoming storm that will probably amount to some rain and little else.
They love intensely tracking a thunderstorm via The Weather Channel Giphy
14. One more thing
"Without fail, every time I'm leaving my mother's house and backing down the driveway, she comes back out of her house and stops me to say something else, even though we'd just spoken."
15. Mail stress
"My mom has an anxiety attack during the entire journey of a package or piece of mail she dispatched to me. No, she doesn’t know how to track. She will not rest until she knows that a package has arrived or a nominal check has been cashed. She calls when she is thinking about sending something, when she sent it, when it’s en route, and when it’s expected to arrive. God forbid it’s late. And if I don’t issue a prompt thank you, she will guilt me."
It all makes you wonder what new conflicts will pop up when the millennials become grandparents, and the Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids are the ones doing the griping. Probably that millennials will continue to insist on Googling things when traditional search engines have long been replaced, or that the 90s and 2000s kids will never stop listening to Lil Jon-era hip hop, no matter how old they get and how inappropriate it becomes.
Guess we'll see. Stay tuned!
This story originally appeared in January. It has been updated.
Frugal people share money saving home tips.
Being frugal can sometimes feel anything but luxurious. Saving money usually means cutting back or giving up on the "finer" things.
But frugal people have found ways to still cut back on household spending while making their homes feel like five-star hotels. And bonus: their frugal "little luxuries" can have even bigger payoffs than saving money
—they have big mental health benefits.
“Little luxuries can trigger the release of feel-good neurotransmitters, improving overall mood,” Robert Cuyler, PhD, Chief Clinical Officer at Freespira, explained to VeryWell Mind. "Physically, little luxuries that promote relaxation and well-being can lead to lower blood pressure, improved sleep quality, reduced muscle tension, and a strengthened immune system due to decreased stress levels."
- YouTube www.youtube.com
To save money around the house while still feeling fancy, these are 15 frugal home hacks.
"My grandfather in law has motion sensor lights in every room in his home. He got me some for my apartment back in the day, and man oh man. I felt like a KING every time I walked in and the lights just popped on. My energy bill was also noticeably smaller. Still not sure why they changed to walled sized bills... Also, as an eco conscious human, I was glad to be saving energy. Finally, I found it to be more hygienic and less stressful when not having to worry about touching lights when cooking or whatever. Still swear by automated illumination to this day." - KVNTRY
"Wait til you hear about pressure-based light switches. I put one in the door jamb of my pantry so when you open the door, the light immediately kicks on. Close it again, and it shuts off. It’s glorious." - Stone_The_Rock
"Cloth napkins. We haven’t bought paper napkins in years, and the cloth ones are so much nicer anyway." - SmileFirstThenSpeak
"Carrying everything on trays. I might be overdosing on Downton Abbey, but having trays of various sizes readily available is nicer and easier." - Heel_Worker982
@hellobrownlow welcome to Frugal Living Essentials! we're talking about all the little things that add up to being super frugal in your day to day life. #frugalliving #frugalmom #singleincomefamily #livebelowyourmeans #frugal
"Changing my toilet seats out to the easy to slide off versions so you clean everything more thoroughly without fighting crevices is a game changer." - mycofirsttime
"An led bulb that I programmed to do sunrise/sunset wakeup and sleep routines. Silicone trays to put skincare products on." - Okiedonutdokie
"Auto sensor soap and water dispenser for the kitchen so I don't have to clean the faucets when I might have gotten raw meat juices on them." - SilentRaindrops
"I bought a big pack of white washcloths for general use and I keep a stack neatly folded in half on the bathroom counter. Feels hotel-core and 'prepared' for little effort." - infieldmitt
"Having indoor plants - especially the ones that have low light needs and are easy to propagate. My pothos plant is the gift that keeps on giving since its cuttings have allowed me to have greenery in every room of my place. I’ve gotten all my plants frugally - cuttings from friends, inherited plants from moving neighbors, rescued plants from work, and occasional purchases from places like Aldi or Trader Joe’s. I’m lucky to have a southeast facing room and all of my plants thrive in there. I feel so freaking fancy sitting among my plants, reading a book with my dog by my side." - onlythegoodstuff44
