I’ve read about the helicopter parent, the tiger parent and even the trophy parent (considers their kids trophies for photo-ops), but I haven’t read about being a millennial mom. Add in a preemie mom, special needs mom, crazy south Asian working mom and you have a pretty wacky mix ☺️ Being a millennial mom, in my mind, signifies a challenge of dealing with the mobile technology revolution, video game crazies, academic achievements and old world traditions.
When I talk to my friends from South Asia or the new age parents (is that the right word?), they tend to prefer the old world traditions. They don’t seem to want any of the millennial and gen x, y, etc influences on their kiddos. They always talk about the good old days. My perspective is different and hopefully not unique - I grew up in a world with no internet, old school phones. I spent my teens figuring out technology, most of which we use today. I love some of the things we did back in the day growing up and I adore the convenience and challenges afforded to me by technological advances.
I want my children to embrace technology and the knowledge and skills it offers yet be aware and tread carefully among the virtual land mines. It is a tricky balance but is it really different than dealing with real world land mines? How do you teach your children to be aware of stranger danger, be kind to other children, trust their instincts? Aren’t those the same skills you would teach them in this new era as well? Being an ostrich and wanting the old world isn’t going to make my kids reality go away. In fact it may alienate them, so I embrace it with caution.
Honestly, I use the same approach when it comes to healthcare and technology. Technological advancement in healthcare and evidence based research enabled the possibility of a micropreemie child the chance at survival and wonderful outcomes. My daughter changed my entire perception of the world and my role in it with her arrival as a micropreemie. I embrace healthcare and technological advancements because of her. Someone somewhere believed in the possibility, and I am eternally grateful for them. When she was a newborn, everyone from the docs and nurses to family and friends (well meaning) would give me stats of survival and positive outcomes. My question was always the same, I do not care what the outcomes and possibilities of all the general population, I only care about this one child and her outcome. So, parenting ideologies are varied, but all I care about is what is the correct balance that will give my children the best outcomes.
When I talk to my friends from South Asia or the new age parents (is that the right word?), they tend to prefer the old world traditions. They don’t seem to want any of the millennial and gen x, y, etc influences on their kiddos. They always talk about the good old days. My perspective is different and hopefully not unique - I grew up in a world with no internet, old school phones. I spent my teens figuring out technology, most of which we use today. I love some of the things we did back in the day growing up and I adore the convenience and challenges afforded to me by technological advances.
I want my children to embrace technology and the knowledge and skills it offers yet be aware and tread carefully among the virtual land mines. It is a tricky balance but is it really different than dealing with real world land mines? How do you teach your children to be aware of stranger danger, be kind to other children, trust their instincts? Aren’t those the same skills you would teach them in this new era as well? Being an ostrich and wanting the old world isn’t going to make my kids reality go away. In fact it may alienate them, so I embrace it with caution.
Honestly, I use the same approach when it comes to healthcare and technology. Technological advancement in healthcare and evidence based research enabled the possibility of a micropreemie child the chance at survival and wonderful outcomes. My daughter changed my entire perception of the world and my role in it with her arrival as a micropreemie. I embrace healthcare and technological advancements because of her. Someone somewhere believed in the possibility, and I am eternally grateful for them. When she was a newborn, everyone from the docs and nurses to family and friends (well meaning) would give me stats of survival and positive outcomes. My question was always the same, I do not care what the outcomes and possibilities of all the general population, I only care about this one child and her outcome. So, parenting ideologies are varied, but all I care about is what is the correct balance that will give my children the best outcomes.
