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Dad goes viral sharing how 90s parents handled entertaining kids in a totally different way

"When I was growing up, you just did what your parents wanted to do."

Photo credit: Canva

A kid shopping with their parents in the 90s vs parents today trying to keep their kiddos entertained 24/7

Yes, yes, we know that parenting looks a lot different than when we were kids. And yet, there’s always a new revelation that modern parents seem to discover once it’s them doing the child rearing.

In a clip posted to his TikTok, comedian (and dad) Jack Skipper shared how very different parenting today looks when it comes to keeping kids entertained.

"Nowadays you gotta do what your kids wanna do. You gotta keep them entertained,” Skipper noted. “But when I was growing up, you just did what your parents wanted to do. You just had to sort of follow them around... and make your own entertainment.”

He then compared a typical modern day task of “going to an adventure playground” or a scavenger hunt on the weekend to his childhood, which basically consisted of him following his mom around while she shopped.


 
 @mrjackskipper Am I right? #relatable #parenting #90s ♬ original sound - Jack Skipper 
 
 

“Trying to help mom find a size 14 dress…that was the closest I came to scavenger hunt, “ Skipper quipped.

Another example he used was going with his mom to get her hair done. Hopefully the hairdresser would have kids (it was the 90s, folks got their hair done in houses) so that he could find some toys to play with. Otherwise, he’d just have to deal with being bored.

Clearly, Skipper wasn’t the only millennial to have a childhood that looked like this. And as one commenter noted, perhaps things don’t look that way anymore in part because “people are just trying to give their kids the childhood they wish they’d had,” which is pretty much the entire reason behind gentle parenting in the first place, right?

 90s vs now, 90s parentings, 90s kids, 90s parents, parenting advice, kids and boredom, raising kids, kids  “People are just trying to give their kids the childhood they wish they’d had.”Photo credit: Canva

However, while the intention to provide a nurturing, stimulating environment for our kiddos is certainly a good thing, there might have been something lost along the way. Good old fashioned, unstructured boredom isn’t fun, but it does help kids develop important skills like tolerating discomfort, problem solving, developing imagination, and critical thinking. According to many parents and educators, nearly all of these qualities have dwindled in younger generations, who can easily rid themselves of uncomfortable boredom at the swipe of an iPad.

Plus, not succumbing to providing entertainment for kids every minute of every day gives parents a much needed sense of autonomy as well. This is something folks in other cultures haven’t forgotten. Spain, for instance, is well known for having parents simply bring their kids in strollers to whatever group they’re attending and letting them fall asleep there, rather than packing up everything to get their kids in bed by seven p.m.

Still, there are plenty who would argue that even with its potential flaws, the new strategy far exceeds the old one. One person even recalled, “I got dragged around and learned that I was not important at all. I felt like a ghost for most of my childhood. There's a reason we’re all struggling with self love.”

 90s vs now, 90s parentings, 90s kids, 90s parents, parenting advice, kids and boredom, raising kids, kids “I got dragged around and learned that I was not important at all."Photo credit: Canva

Okay, so maybe parents shouldn’t revert back to dragging our kids around to places where they might be miserable, but they don’t need to force themselves to constantly provide engaging activities. In fact, a little boredom might do kids some good.

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Was the 90s the last 'great' era? Gen Xers share 8 reasons why the answer is 'no.'

Every generation has its pros and cons.

Added by Northern Irelandball to Wikifandom

A photo of Kurt Cobain.

We often view the 90s as a golden era of optimism, a “simpler” time when we weren’t so disconnected by technology, when the economy was booming and the cultural landscape was rich in great music, movies, television, you name it.

But, as with any decade, there were a great many cons to go along with those pros. Folks who were adults (or at least close to it) during the 90s can easily recall plenty of darker moments. So when they were asked, "What was bad about the '90s?" people didn’t hold back.

Interestingly enough, there weren’t as many mentions about the shifting political landscape—the paranoia set in from 9/11, the Gulf War Recession (which paved the way for Bill Clinton winning the presidency), Rush Limbaugh laying the groundwork for Fox News and thusly the Republican Party we know today, etc.—but rather, people focused on how day to day life felt.

1. For one thing, as folks mentioned, 90s diet culture was…intense. Let’s not forget that the word “heroine chic” was coined (and normalized!) during this era. And because thinness was the only body type deemed “attractive” by the media, it led to some really questionable foods that were somehow deemed healthy. Of course, diet-obsessed or not, a lot of foods that were mainstream at the time are now a bit perplexing.