"Bathroom fan switch with choice of how many minutes you want it to run. No more worrying about it running when we're asleep or outside the house." - fishfishbirdbirdcat
- YouTube www.youtube.com
"I put a pretty vintage pitcher in my shower that I fill up with hot water to use while I have the water turned off. It feels fancy and Greek-goddess-y, while also using less hot water!" - laurasaurus5
"My door catchers and door stops. For the room doors that are almost always open, I installed magnetic door catchers on the baseboard. This holds the doors in place, creating clean lines in the rooms and predictably large openings. I also had two 5 lbs kettle bells which I spray painted chrome and use as door stops at my front and back doors. They are easy to place, look good, and securely hold heavy exterior doors open. I love them." - AvivaStrom
"We got a robot vacuum mop. For the price of one month of having a cleaner come in to do my floors, I can have someone other than me vacuum and mop daily! Yay for Mr. Clean! Such a cheerful helper! It feels a little like having staff. 🧐" - mystery_biscotti
"Purchased a French door from Lowes and replaced my sliding glass door. It made the room 'pop'. They have doors in every price range via their catalog from a modest expense to very expensive. I absolutely hate sliding glass doors." - texasusa
"Get one of those shower curtain rods that's curved outward. Total game changer." - CurnanBarbarian
Photo Credit: Canva
Faces appear to be distorted.
No, it's not your eyes deceiving you. It's your brain. When magician/illusionist Pete Firman took to social media to demonstrate a bizarre optical illusion, many were not prepared to be so incredibly impressed… and confused.
Even Firman captions his Instagram clip, "This illusion is SO weird." And what he demonstrates next definitely backs that claim up. Showing photos of celebrities side-by-side (Kevin Bacon, Russell Crowe, Gwyneth Paltrow, to name a few) he asks the viewers to focus on the white cross in between the photos.
He notes, "And after a couple of seconds, something weird should start to happen. The faces begin to look distorted, disfigured. It's like the features are all out of proportion."
This is called the Flash Face Distortion Effect and it's truly fascinating.
He explains, "What's actually happening is your brain is holding onto previous images and overlaying them onto the new ones as they appear in your peripheral vision. Because you're not looking at the photograph directly, your brain is basically trying to fill in the blanks."
He stresses that this is a very real phenomenon. "You might think that I've edited these photographs to make them look strange, but that's not the case." He then advises us to watch it again to see that it's all "legit." I'll admit, it didn't work for me the first time. But after a third viewing, the best way I can describe the faces is they appeared to be melting like a Dali painting.
Those in the comments were equally baffled.
a distortion GIF Giphy GIF by Xinanimodelacra
Because it's so hard to explain without seeing for one's self, one Instagrammer writes, "I want to take screenshots of what my eyes are seeing."
One even jokes, "Reporting you for witchcraft."
This person uses the neurological phenomenon as a profound metaphor. "This is also how experience life. We hold on to previous experiences that distorts how we experience the moment."
From a doctor's standpoint, Upworthy had the chance to chat with Dr. Jon Stewart Hao Dy, a board-certified neurologist based in the Philippines. He tells us that different brain structures work together, including the inferior occipitotemporal lobe and the superior temporal lobe, to create this illusion. It "primarily occurs due to (1) peripheral exaggeration, (2) contrast amplification and (3) rapid neural adaptation."
He shares, "In peripheral exaggeration, when our eyes focus on the center, the faces in our peripheral vision lead to lower visual resolution and this leads to stronger contrast between the two images.
Super trippy disorted face Giphy GIF by Psyklon
In contrast amplification, our brain (specifically the occipital lobe) processes the faces and compares it to a 'normal/average face.' Additionally, the second face is always compared and contrasted against the differences of the first face, leading to amplification of certain facial features (eg. big eyes appear bigger, facial asymmetries appear more asymmetric).
