Technology has changed a lot in our daily lives in the last two decades, including the way we parent. This viral parent-teacher conference video is hilarious proof that some things just aren’t quite what they used to be. Read on to see the hilarious footage.

Created by blogger Tiffany Jenkins of Juggling the Jenkins, her video shines a very, very funny light on how different it is to parent in the digital age versus the experience many parents today had themselves as kids growing up in the eighties and nineties.

In the video Jenkins plays dual roles as both teacher and parent at a parent-teacher conference. In her short video, she illustrates some of the experiences that are unique to millennial parents, like digital classroom behavior apps to send messages home—instead of the old note pinned to the sweater routine of bygone days. And then there’s that whole pressure to get kids Harvard-ready before they graduate…kindergarten.

Beyond the Class Dojo jokes, the real message of the video is actually a pretty good one. While we might not want our kindergartners just “eating glue and coloring pictures,” there is definitely a lot more pressure on kids than there was when Gen Y and older millennial parents were kids—so maybe we could all consider pumping the “brakes a little with all the seriousness,” as Jenkins puts it so amazingly in her video.

You can see more of Jenkins’ hilarious videos about parenting at her Juggling the Jenkins YouTube channel.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

Featured photo: Juggling the Jenkins via YouTube

 

RELATED STORIES:

This Viral “How to Parent” Video Is Almost Too Relatable

We Are Every Mom in This Mom’s Viral Video about School Drop-Offs

This Mom’s Viral Post about Her “Organic” Family Dinners Is All Too Real

Planning your summer vacation could mean enjoying a staycation while your kids are away thanks to a new family travel trend. Skip-gen travel, as the trend has been nicknamed, is when grandparents whisk the kids off as their travel companions and leave mom and dad behind.

With hectic work schedules, it can be hard to find enough time off to enjoy an extended family vacation, which could explain the growing popularity of skip-gen travel. Grandparents who are either working less or are fully retired are freer to take vacations than their millennial kids.

While traveling together as a family is an incredibly beneficial experience, these multigenerational vacations have their own set of perks. Parents might be left behind, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have some fun of their own. Getting a little alone time can help reinforce your relationship with your spouse, and it’s completely guilt-free because the kids will be having a blast too. It also means that the youngest and oldest family members get some special bonding time and memory making your kids will cherish forever.

The only thing that can be tricky about skip-gen travel is finding a destination that is the right fit for both energetic kids and less-active grandparents. Theme parks, guided tours and cruises have become popular choices as they provide planned activities and meals, putting less pressure on grandparents.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

Featured photo: Pexels

RELATED STORIES:

7 Reasons to Travel With Kids, No Matter How Young They Are

When Families Travel by RV, The Journey Becomes the Destination

This Is the Best Time to Book Your Summer Travel to Save Your Wallet

We curated a list of the most irresistible trends (that are still going strong!) to catch our eye in 2017: Joanna Gaines and her fellow design gurus took a trip to the dark side, baby names like Moana and Belle were on the rise, and even tiny dolls in balls made their mark. Keep scrolling to see them all.

1. Unicorn food

Sprinkles for Breakfast

2017 was all about unicorn everything, especially tasty treats! Starbucks unveiled a unicorn frappuccino that took the world by storm, and other magical foods like unicorn toast, unicorn fudge, and unicorn hot chocolate had everyone seeing rainbows.

2. Disney Baby Names

With blockbusters like Moana and Beauty and the Beast out this year, the number of parents choosing Disney-themed baby names was on the rise! Don't be surprised if you meet a little Elsa or bitty Belle in the near future!

3. Oreos of All Types

See you later, regular old chocolate sandwich cookie! It seemed like every time we hit the grocery store this year, there was a new Oreo cookie flavor to try. Flavors that debuted this year include jelly donut, waffles & syrup, cookie butter, apple pie, firework, pb&j and the ever-exciting mystery Oreo.

4. Millennial Pink

Paul Trienekens via Unsplash

This color was everywhere in 2017, from accessories to toys to clothing to restaurant decor. Even a NYC neighborhood ice cream truck was spotted sporting the bright hue! 

5. Slime

Josh Hallett

Not all 2017 toy trends were store-bought and chances are, you made a pile of this goop (or purchased the ingredients) with your kids this year. Homemade slime was all the rage and props to you if you got creative with rainbow colors, glitter, or googly eyes for a monster spin!

