I’m a millennial mom with a side part and skinny jeans

I’M A MILLENNIAL MOM

I recently came across a millennial mom type of meme and I actually felt seen. Some millennials might be offended, but I’m embracing it because guess what? I am a millennial, who is a mom, and I fit some of the cringey stereotypes. If y’all were on social media at all during Halloween you may have seen the people making their own Spirit Halloween costumes. There was an elder millenial mom one that I came across and I laughed so hard.

The only ones that don’t apply to me are the tramp stamp (although I would argue that hip tattoos are pretty common amongst millennials as well which I have both hips tattooed), a trunk full of Amazon returns (I only return things if they’re broken, and don’t over buy because of my anxiety about getting into credit card debt again), Starbucks tumbler (I’m more of a Dunkin kinda gal), and VS Love spell, (although I do have VS Bombshell perfume that I love). Everything else applies.

I LOVE MY SKINNY JEANS & SIDE PART

This might be due to my inner emo self. It definitely was not a phase. My younger self would’ve been so happy to be rocking hot pink hair. That’s probably why it’s the color I gravitate to most and feel the most like myself in. In addition, I LOVE my side part. My hair naturally goes into a side part anyway because I actually have more hair on one side of my head than the other.

I’ve tried to test out the middle part here and there but it just brings me back to my awkward preteen and teenage years of trying to fit in when my hair literally did not want to go that way. There was a lot of water and combing it down then adding hairspray on top of that hot mess express. I’m not trying to be someone I’m not and I know that sounds extreme with the way someone parts their hair but, here we are.

Skinny jeans are something I actually didn’t love until I was introduced to the emo scene. I thought I looked terrible in them because I’m naturally bottom heavy. However, I saw all of these other people wearing them of all different shapes and sizes. Then, something just switched in my brain and I thought, you know what, I can totally rock these. And I’ve been a skinny jeans fan since 2005. I’m sure I probably look like the mom who’s “stuck in the 80’s” (I really hope I’m not the only millennial who has ever made this reference), but millennial edition. I’ve tried different trends and I always gravitate back towards my skinny jeans or leggings.

Once you become a mom, leggings are the most comfortable thing to wear. At least nowadays there are so many cute athleisure outfits. I stay home 90% of the time anyway, so dressing up isn’t really my jam unless I’m going out. Especially because nowadays I’m doing everything one handed because I have a baby on my one hip.

MILLENNIAL MOM STEREOTYPES

After I came across that sprit Halloween meme, I thought, hmm, what other millennial mom stereotypes am I contributing to? So I did a little googling to see what some stereotypes are out there and here is what I found.

We are addicted to our phones

I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m addicted to my phone, but I do have it with me all the time. The reason behind this is because of my epilepsy. Now I have an Apple Watch, however I always forget that I can text and make calls from it and I’m just used to always having my phone near me. If I don’t respond to my husband within about an hour he usually gets worried that I had a seizure. I haven’t had one since 2017 *knock on wood* (he actually saved me from dying with that last one) but just in case, my phone is always with me.

We over share

When it comes to myself, yes I share a lot of my life and struggles. That’s why I love having this blog. I don’t really get any hate here and my blog isn’t popular so it’s not like many people even know I exist.

When it comes to my daughter, no I don’t share much about her. I don’t share milestones, I don’t even show her face. I’ve had people give me such a hard time with covering her face when I post pictures with her that I’ve just decided to stop posting anything with her in it. A lot of millennial moms share their kids online and I’ve even seen some who have shared potty training moments or pictures when the baby just popped out and still has the umbilical cord attached. That’s not me.

Personally, I don’t care what anyone else does as long as they aren’t exploiting their child. Just because I don’t want to post photos of my daughter’s face or her milestones, doesn’t mean I’m going to judge anyone else for their decisions, even if others judge me for my decisions.  Moms have it hard enough already, I’m not going to be someone who adds to the constant judgement they get every day anyway.

We put our kids before everything else

Yes, this is true in my case. My daughter comes before me. She always will, and my husband is the same way when it comes to our daughter and even me. He always puts us before himself which is why, if he wants to go play at a Metazoo tournament, I don’t mind. I encourage him to do things that he loves because he’s the one who takes my blogging photos. He’s the one who supports me in creating content and has to listen to me when I get bummed out that a video I worked really hard on isn’t performing as well as I would have hoped.

Bottom line though, yes my daughter comes before me. And that’s ok. I’m not sure why some people think this is an issue. I can put my life on hold until she’s a little older and can go to school. Once she’s in school I’m going back to work at our shop, that’s for damn sure.

