We’re uncool. We don’t understand. We’re out of touch, like we couldn’t possibly comprehend life in the modern world.
But believe it or not, we’ve lived a little too.
We navigated life without social media. No Snapchat. No TikTok. Some of us didn’t even have a mobile phone.
We went out, stayed out too late, drank too much and occasionally woke up wondering exactly how the night had ended.
We’ve run from cops, jumped cabs, smoked because we thought it made us look cool, chucked sickies, sped, broken rules and made decisions we’re definitely not proud of.
Some were harmless. Some were stupid. Some were dangerous. And a few we were simply lucky to walk away from without bigger consequences.
And we did all of this without Uber, Life360, Find My Friends or a mobile phone permanently attached to our hand. We called taxis from payphones, got a lift, caught the bus or walked. Some of us even hitchhiked.
We’ve had our hearts broken. Lost people we love. Struggled financially, questioned ourselves, started again and worked plenty of things out the hard way.
Somehow, we survived.
Then we became parents.
Our kids instantly became our most prized possessions. Our priorities changed and suddenly there was something in life more important than ourselves.
We held their hands crossing the road. Taught them to ride a bike, kick a ball and use a spoon. Sat beside them when they were sick and worried when they were late.
We paid for things they probably still don’t know we paid for, sometimes when we didn’t really have the money ourselves. We solved problems before they even knew there was a problem.
Then somehow, they became adults.
We know they need to make their own decisions, have their own opinions, make mistakes and work things out for themselves.
That’s exactly what we raised them to do.
We don’t expect them to agree with us or think we’re always right. We’re not.
Sometimes they genuinely do know more than us. The world has changed since we were their age, and their experiences are different from ours.
But underneath the title of Mum or Dad, we’re still people. We have feelings, worries and things going on in our lives that our kids might know nothing about.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about the photos.
Those family photos we have to beg for? They’re like trophies to us now.
They’re the birthdays, Christmases, holidays, milestones, celebrations and completely ordinary days that somehow became the ones we treasure most.
Who cares about the angle, whether everyone’s hair is right or if it’s worthy of Instagram?
We don’t need the perfect photo. We want the raw one.
The moment we were all together.
One day, they might understand why that matters so much.
We’re always going to offer advice they don’t particularly want to hear, but it isn’t because we think we know everything or want to control their lives.
Sometimes we’ve already made the mistake they’re about to make.
Sometimes we’ve seen how that story ends.
And sometimes we remember being young a little too well.
Which brings us to the sentence we swore we’d never say:
“When I was your age…”
God, we hated that sentence.
We rolled our eyes when our parents said it. We thought their stories were irrelevant, their advice outdated and there was absolutely no way they could understand.
And yet, here we are.
The cycle continues.
Somewhere between being the kid rolling our eyes and becoming the parent on the receiving end of it, we finally understand what our own parents were actually trying to say.
Not, “We had it harder.”
Just, “We’ve been young too.”
Our kids won’t always listen. We didn’t either.
We’ll annoy them. We’ll embarrass them. We may never understand every new app, phrase or trend.
But there’s a very good chance that one day they’ll have an adult child looking at them with exactly the same expression.
And despite everything they swore they’d never become, they’ll hear themselves saying:
“When I was your age…”
And suddenly, they’ll get it.
For every uncool parent out there.