Did Generation X fail as parents?: RE Millennials

My cousin and his wife are progressives. They love cafe culture, don't own their own home but rent, support environmental and social justice causes. The divorce angle is interesting because my cousin was a child of divorce and his baby boomer parents used to shower him in toys and try to make up for it whilst still bad mouthing each other.

Their oldest son is 6 and from the time he was a toddler they told everyone he was transgender and would dress him as a girl and put lipstick on him. Everytime I see the kid he plays with trucks and the Barbie dolls they give him. He refers to himself as a boy but they seem to enjoy the attention that they receive by dressing him as a girl. I'm fine with kids role playing and there certainly are kids who identify as the opposite gender, but this instance the parents are pushing it onto their son for their own gratification.

Their youngest son is an emotional wreck. He's a sweet kid but is so overwhelmed by things. It rained when I was over at their house and he was freaked out when some droplets went on his skin. He later became hysterical when they ran out of the frozen chicken nuggets that are the only thing he eats. When he wants to talk to someone he'll only whisper into his mums ear and she will say "Aidan wants to know if you'll play with him".

Parent's can raise their kids however they like, but I watch them raise their 2 sons and I can't help but feel I'm watching a trainwreck in slow motion.

a reply to: trollslayer

I came to work one day a few years back to a memo that looked a lot like this one. It is not the exact same but very close.

Customer Care for All Generations

I made it clear that I would treat all my patients with the same level of respect I expect for myself and my loved ones, and I would not treat a person based on the generation they happened to be born in, but according to their individual needs.

This catering to the mentality, instead of the individual, is what perpetuates the problem.

originally posted by: Kalixi

Their youngest son is an emotional wreck. He's a sweet kid but is so overwhelmed by things. It rained when I was over at their house and he was freaked out when some droplets went on his skin. He later became hysterical when they ran out of the frozen chicken nuggets that are the only thing he eats. When he wants to talk to someone he'll only whisper into his mums ear and she will say "Aidan wants to know if you'll play with him".

Parent's can raise their kids however they like, but I watch them raise their 2 sons and I can't help but feel I'm watching a trainwreck in slow motion.

I think they should get their young child checked out .... from personal

experience I would say he is showing signs of autism.

a reply to: Bloodydagger

I'm Genx. My kid is 8. His grandparents aren't around.

I think parents fell for the discipline is abuse BS.

a reply to: Kalixi

Sometimes I think they are deliberately destroying the family to usher in a scenario like in the movie "The Giver.

The perfect world that want to create, will be perfect for them, not us.

From enlightened indigos to domestic terrorists. I could have sworn they were suppose to show us the way.

Generation X? no, Internet yes! oh wait, actually the internet contributed to a better understanding of the surrounding world and easy access to whatever information wanted in a couple of seconds and key strokes... but! just maybe!

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
NO.
NOT SPANKING your children and giving "TIME OUTS" can create the spawn.

I used to get a leather belt up and down my ass as a kid when I got out of line. Kids these days are quick to scream child abuse and other things due to stuff they hear at School, Social Media and elsewhere. They even complain to teachers at school that Mommy or Daddy beat them the night before when all it was, was a discipline whipping. Parents hands are tied these days. Nobody wants CPS called on them. Somewhere along the line, I'd say in the 1990s, there was an illusion that took place that transformed discipline into abuse.

originally posted by: Kettu
Gen X overlaps with Millennials.

Both terms are used interchangeably.

boomers 1946-1964 ...... gen x 1965-1984 ..... millenials 1985 -2003 all generations are 18 years not interchangeable by anyone that knows what they are talking about

a reply to: CaDreamer

Yep, no overlapping.

As I said, they overlap:

www.theatlantic.com...

And if you do research around the web, there isn't a general consensus on when each begins/ends.

I'm considered "both" apparently.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: Bloodydagger

My kids are barely teens, (I'm Gen X) the millennials are from both the oldest Gen X and youngest baby Boom.

My kids know about dressing a deer, change car tires+brakes, know that it's OK to punch some one if they touch you in anger, target shoot, raise chickens...........

It is an individual problem with the supposed millennials being lazy or un-motivated (I don't buy it).

The millennials have seen their parents get screwed by corp America, and they are suspect of it. Good for them.

Thats all well and good but can your kids (Mr. & Mrs. Smarty pants) quote Karl Marx's manifesto? Do they know that you can't be racist to a white person and you can't be sexist to a man?

Here is another fine example of Millennials: www.cnn.com...