"Female celebrities were shrinking to child sizes and getting praised for it. 'Thinspo' was a thing. ALL my friends group from high school and college, including myself, had eating disorders — Marlboro Light and Diet Coke for every meal. Our idea of sports was extreme cardio only. We were SO unhealthy. Thank God we were young enough to bounce back to normal without major issues."

"Maybe it was my house, but everything was 'low-fat' or 'non-fat' and tasted like sh*t. As it later turned out, the fat wasn't the problem but the sugar they put in everything."

"The 'poison food' era — full of dyes, sugar, preservatives, and artificial ingredients, packaged and microwaved in plastic for your convenience. The nutritional guidance was so bad it kicked off an obesity epidemic we’re only solving now, thanks to breakthrough medication."

2. And let’s be honest, women were not only dealing with terrible beauty standards, but misogyny as well.

“I was grabbed in various situations, pushed in corners, kissed involuntarily from the time I was 11 years old, etc. As a girl, you just had to live with it. "

"Belittling, discouraging comments towards women, especially young ones, were normal; society expected its women to be pretty and available at all times but saints and virgins in their minds and bodies. So, basically, like today."

"There was a lot of media pitting girls against girls and framing other women as competition, not friends."

"People would say the most unhinged things about my (and others') looks and hobbies, and it was socially acceptable for them to do so. It was wild that being a mean girl was encouraged. I’m so glad we’ve moved past that as a society; the '90s were a brutal time."

3. Life wasn’t so great for the LGBTQ community either.

"Between AIDS, 'don't ask, don't tell,' the Defense of Marriage Act, Matthew Shepard's murder, etc., coming out of the closet was scary as hell. We made some gains, and it felt like we were closer to acceptance, but there was so much backlash and fear."

"Growing up as a queer kid in the '90s meant I had no LGBTQ+ role models to look up to, so I learned to lie about myself in order to survive. I came out when I was in high school in the early 2000s, and more than half of my 'friends' stopped talking to me.

In middle school in the late '90s, the school psychologist tried to force me to come out so she could shame me in front of my parents. She also interviewed all my friends to try to find out if I ever acted 'gay' around them and even wanted to know if I had ever tried to kiss them; the school knew all about this. One of my friends was sent to a conversion camp, and we didn't hear from him again until Facebook became popular.

I sometimes still wonder how the hell I survived, but I'm glad I did."

“Where I grew up in the 90s we used homophobic slurs all the time to describe basically anything we didn't like for any reason. I did, everyone else did, it was just completely ubiquitous.”

4. People were also quick to note how drastically different attitudes were towards mental health. We might have seen the beginnings of shifts towards community-based care, increased focus on medication, and growing efforts to reduce stigma at this time, but it was still a stark contrast to the openness of conversation and access to resources that we have today.

"Being a child diagnosed with autism in the '90s, I was lumped in the special education classes despite not needing them, and it sucked. Back then, anyone who was autistic was typically thought of as 'slow.'"

"I never heard the words anxiety, depression, coping strategies. Everyone in my family was drinking their feelings away and denying the feelings existed."

"Mental health support was still stigmatized as something only 'crazy' people got. My dad died in '97, and I had a complete psychotic breakdown in '99. My mom cried while asking if I wanted to see a psychiatrist. Going to therapy was viewed as a death sentence."

5. On the subject of health, let’s keep in mind that smoking indoors wasn’t banned until the late 90s/2000s. And drunk driving? Pretty damn acceptable.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

"Cigarette smoke was everywhere — stores, malls, you name it. Smoking sections in restaurants were sometimes on the left side of an aisle as if that helped. It was so weird when my parents quit smoking because I stopped being nose blind to the smell. That sh*t REEKS."

"When I was a teenager, we moved, and while packing, we removed the pictures on the wall and noticed white squares left where they had been hung. The change was so gradual that none of us noticed it — so nasty. Until that point, both of my parents previously stopped smoking IN the house but still smoked elsewhere. That was the final straw that caused my father to fully quit."

"Drunk driving didn't have the stigma it does today. It took a long campaign waged by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) to shift public perception on how dangerous drunk driving is."

