1992 Parenting

1992 was an awesome year. Not awesome for everyone obviously because many terrible events happened, but it was awesome for 7-8 year old me. Dwayne and Whitley got married and I learned more about the L.A. riots from their honeymoon than I would have from the news, Zack and Kelly went to prom, and Brandon started dating Nikki and it was adorable. 1992 me watched a lot of TV. 2021 me still does. Anyway, this post is really about what my 7-8 self thought parenting looked like in 1992 and why I do believe it was an amazing time to parent.

First off, I got to watch whatever I wanted as long as my older sister was allowed to watch it. That was pretty sweet. I learned a lot from all the shows popular around this time that frankly I wouldn’t have been exposed to were my parents not cool with letting me have TV freedom. Next, it seems like the whole concept of going to the beach was much more chill for parents in 1992. From what I remember, as long as there was a steady supply of Cocoa Puffs and Goldfish for the kids and Hi-C (I love orange HI-C, I’ve never ever liked soft drinks because the carbonation freaks me out and also I don’t think they taste good so at McDonald’s I would always get orange HI-C and I cannot love it more), you were cool. The parents got to drink peach daiquiris (and every single time I smell a peach daiquiri I feel instantly at home, just sayin) and the kids all got to hang in the water until we were tired and then we’d go up to the house and sleep and all was right with the world. It seemed magical. 

I like to think I do what I call 1992 parenting at the beach, but I know myself better than that and I’m not going to lie to you. Me at the beach is making sure everyone is in all the Puddle Jumper protection at all times, worrying that my children will get stung by jellyfish (I’m actually allergic to jellyfish and by that I mean I get giant welts on my legs when they sting me and it hurts for an annoyingly long time after, nothing life threatening or anything, and guess what, my 1992 parents still let me go chill in the jellyfish all over the place water because they knew I’d be just fine). Me at the beach also looks like the sunscreen patrol came to town. 1992 parents were not as well educated on the dangers on sun so I’ll take present day me here for the win. But I swear, if I could just have one ounce of the chill that 1992 parents had at the beach, I would take it in a heartbeat. Mostly the food stuff. I feel like I have to have options for my kids, always a fruit and veggie situation available too. Why though? 1992 me thought fruits and veggies were not delicious and while I’m grateful my kids are down to eat them, do they really need a full spread at the beach?

No, no they do not. They need me to be chill. They need the mom who gets in the water with them and tries to do a handstand because that’s how she rolled in ’92 (I do this every year when we go to the beach, 3 years ago I pulled my back out doing it because I’m old now, but also I’m still always going to attempt the handstand). They need the mom who builds giant sandcastles with them and teaches them how to make drip castles (if you don’t know what drip castles are, please let me teach you sometime. They are way more fun than regular sand castles and a million times more low maintenance). They need fun mom who only comes out when she feels like if she gives up control of the situation no one will get seriously injured or suffer (anxiety is a real jerk, but she does always make sure we have snacks so you know, she has her up sides). 1992 parents seemed to have all the chill at the beach and I’m gonna work extra hard to channel that from now on (except the sunscreen thing, please make sure you sunscreen those kids a whole ton).

Then there’s school. 1992 parents seemed to care just the right amount about school. It is entirely possible that this post should really just be about my specific 1992 parents because all parents and families are different, but I’m writing what I know so just take it at that. 1992 parents said to kids, “hey, just do your best at school and you’ll be great.” There was no getting kids into 812 activities from age 2 to make sure they were intellectually stimulated but also super athletic and at the same time very musical and spoke at least one second language. No ma’am. 1992 parents had chill here too. They let their kids try different stuff and if they didn’t like it at all, they made them finish out what they paid for (because 1992 parents were not about to let you waste all that money) and then they let you move on. There was no pressure to be the greatest gymnast ever or a concert pianist. There was just like “hey, you might like this, let’s try it out and see how it goes.” Seems pretty awesome to me. I can only speak to this as a kid from 1992, but I did not feel any weird pressure from my parents to do or be anything as long as I treated people well and did my best. All the weird pressure came from my special weird brain. 1992 Mary would not have done well with the way some people 2021 parent. She would have had a lot more panic attacks and she could for sure handle all the catastrophic thinking that she would never accomplish anything worthy or be good enough all on her own. Thank goodness she had 1992 parents.

My point with all of this is to say that I think many of us need to take it down several notches on what we expect of ourselves as parents. Our kids watch every move we make and they deserve to see more of that 1992 chill. Maybe with a peach daquiri in our hand (or whatever beverage brings you to a space of chill.) If any of the references to TV shows confuse you from this post, please send me a message. You have homework to do and I can also point you to the best episodes from each of those shows (cliff notes version: every episode of a Different World is excellent so watch them all, any Saved by the Bell episode from the beach club are my favorites, and 90210 when Brandon and Kelly dated the first time are the best, and their beach club episodes too). Apparently kids working at beach clubs were a hit for 1992 Mary.

I hope you’re having a good week and I’m always around if you want to chat. Happy Wednesday!!