Calls to crisis and suicide prevention hotlines surge post-election

Tons of people contemplating suicide over Trump's victory. SERIOUSLY? What in the hell????????? The world doesn't have a big enough Safe Space for this many people.

originally posted by: Bloodydagger
Here is another fine example of Millennials: www.cnn.com...

Calls to crisis and suicide prevention hotlines surge post-election

Tons of people contemplating suicide over Trump's victory. SERIOUSLY? What in the hell????????? The world doesn't have a big enough Safe Space for this many people.

I wonder if they have suicide prevention lines in Communist China? I doubt it. They'd be too interested in harvesting your organs to stitch into some western transplant tourist.

originally posted by: CaDreamer

Gen X overlaps with Millennials.

Both terms are used interchangeably. boomers 1946-1964 ...... gen x 1965-1984 ..... millenials 1985 -2003 all generations are 18 years not interchangeable by anyone that knows what they are talking about

I am a boomer .... brought up 2 children (gen x) exactly the same

lots of discipline and tough love, good behavior expected and given at all

times.


They in turn have two children each (millenials) one set brought up with

tough love and discipline, the other two are special snowflakes that don't

know the meaning of NO.


The two brought up with tough love and boundries (So much better adults)

have said that they both intend to be firmer with their own off spring ....

Which says a lot for tough love discipline and boundries .... It never hurt

them

a reply to: Bloodydagger

I am the mother of two millennia now young adults, I am very proud that I raided two hard working tax payer citizens that do not have time to go around causing chaos, mayhem and destruction, that value their nation and respect their fellow citizens and that they had to work hard for what they want, nothing was given to them free.

So I have nothing to worry as a parent.

a reply to: Bloodydagger

I'm answering this as a Millennial, but I happen to be right on the border of what's considered a millennial so I'm old enough to look at this problem with a bit of hindsight.

I don't think Generation X failed as parents, but I do think they failed to improve on society. This is how I see things:

There's a massive debt that needs to be paid. The Boomers and X'ers are in Congress now and continuing to spend. It's us they look to, to pay off the debt. Worse, they cut taxes on themselves, increase the deficit, and tell us to pay for it.

Infrastructure gets built on 50 year time tables. The boomers built the roads, the X'ers inherited it all. My generation is going to have to rebuild everything. Worse, we're probably going to have to make emergency repairs on what X didn't maintain.

When it comes to employment, I've never in my lifetime seen the prosperity others talk about. From the day I became an adult, the country was in a recession. Then we were in the post 9/11 recession, and an expensive war, and an all knowing surveillance state. We didn't prosper under W or Obama. I remember the attitude growing up, particularly under Clinton. Somewhere I still have some old Newsweeks which did nothing but talk about the roaring 90's economy and how people constantly job swapped for higher incomes. Since I started working though, I've never seen that.
I've seen declining purchasing power.
I've seen a workplace culture that's about who you know rather than what you do.
I've seen people become slaves to their employers so their family members have health care.

I've been told my entire life to save money, but since I became an adult I've never seen a reward for savings. For the past decade interest rates have been near zero. For the 8 years before that they were in decline.

I remember a paper I wrote in 9th grade, where I computed the compound interest you could earn on 1 million dollars. Subtracting a percentage for inflation (to maintain income over time), one could have a middle class lifestyle on that nest egg. For the same quality lifestyle today you need 4 million and it needs to be in Wall Street rather than safe banking accounts.

You mention the snowflakes that post youtube videos, but something that I'm guessing you didn't know about millennials is that they fiercely believe in a meritocracy. That unfortunately though, isn't how the world works. Merit does not bring about proportional rewards, and it's something my generation wants.

You ask what went wrong? If I had to pick two things, it would be reacting poorly to 9/11 and failing to regulate the banking industry. Those two things have led to or influences all of the other economic ramifications, which in turn caused everything else.

originally posted by: Bloodydagger
Another thing to consider are these Alt-Left and Alt-Right political groups that are shaping up right now that the Millennials are behind. I think these two groups are bad for America. These two movements are going to do away with grass roots Democratic and Republican ideals in another 2-3 decades once the old guard dies out. These two new ideologies are taking each political wing and pumping them with steroids.

Extremism comes about from lack of opportunity. When people don't have a way to make their lives better, they instead latch onto ideological ideas that attack and blame others for their own lack of advancement. Fix the economy and these groups will vanish.

I'm Gen X and mine is barely 6. He's not out in the streets.