8 Cool Things Geriatric Millennial Parents Do

People born in the early 1980s were referred to as “geriatric millennials” in a piece published on Medium.com. Discover the things geriatric millennial parents do and find out how to determine if you are one of them. Learn why this is a positive trait to have in today’s parenting landscape.

The term “millennial” does not have a stable definition now. Some people believe it is a moniker for people in their 20s who enjoy eating avocado toast. Others, such as psychologist Jean Twenge, Ph.D., consider a member of this generation to be anyone who happens to be born between 1980 and 1994.

However, those of us who were born in the early 1980s have been told that we belong to a microgeneration that has been dubbed “Xennials” (a combination of Gen X and millennial) or the “Oregon Trail Generation.” We are the ones who knew what life was like before even dial-up internet, let alone smart devices, and yet we were among the earliest adopters of such technology. We’re the generation that will bridge the gap. However, at this point in our lives, we can officially be described as “geriatric.”

People of all ages have been laughing at the author and teamwork expert Erica Dhawan’s use of the phrase “geriatric millennial” ever since an article she wrote for the website Medium that she had previously published went viral. She contends that because of our experience in both digital and analog communication, we are most qualified to lead hybrid workforces because of our expertise in both forms of communication. Someone born in 1980 is still a youngster in their forties, thank you very much. Unfortunately, the world has come to associate the term “geriatric” with Medicare, and someone born in 1980 is still a fresh-faced novice in their forties.

Nevertheless, to determine if you qualify as a parent of a “geriatric millennial,” here are eight characteristics to look for.

1. You Have a Brilliant Understanding of Subtext (Over Text or In-Person)

“Geriatric millennials can understand the subtext of an SMS just as well as they can catch up on a client’s hesitancy in their facial expressions during an in-person meeting,” says Dhawan. “During a face-to-face meeting, they can read a client’s hesitancy in their facial expressions.” To put it another way, you probably have a pretty good idea of what your preteen is up to when they send you a series of emojis, and you also definitely have the ability to recognize when they are attempting to pull a fast one on you face to face.

2. You Can Pick Up The Phone And Either Listen To A Voicemail Or Answer The Call

It may not be your favorite thing to do, but since you are so familiar with technology and have excellent limits around it, the fact that your kid’s doctor or school has left you a voicemail won’t “inspire terror” in the same way that it would for someone older or younger.

3. It Was a Piece of Cake to Get Comfortable and Make TikToks

You had already used Friendster, MySpace, Facebook when it was reserved exclusively for college students, and Instagram when it was limited to simply hipster-y, filtered photographs, among other social networking sites. Even if Generation Z believes that you are at the stage where you can barely figure out how to use your hearing aid, it should be no problem for you to learn and hop onto whatever the next major social platform is going to be.

4. You Can Actually Assist Your Child in Writing a Real Letter to Santa, the President, or Anyone Else They Want to Write to

We recall a period before emails and texts were commonplace, so we have a complete understanding of how to use the good old United States Postal Service (USPS), and we can teach our children how to do the same.

5. You Have Experience in Passing the Summer Months Away by Playing Outside

The years that we spent living in “analog” consisted of activities such as riding bikes, going to the pool at the leisure department, playing a sport, or simply listening to the same couple of CDs on a boombox. We have experienced life free from dependence on electronic devices, and we do not hesitate to show our children that they, too, can and ought to have pleasure in the world outside their screens.

6. You Despise Contemporary Mathematics, but You Were Most Likely Taught Cursive

Your child’s “new math” homework may cause you a great deal of stress, but it will also give you the opportunity to instruct them in a few skills that they may not be receiving instruction in at school these days, such as cursive writing. Even while it’s likely that children won’t need to utilize that function every day, experts think it may promote “greater comprehension and participation.”

7. You Have An Equal Amount Of “Cynical” And “Bubbly” In Your Personality

According to an article published on Buzzfeed about our microgen, we “geriatric millennials” can have the same pessimistic outlook as Gen X and the same optimistic outlook as millennials. This seems like the ideal, most reasonable balance, doesn’t it?

8. You Will Never Be Completely Accepted, and That Is a Good Thing

You don’t feel as though you were a completely grunge-loving, latchkey kid or a completely device-addicted, helicopter-parented kid growing up. You are part of a very specific microgeneration that research suggests is more prepared to step into leadership positions, such as being a parent, than persons born at any other period. This makes you an extremely special person. And that, regardless of the completely ludicrous label of “geriatric,” should significantly boost your self-confidence.

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