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Alicia's avatar

This is very relatable even for a Gen-Xer without children, who grew up outside the US and whose parents were Silent Generation, not Boomers. I don’t tend to buy into the stereotypical characteristics of different generations too much (because there are millions & millions in each group and many different variables affecting development of an individual’s character), but this piece brought up feelings, for sure! <3 Great work

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Daphne Berryhill's avatar

LOVED this! What I love about sharing stories across generations, is it helps you see the throughlines. Because humanity doesn’t change from one generation to the next.

My perspective is very similar. My oldest is almost 23 and my youngest is in first grade. So I started out surrounded by GenX parents (like me, but mostly a bit older) and now I spend more time around Millennials.

I can remember when kids started being treated differently. Like in the late 80s, after Whitney Houston sang about children being the greatest gift of all. Babies started being strapped into car seats, rather than sitting on a parent’s lap in the front seat. Child abuse started being talked about openly on Oprah. But she even challenged the norms on things that were perfectly legal, and perfectly accepted: spanking, hitting, and name calling.

My older brother struggled with dyslexia. As a young child, it wasn’t just kids that would call him mean, teachers could then too. Kids were told to toughen up: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." I saw the before and after, and I was so glad even then that the culture was changing for my younger Millennial cousins and the kids I babysat.

There’s so much I’ve learned from younger generations too and my older kids definitely point out everything I’ve been wrong about — and there’s a lot. But still, there are lessons I’ve learned while growing up that I don’t want to forget and that I think are important to share.

And yes, the girl fishing with her dad video made me cry, the good kind of tears. Thanks for sharing :)

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