Opinion: Millennial Parents vs. Pandemic: Challenge Accepted

By Brittani LaPointe

When the world stopped in 2020, a stressful time for America quickly became an opportunity that would allow Millennial parents across the nation to embrace nostalgia and pass on memories to their children. It seemed that time stood still as the country shut down in an emergent response to COVID-19, quarantining the majority of the population to their homes.

Many millennial parents were laid off and slapped with the responsibility of home-schooling their children before a remote option became available. Transcending the suffering of waiting for answers into collectively bonding with our families, we were able to be the love that we saw in our favorite 90’s sitcom families.

From dads barricading hallways with toilet paper mountains for the dog to dive through, to moms blowing the dust off their Cricut Air machines debuting the infamous “Mama Needs Coffee” vinyl custom Starbucks cups that would lead them to launch their online Etsy shops, this year will go down as the most poignant era for millennials in terms of how we chose to navigate the unknown together.  

The battle of the streaming apps had begun. Disney+ or Netflix? Dads across America were on strike from suffering through another round of “Baby Shark Do-Do-Do-Doo”.

The audacity they had to expect us to know how to home-school? In other words, introduce the kids to “Magic School Bus” and “School House Rock” videos on Youtube?  

Can you imagine if this happened when millennials were kids? That VHS Player would have spontaneously combusted. Our parents would have had neighborhood “Pandemic Parties” until the street lights came on.

“Great Depression Recipes” trended on YouTube. Convenience eating and fast food had our priorities backward. Shame on us. When people started gaining weight, TikTok trends provided us with new 60 –second dances to do with our kids. Since it took a hundred tries to be upload-worthy, that counts for cardio, right? Thank you, Gen Z!

Also, why did you cool kids bring The Mullet out of retirement? You’ll regret that one day, we promise.

Online karaoke challenges, the rise of cosplay culture, and hundreds of sublimated tees later, we survived! Women survived the dad jokes from the men. The men survived the garage sale quality DIY Christmas projects women scattered across their homes in an attempt to mimic the holiday display at Pier 1.

No matter where you were in 2020, life changed abruptly. Many people lost a loved one and had to say their last goodbye waving through a window. If you’re reading this article, you’re a fellow survivor. We have new stories for the grandkids, Millennials.