"When I was a child, we had a group of family friends whose kids were all around the same age. The parents would throw house parties, taking turns hosting and partying hard while the kids played. At the end of the night, they’d all load the kids in the car and drive home absolutely hammered. Everyone was like this—not just my parents’ friend group. I’m sure it still happens today, but I haven’t seen it."

6. Raising kids in the 90s certainly had its cons, as comments mentioned the media-fueled fear of child abduction, prevalence of child abuse, gang violence, and the first school shootings.

"Columbine deeply altered my worldview. I was a kid in the '90s, and until 1999, at the age of 13, I was never concerned about a school shooting — it just wasn’t a thing…I went 13 years without the remote concern of a school shooter. Who can say that now?"

"The constant fear of being kidnapped. My mom always told my sister and me to stay close to her when we were out because too many kids were getting taken. I remember seeing posters of missing children at the supermarket, and it was sad and scary."

"Gangs were rampant in the 90s — everywhere. I grew up in a suburb, but we still had ESL, aka 'Bloods,' Crypts, New Wave, Skinheads, etc., represented. Kids were pressured into joining these gangs when they were young. I witnessed my first major gang fight in eighth grade when thirty kids began brawling after school. The next Monday, I had friends on crutches; one kid got sliced with a knife, thankfully not deep, and four others had broken bones in their hands, etc. No one talked to anyone about anything, so there were no suspensions."

"If a parent grabbed a kid by their hair, hit them, or screamed obscenities at them, the public at large would just mind their business or even jump in to defend the parents' 'right to discipline,' and teachers were allowed to beat us at school. Any adult could hit a child, and people would just stand there and agree with it. Most friends I had growing up were 'latchkey' kids and neglected at home from super young ages. They had to walk home from elementary school, cook dinner for themselves, feed their siblings, and care for the house. Parents didn’t seem to care about their kids. At night, commercials asked: 'Did you hug your child today?' And 'It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your child is?' Those commercials/PSAs started decades before, but they continued throughout the late '90s."

7. While the 90s was obviously a pivotal moment for technology, most cutting edge items weren’t fully accessible to the general public. There are just many modern-day conveniences we take for granted now.

"If your family lived in a rural area and wasn't rich enough to immediately buy a computer, you could be lonely in a way that people can't even comprehend now. I spent the last two years of high school doing nothing, watching TV and playing 16-bit RPGs repeatedly because I couldn't get anywhere or do anything."

"And yes, I know that sounds super chill nowadays, but back then, it could be very depressing — especially when you knew that the kids who had cars were going to concerts and coffee houses while you were just home alone doing nothing. It was maddening."

“Nothing was chargeable. You needed batteries.”

“It may sound strange but not having cell phones meant if you planned to meet someone somewhere and they were late, you had no idea if they were just around the corner or going to be an hour late or at the wrong place and you had to just stand there staring into space because you didn't have reddit to scroll through while you waited.”

“One of my best friends from grade school moved away. He wrote his phone number down on a piece of paper so we could keep in touch. I lost it. Never spoke to him again because I had no way to contact him.”

8. Lastly (and this one might hurt for Kurt Cobain fans) not everyone was a fan of 90s music.

"Everyone loves the music from the '90s, but it’s all so bleak. Most of the grunge bands were singing about addiction, severe depression, and barely coping. I think a lot of that bled into mainstream society. The 'alternative' music scene was rife with gut-wrenching lyrics.""

"I was in high school/college then, and I can’t go back and listen to bands like Alice In Chains, Mad Season, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam anymore. Back in the day, I listened to it constantly, and I loved it, but in hindsight, I think it harmed my psyche. Thank God I found The Grateful Dead when I did."

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Awkward home videos from the 80s and 90s show just how far parenting has come

"It's a miracle any of us survived."

@nostalgicallyrachel/TikTok, @mrvaughntrainor/TikTok

It was a simpler, more life-threatening time.

Parenting has changed. A lot. So many things our parents did that were considered normal in our childhood—that is, for all us millennials and Gen Xers—would simply never fly today.

This is thanks in large part to the digital age, and the countless ways to access information: radio, magazines, television, books, online blogs, Facebook parent groups, informational podcasts, public studies; there are thousands of voices helping shape family dynamics and warn of potential dangers.

If there’s ever any doubt about how far we’ve come, let technology once again remind you. A simple trip down memory lane via TikTok will be enlightening, and, boy, can it help instill a little gratitude.

