This yea, 2018, marked my first holiday season as a mom and let me tell you, the pressure has been on. From tree decorating, to cooking baking, the Christmas season as a mom is on a whole different level. But not every generation of moms approaches the season in the same way. And this video comparing 80s moms and moms today hilariously points out the pointlessness of all that pressure we face on Christmas, and how moms of the 80s enjoyed, well, a much simpler time.
The video is the latest installment of the popular video series 80s moms vs. today's moms from mom bloggers Meredith Masony of That's Inappropriate and Tiffany Jenkins of Juggling the Jenkins. This video looks at the way moms in 2018 celebrate Christmas, as compared to those in the 80s.
Suffice it to say, things have gotten a bit more complex around the holidays. Ready-made fruitcakes have been replaced by painstakingly made from scratch cookies. The wonders of the gift bag have been replaced by Pinterest-perfect wrapping jobs that are enough to induce anxiety in even the chillest of moms.
No matter which mom you relate to the most, the compare and contrast in this video will have you laughing harder than Santa Claus. 'Tis the season!
While 80s mom is enjoying a bit of "mommy's eggnog" and throwing her kids' gifts into gift bags — sans tissue paper, I might add — 2018 mom is watching YouTube videos on a loop on how to achieve that perfect scissor slide when cutting wrapping paper. Mom in 2018 has a kid who wants a trip to the Galapagos island for Christmas while 80s mom is just trying to keep hers out of the adult eggnog. Both moms are a bit thrown by their kids' lists of demands — I mean, requests — so I guess some things never change.
All jokes aside, holiday celebrations have changed a bit since millennials became parents. And before you jump to some "those darned millennials" type conclusion about the changes, hear me out. For one thing, millennial parents are prioritizing family time over gifts during the holidays. That's right, according to the Millennial Parent Holiday Survey from PBS Kids, 82 percent of millennial parents crave more family time during the holidays and 80 percent want to spend more time playing with their kids this holiday season. What's more, 37 percent of them are looking to spend less time shopping.
The actual gifts that millennial parents are buying for the holidays differ from past generations, too. PBS Kids found that almost 100 percent of millennial parents what gifts that "stand the test of time" and provide learning opportunities. And, like the 1980s vs. 2018 Mom: Christmas Edition video suggested, millennial parents are also a lot more interested in baking. And 69 percent reported to PBS Kids that they wanted to spend more time in the kitchen cooking and baking over the holidays.
But in order to find the right gift and spend the holidays playing with children instead of hanging out in department stores, millennial parents are having to start their holiday shopping early. A 2016 survey conducted by the Rubicon Project found that American parents started shopping even before Labor Day, according to TIME.
And while I'm certainly not one to turn my nose up at homemade cookies, and I can definitely appreciate the thought that goes into choosing the perfect Christmas list, there is a point when it all becomes a bit too much. The moms in the 1980s and 2018 Christmas video make an important point underneath of all their joking and eggnog: all the stress of making a "perfect" holiday really isn't worth it. Your kids don't care if the presents look like Martha Stewart wrapped them, and the other moms at the cookie exchange really won't know if your snickerdoodle dough came from a box.
Instead, pour yourself a nice big glass of "mommy's eggnog" and enjoy this special season with your loved ones.
After a very frustrating first birth experience, this Deaf mother wanted a change. Will the help of two Deaf doulas give the quality communication and birth experience this mom wants and deserves? Watch Episode Four of Romper's Doula Diaries, Season Two, below, and visit Bustle Digital Group's YouTube page for more episodes.
