gramnesia

"Gramnesia" is a term coined by Gen Xers and Millennials to poke fun at the way their parents seem to suddenly forget how truly difficult it is to raise young children once they've entered their grandparent era.

This leads to some pretty perplexing memories, like zero tantrums and no issues with sugar, all of which the now-adult children don't remember, because it didn't quite happen that way.

Recently, a woman named Ally Glasgow (@allyglasgow) shared a perfect example of this sometimes mind-boggling phenomenon, explaining how she and her mom had entirely different memories of potty training.

"[My mom] said, 'All of you were potty trained by two. All four girls.' And I'm like... I just don't feel like we were... I mean maybe?" Glasgow says in a TikTok video.

An even bigger "gramnesia" moment came while Glasgow was driving her mom to the airport, when she suggested that Glasgow "instill into your kids that when they wake up, they shouldn't talk until a certain time."

Perplexed, Glasgow asked, "Mom, what do you mean they don't talk?" Her mom finally acquiesced, adding, "Maybe they could whisper."

As though any parent in all of history has ever successfully instilled a rule like that. Maybe in Victorian times, but still. Do we really want to go back to that in this instance?

Glasgow's video inspired others to share their own equally funny "gramnesia" moments in an act of lighthearted solidarity:

"My mom has completely made up an entirely different childhood in her head lmao and when I call her out she gets SO MAD."

"Sometimes I wonder if my parents have ever actually met a child."

"My son has eczema and my mom says none of her kids ever had it but I literally have had eczema my entire life 😂"

"My mom says I was speaking sentences by 9 months old. No I was not. There's no way."

"My parents both SWEAR that I was sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old and didn't need to wake up to feed or anything. So like okay you starved me???"

"My mom comments on my kids eating unhealthy as if I didn't grow up eating cereal, ramen, frozen meals, etc every single day because she didn't cook for us, like what?"

"My parents swear I was walking at 6 months old. Once I had kids I was like there is no physical way that is possible. They still swear it happened."

"My MIL had four boys and she tried to convince me that they didn't make much noise. lol okay 👌🏽"

"My mom said 'kids need routine and structure' to me once but we were homeschooled and only did school when she felt like it."

"My mom said my sisters and I never snacked 🙄"

"My mom claims we never threw tantrums. Huh?! I remember throwing tantrums 😂"

"I can't remember details from when my kids were babies…and they are currently 3. You're telling me our parents remember tiny details from 35 years ago?!"

Bottom line: "gramnesia" is very real and, apparently, very universal. But maybe, in this instance, we can give grandparents some slack. Parenting is hard no matter what generation you hail from. Who knows? Many of us might also use rose-colored glasses as a coping mechanism at some point.