On a mission to share her childhood “one home video at a time,” a woman named Rachel has an entire TikTok account dedicated to short glimpses of her younger years.

Her content is an instant nostalgic hit for those of us who grew up in the 80s or 90s. We’re talking Rainbow Brite, roller skates, Sesame Street, backpack purses when they were cool for the first time. All the feel good stuff.

And also—maybe some of the not-so-feel-good stuff. Recently, Rachel shared a video of herself as a newborn with her mom when viewers noticed something strange in her bottle.

 
 @nostalgicallyrachel Replying to @B Indeed, it is. 💦 #wildtimes #wesurvived #taboo #homemovie #homevideo #nostalgia #nostalgic #80s #90s #1990s #1980s #memories #family #throwback #80sbaby #90sbaby #childhood #childhoodmemories #wholesome #oklahoma #takemeback #vlog #mylife #history #vintage #retro #90skid #80skid #80saesthetic #90saesthetic #vhs #smalltown #aesthetic #growingupinthe90s #millennial #millennialtok #1986 #response #react #water #indeed #newborn #baby #mom #breastfed ♬ Roslyn - Bon Iver & St. Vincent 
 
 

“I’m sorry — IS THAT WATER,” one concerned viewer asked.

Rachel followed up with, “Indeed, it is,” writing “Sugar Water for Newborns circa 1986” in the video caption.

Once upon a time, sugar water was used as a bit of a cure-all for infants, helping fight off common colds, ease bellyaches, and everything in between.

And while some studies do show that sugar water can help ease pain, and certain hospitals do use it during painful procedures, professionals still suggest against administering it at home.

For one thing, babies don’t need water until they’re six months old. They get all the hydration they need from breastmilk or formula, according to WebMd.

Second, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee says that any foods or beverages with added sugar should be avoided “during the first two years of life,” as it is likely to replace more nourishing foods and cause nutrient deficiency, and is “linked with increased risk of overweight or obesity.”

But for many parents today, this is not new news. Which made Rachel’s video so horrifying.

“As a new mom this genuinely is making me want to cry 😭 There was so much misinformation back then. Those poor babies,” one person wrote.

Of course, it could be worse. As one person shared, “My mom gave me Mountain Dew in my bottle 😳.” Yikes.

In another video, this one captioned “parenting before the internet” and shared by dad and TikTokker Vaughn Trainor, we see another bane of modern parenting—rice cereal.

Specifically, rice cereal being fed to newborns. Experts say that solid foods should not be introduced into a baby’s diet until at least four months old, when they can hold their head and sit upright on their own, start grabbing at things and show interest in food when the parents begin eating.

In this video, however, Trainor is one month old, laid back (also a big no no!) and being spoon fed by his mom, who is heard quoting the parenting magazine that suggested heavier things be eaten this way.

 
 @mrvaughntrainor Parenting before the internet 🤣 i turned out alright 🤣🤣 #parenting #parentinghumor #90sparenting #babiesoftiktok #viral #funnyvideos ♬ original sound - Mrvaughntrainor 
 
 

Over 5,000 people commented on this one, many of whom noted how this type of diet might influence common digestive issues many adults face.

And while there could be several factors contributing to this that go beyond what we were fed as babies, it is true that millennials seem to suffer the worst when it comes to gut health.

But it’s not just problematic food choices. Rachel shared yet another home video, this one titled “Nursery Tour circa 1986,” that showed her baby self lying in a crib surrounded by pillows, stuffed animals, and, for some reason, a mirror...

 
 @nostalgicallyrachel Nursery Tour circa 1986 👶🏻 #nursery #baby #babytok #nurserytour #home #hometour #homemovie #homevideo #nostalgia #nostalgic #80s #90s #1990s #1980s #memories #family #throwback #80sbaby #90sbaby #childhood #childhoodmemories #wholesome #oklahoma #takemeback #vlog #mylife #history #vintage #retro #90skid #80skid #80saesthetic #90saesthetic #vhs #smalltown #aesthetic #growingupinthe90s #millennial #crib #cribsafety ♬ A Gentle Sunlight - James Quinn 
 
 

…all of which can be life threatening and lead to Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID), if you ask the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Which is why this comment pretty much sums up everyone’s collective feeling:

“It’s a miracle any of us survived.”

And while we can obviously make the case for “I’m still here, so it couldn't’ have been that bad,” when you look at infant mortality statistics, which is the lowest it’s ever been worldwide, it’s hard to deny that maybe, just maybe, being more savvy about childcare could have something to do with that.