Finally, in rapid adaptation, because the occipital lobe/visual system is recalibrating and adapting too fast, the brain overcompensates for the sudden changes (as when the faces are flashed rapidly in sequence) and this then leads to facial distortions that ultimately lead to the flashed face distortion effect."
Mentalist Randy Charach tells Upworthy why exactly our brains create this distortion. He exclaims, "As a mentalist who manipulates perception and cognitive bias every night onstage, the Flashed Face Distortion Effect is one of my favorite examples of brain shortcuts."
He then tells us exactly why it works. "Because you're comparing each face to the one before it, your brain does this for time efficiency. It looks for differences, not specific features. So if a face stands next to a person with slightly larger eyes, a more pronounced jawline, or a bigger grin, your brain exaggerates the feature."
He continues, "You see the stretched version of the actual picture as your visual perception system enhances contrast. Researchers term this hyper-exaggeration through rapid comparison. It's how you perceive danger in your environment. It's how I direct attention on stage. People think they're seeing an entire picture. They're merely seeing what's most important to their brains."
Mom shares her $100 'Thriftmas' plan for 4 kids, and it sparks a fascinating debate
One parent's practical holiday strategy is another's irresponsible decision.
A family opening humble, inexpensive Christmas gifts.
Every year, families walk a tumultuous tightrope of creating holiday magic and trying not to wreck their budgets in the process. One growing trend, often called “Thriftmas,” helps strike that balance by finding secondhand treasures.
For one Pennsylvania mom of four, that approach recently became an unexpected viral moment.
Jade Wagler shared that her family set aside a $100 holiday budget for all four of their children. In a TikTok video that spread far beyond what she expected, she explained that they would rather save for a family vacation next year than go into debt for Christmas gifts. With everything costing more these days, and having to pay for two surgeries of her four-year-old son that year, things were already quite tight, and they couldn’t prioritize both.
To stretch her budget, Jade visited local thrift stores and kept track of color coded sales. So far her finds include a musical jewelry box, a unicorn hoodie, an alphabet toy, a book, and a toy grocery cart for her youngest. Her total so far is only $14.50, which leaves her with “a whopping $85.50” to continue building a thoughtful and affordable gift collection.
Plenty of viewers applauded her focus on reducing overconsumption and keeping her spending realistic. Many also agreed that choosing memory-making experiences like a vacation was far more important than having stuff.”
“I wish thriftmas was more common, we truly are ruining the world,”
“As an older parent trust me the vacation will mean so much more,”
You don’t need to spend lot of money on Christmas to have a good Christmas 🎄.”
“We need to stop this overconsumption and get back to just love.”
“My kid is 20 years old. He doesn't remember any of the gifts he received at Christmas BUT he does have good memories of the Christmas vacation to Disney Land. You have the right idea mama. We live in a consumer society. Your children won’t know the difference between new and used.
Others in the comments disagreed more bluntly and questioned her approach. Some insisted she “knew Christmas was coming all year” and therefore should “learn to budget it in.” Others insisted she should have been shopping sales throughout the year. “I start Christmas shopping December 26, for the next Christmas! This way I can provide a magical Christmas and not get in debt,” one person wrote.
Jade admitted to Fox News that the volume of negative comments was difficult to take in. "I think that it's hard to see people not choosing kindness, especially in the state of the economy that we're living in."
Still, she’s remained committed to her plan. Because for her, Thriftmas is not just about being frugal. It’s also about reducing negative environmental impact. As she reminded critics 80% of all toys ending up in landfill, incinerators, or the ocean every year. In 2022 alone, people worldwide threw out more than 7 billion e-toys, according to the Michigan Library.
The bigger conversation her video sparked touches something familiar for many families. The pressure to create a picture perfect holiday often collides with financial (and environmental) realities that cannot be ignored. It seems to be a lesson that needs repeating year after year: the heart of the season does not depend on the price of the gifts. It grows from the traditions we shape, the care we put into our choices, and the memories our children carry forward.
Jade’s version of Christmas magic may look different from someone else’s, but it’s guided by intention, creativity, and love. And for many families searching for balance this year, that feels like a meaningful reminder.