6. Dark Walls

Annie Spratt via Unplash

Light, bright, white interiors were a dime a dozen when it came to interior trends which is why we were surprised by their darker counterparts making a splash! Deep navy blues, hunter greens, and rich wallpapers brought an intriguing moodiness to nurseries—even Fixer Upper's Joanna Gaines' started working darker walls into her designs!

7. L.O.L Surprise! Balls

Kids still love a good blind bag! These exciting spheres offer more than 50 dolls and accessories to open and discover. What surprised us is that the L.O.L balls turned out to be the most popular toy of the year, and if you don't have any now, don't worry! We're sure this one will be holding strong in 2018. 

8. Pop-up Places

Museum of Ice Cream

Cool pop-ups were a must-visit this year and made very interesting Instagram photos! Pop-up experiences like the Museum of Ice Cream, Color Factory in San Francisco, and Happy Place in LA drew huge crowds and even bigger smiles from the littles.

9. Rose Gold Everything

Lip Smacker

Much like millennial pink, you can find rose gold in just about every shape and form these days. Shoes came in rose gold shades, jewelry was everywhere, and even the iconic Lip Smacker took a turn and introduced the rose gold Tsum Tsum Minnie.

10. Online Shops Turned Brick and Mortar

Samuel Zeller via Unsplash

In what seems almost like a trend in reverse, Amazon opened a bookstore in New York City! Other online companies to open storefronts this year include Warby Parker, Bonobos, even Vistaprint.

What trends stood out to you this year? Share them with us in the comments below!

—Kaitlyn Kirby

 

 

Don’t go batty this year trying to create the perfect spooktacular gathering. The supermoms at Awestruck made us all a video to show you how to whip up snacks, decorations and treats that are not at all scary to pull off. Just click the video below to do it up, mom-hack style.


Awestruck is a digital lifestyle entertainment brand for millennial moms with original short-form programming on YouTube, Facebook and go90. Awestruck creates content featuring its community of celebrity talent and everyday moms to deliver entertainment, information and conversation today’s time-pressed mom craves. Subscribe for more videos—it’s free! 

What’s your favorite Halloween hack? Share it with our community of parents in the comments below! 

We can all agree that kids today have it a bit easier than we did. As a millennial parent, you can remember the struggle of waiting seven minutes for your computer’s dial-up connection, or attempting not to blink while watching TV Guide channel or else you’d have to wait until the guide rolled back around again.

Scroll below to see more “experiences” kids these days will never understand.

 

What are some other things you remember from your childhood? Let us know in the comments below.

As a new parent (or parent-to-be) we’re guessing high up on your list of must-haves are: more sleep, more sleep and more time with your newborn. Good news: Coca-Cola hears you loud and clear. They recently conducted a study with its millennial employees and found that what this group wanted most was paid parental leave. Their new policy, effective Jan. 1, 2017, will offer six weeks of paid leave for all parents including moms, dads, foster parents and adoptive parents. So while the company can’t help with those extra zzz’s, they can give new parents more time to bond with their new additions, and that’s something worth celebrating.

Photo courtesy of The Coca-Cola Company

“We think the most successful way to structure benefits to help working families is to make them gender-neutral and encourage both moms and dads to play an active role in their family lives,” said Ceree Eberly, Coca-Cola’s Chief People Officer in their new release.

Video courtesy of The Coca-Cola Company

Do you know another amazing business that offers paid parental leave for parents? Tell us in the comments below!

CEO of Facebook and proud father, Mark Zuckerberg, recently shared a photo of him with feeding his daughter. “Most important meeting of the day #LeanInTogether” he captioned.

Photo courtesy of Mark Zuckerberg via Facebook

Not only do we agree with this millennial billionaire, but so do plenty of dads. After Zuckerberg shared his ‘meeting of the day,’ Dads on Facebook are posting their fatherly pictures in support.

Quoc Pham commented with this adorable picture of his daughter: “Mark Zuckerberg I completely agree that any meeting that involves your children are important. Right now one of my kids is in the PICU right now potentially with cancer, and spending every moment with her is worth it.”

Photo courtesy of Quoc Pham via Facebook

#LeanInTogether is the NBA’s campaign with LeanIn.Org for gender equality. “Men have an important role to play in reaching equality, and everyone benefits when they do. Children with involved fathers are happier, healthier, and more successful. Couples who share responsibilities have stronger marriages. Diverse teams and companies produce better results. Leaning in is not just the right thing to do—it’s the smart thing to do” says the foundations website. 

How’s your ‘most important meeting of the day’ going? Tell us in the comments below!

— Noelle Buckband