We are addicted to taking pictures

Guilty as charged. I have so many photos on my phone. Whether it be of my daughter, my husband, our dogs, plants, recipes, house repairs and decorating, memes, you name it, I probably have it. I’m not 100% convinced that this is because I’m a millennial mom though. Growing up in the 80s/90s my dad ALWAYS had a camera or camcorder. We have so many home videos and pictures of our lives.

That’s why I don’t have very many pictures of my dad. He was always the one taking pictures and videos. Thanks to him I actually fell in love with taking pictures. My parents bought me a camera for my 8th grade graduation. I was so excited every single time I finished a roll of film and had to go get it developed. I’ve even dabbled in photography because of my dad. Capturing moments is something I’ve grown up with and love. So again, I don’t think it’s necessarily a millennial mom thing for me, it’s more of something I share with my dad.

MILLENNIALS ARE NARCISSISTIC AND LAZY

This isn’t really specifically for the millennial mom portion of this post, but more so just a general stereotype of millennials. I will admit I know of some millennials that are narcissistic and lazy, but I also know some Boomers, GenXers, and GenZers who are narcissistic and lazy. In my opinion I think part of the narcissistic part stems from selfies because yea, that’s kind of a millennial thing. But girrlll, you best believe that if I am feelin’ myself that day, I’m snapping a selfie. I may not post it, but I’ll just take it for myself.

As for being lazy, I don’t agree with that. I along with the majority of millennials I know have worked very hard in our lives. Are there some moments where I’ll take a cat nap instead of editing that video that I’ve been putting off for two days because I just need a mental break? Yes, absolutely. However, I think there is a difference between being lazy and taking a break.

I know that there is the on going “feud” between boomers and millennials and now millennials and gen z’ers, but at the end of the day, who cares? Maybe I feel differently about this because being a Polish American, I’ve heard every damn stereotype about Polish people in the book. I’ve heard every joke (some peoples delivery is so terrible by the way), I’ve been called a dumb Polak, I’ve even been told to go back to my country. Which is funny considering that I was actually born in the U.S., and I even had kids in school making very disgusting jokes about my family when we were learning about the Holocaust. With all of that, I think I’ve just grown some pretty thick skin.

So if Carl next door who’s been retired for a bit thinks I’m lazy, I don’t care. Or if a child/young adult thinks I’m cringe and tells me side parts and skinny jeans are a no no, oh well. To the millennials who get offended by gen z making fun of us, did you never make fun of boomers? Did you never say oh you’re old so you wouldn’t understand why I have cryptic away messages in AIM?  Or maybe just something similar to that last question, that was just an example.

I’M HAPPY TO BE AN ELDER MILLENNIAL AND A MILLENNIAL MOM

One thing that I love about being an elder millennial is I got to see both sides. I grew up without social media. AIM wasn’t part of my life until high school. I didn’t have a cell phone until sophomore year and that was only meant for emergencies. Using a landline and having to ask my boyfriend’s parents to speak with him for a few minutes was commonplace.  I still remember my parent’s land line phone number.

MySpace wasn’t introduced to me until I was in college. Which MySpace was way better than Facebook. If Tom would bring back old MySpace I’d stop using Facebook in a heartbeat. I never liked Facebook. I remember when, in order to sign up for Facebook you had to have a college/university email address. That’s why I say I grew up with both sides. I’ve watched social media evolve into what it is today. I was there when it started. You know you’re a millennial if you know what a/s/l means.

Not to mention, and this is from a meme I saw the other day, that we somehow got to and from places like pirates using maps and then later printing them out from Mapquest. When I saw that meme it unleashed memories that I completely forgot about. There was actually one time (at band camp) where my friend and I were coming back from a show during my emo concert days and we ended up lost at a random gas station that’s vibe reminded me of The Hills have Eyes.

If gen z wants to say middle parts are in and they want to try and bring back low rise jeans (or as I called them, hip huggers). Let them. They’ll quickly realize just how uncomfortable low rise jeans are when you go to sit down and your whole ass crack is showing. Although Britney Spears is the absolute queen of rocking hip huggers. One thing I do love about the younger generation is some of the ones I’ve spoken to are actually anti social media and think it’s toxic. Because it definitely can be toxic. That’s why I take breaks here and there. I like to believe that social media started with good intentions, but I may be wrong.

If being a millennial mom means not giving an eff about putting my daughter first, capturing moments forever, rocking a side part, or tucking my mom pooch into a pair of skinny jeans, then I’m definitely one of those.

LET’S MOVE ONTO THE LINKUP 

With all of that said, let’s move on to the linkup!