So, yes, many parents today might lean towards being more anxious by comparison. But it’s only because harm is literally lurking at every corner! Yay vindication!

And as mortifying as some of these parenting behaviors might seem to us now, what doesn’t seem to change is parents wanting to raise a healthy kid to the very best of their ability. We might have gentler, more science-backed ways to go about it, but the love remains the same.


This article originally appeared two years ago.

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70s and 80s kids are losing it at this confusing 'metal in microwave' warning sticker

We were lied to.

Photo credit: Canva

We were told this was an absolute no-no.

If you grew up in the 70s or 80s, there was one rule:

No metal in the microwave!

None. Nada. Don't do it, ever, under any conditions. If you put metal in the microwave, it would spark and explode. That was how science worked back then.

So you can imagine the surprise that Gen Xers and millennials who might have been browsing Reddit this week are feeling.

A Reddit user recently shared a confusing warning label on their microwave, seemingly encouraging them to leave a (presumably) metal spoon in any liquids while heating.

The illustrated sticker shows two cups of liquid. The plain cup — with only liquid inside — has an X crossing it out, as if to indicate you're not supposed to microwave a plain container of liquid. The allowed version, confusingly, has a spoon sticking out of it as the liquid bubbles! Last time I checked, most spoons are metal.

So what exactly is going on here?

Is the microwave manufacturer actually... encouraging us to microwave metal?

Some users were baffled and began questioning their entire existence:

"We grew up in the 70s being told to never put metal in a microwave. Hard to learn that," wrote u/dustin91.

"Growing up in the '70s, we were drilled to never put metal in the microwave. It's tough to shake that mindset," said u/GoodnessEmma_.

In fact, the OP was not the first person to be confused by this sticker on their microwave. Posts just like this one are surprisingly common.

Luckily, there's a simple explanation for this counterintuitive sticker: Sometimes, under certain circumstances, putting metal in the microwave is perfectly OK.

But before you go microwaving your whole silverware drawer, let's hear out the scientific explanation.

"[The] electromagnetic activity [in a microwave] can do a number on metal. The oscillation of the microwaves can produce a concentrated electric field at corners or an edge of a metallic object, ionizing the surrounding air," which creates popping, sparking, and arcs of electricity. That's according to a post on MIT's "Ask an Engineer."

However, when a metal object in the microwave is thick and or smooth, with no sharp edges, there's little risk of a fire breaking out.

A YouTuber named ElectroBOOM actually (and bravely) tested different metals in the microwave.

Smooth, thick metals (like spoons) did fine, even when he used two spoons close together or touching. Things with sharp edges (thin strips of foil, a fork) did not, and sparked or caught fire quickly.

It makes sense the more you think about it.

A lot of foods (like Hot Pockets) come with a metal or foil-lined tray to encourage heating. Your microwave may even have a metal shelf inside!

The confounding sticker suggests leaving a spoon in any liquids to prevent superheating — which can cause scalding hot water or other liquids to explode.

In some cases, microwaving a liquid can cause it to heat beyond its boiling point — without actually boiling. (This is especially likely if you were to heat a liquid without any "impurities," like distilled water.) When superheated liquid is disturbed (by sticking a spoon in, adding a sugar cube, or just sloshing it around) it can explode and scald you.

Mythbusters tested this scary idea many years ago — and confirmed that it can happen!

Leaving a spoon in the water creates "nucleation points," or opportunities for bubbles to form, rise to the surface, and release heat — which is how normal boiling is supposed to work.

It doesn't HAVE to be a metal spoon, of course. A wooden spoon or chopstick will have the same effect.

So now we know that some metal in the microwave is OK. But there are enough caveats that you really ought to know what you're doing before you try it.

Having done the research, I can see now why our parents and teachers figured it was just safer to tell us to never put any metal in the microwave under any circumstance.

We believed a lot of stuff we were told as kids in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Black belts in karate had to register their hands with the police as deadly weapons. People put razor blades in Halloween candy and apples all the time. We were very likely to encounter quicksand at some point. Acid rain would kill you. Fruit could grow in your stomach if you swallowed seeds. Alligators lived in the sewers.

Frankly, "never microwave any metal" was the least crazy thing we were told back then. The truth is a little more complicated, but it kept us safe at the time, right?

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