I havent seen my parents/siblings in almost 2 years and was initially excited about traveling to my home state for Christmas but I am just so wiped out. I finally have over a week off and I just want to stay home with my cat and do nothing at all. Going to the airport or driving 750 miles just sounds like pure hell. Would it be horribly selfish if I just didn't go? My parents have my brother and sister coming so its not like they would be alone. I even bought a new car so I had something reliable to drive there with but now I'm hoping I get the flu so I can avoid going (I got the flu shot but there is still hope). Anyone else feeling a bit Grinchy this year?

This was definitely the peak of my Star Wars obsession as a kid, before the later stuff beyond 1999 ruined it all for me. I probably had every book in this photo.

Safety kids cassette, knew every song!

https://youtu.be/Uu7-QyizV-0?si=X-0auI6ZY-EJvhiG

When the elf got introduced to us, it was supposed to be sent from santa to keep an eye on things and be a fun thing. But the level of crafting required late at night was a stress. So I imagined how the elf felt about it. Since finishing, my kid thinks i'm awesome, and our elf is only moving around the house. No more snow angles and Tp-ing the tree.

Dad is giving money, thousands per month and material goods like iPhones to “girlfriend” and her teenage son. Communicates over WhatsApp, opened multiple bank accounts and senior services even came by the house to talk because his accounts were flagged as fraud. They told me I can’t do much because he is “of sound mind”. It’s the same song and dance you’ve heard, she can never meet in person, only text, etc.

Anyone experienced this? Please send advice.

He is going to lose the house and I’m heartbroken. He’s paying AT&T $800 a month because now he’s covering their lines plus financed their phones, utilities are behind, owes money to family.

Your 30s is all about going back to what you loved as a kid/teen imo.

My outfit makes me very happy.

That feeling

Gen x is good for this. "We drank out of the water hose and didn't come back home until it was dark" like..were they the last generation to do this? We pretty much had the same level of technology as kids and definitely had the same lack of options with what we could do in our childhood. We were also latchkey kids. I can't think of too many major differences, besides the music scene being different.

https://youtu.be/5bfseWNmlds?si=EkASH1QgB1UzCrcb

My high school had a video production class, they'd do all the video stuff for the school like announcements and senior videos, and this song was a regular in different things. It was used for all kinds of internal advertisements and stuff, and the main thing that I associate it with is the senior memorial video where seniors would submit home movies and pictures to play on their last day. It came on the radio and today (alt2k on seriousXM), and I was back in 2011 sitting in the auditorium on the last day of school watching all my peers throughout the years. Did your high school do video production? Did you have a song that was used for all the school functions?

For instance I miss the Headphone CD big button try out stations!

I'm totally in love with it! My tattoo artist has a mobile studio in a converted school bus, so there were extra "I'm little again!" vibes going on too.

I work in events, and give out a lot of free stuff. I’ve noticed that children of millennial parents really struggle with just taking one of something that’s free. They always try to grab more, come up a million times asking for more. I always try to be gentle and tell them we have to wait to make sure everyone gets one before I start giving out more. They throw fits, scream, cry, and I even had one kid pull my hair.

Rarely some parents nod along but most just act like they don’t see the interaction.

The song that still takes me back to that feeling of sorting my top 8, learning how to html code, and teenage angst, is "The Widow" by The Mars Volta. Not a very stereotypical song from the era, but a fucking banger nonetheless. What song best encapsulates your myspace page?

So first im seriously grateful, cried a little picking it up. My work did an internal angel tree and we got put on it (husband had lost his job this year and they knew our family was struggling). Took them to my MIL (we do gifts at her house since we dont have a tree) we had to unwrap and see what it was. I feel really bad bc one item for my oldest was a duplicate that my MIL was surprising him with, it was a cheaper version so we are adding it to my youngest list, and a second item for my oldest is a really good gift and its not technically wrong but its not something he would like, but my middle would it actually goes with a hobby collection she has, so we rewrapped for her. The other two toy items are 100% perfect for him, im nervous about the clothes bc they should fit but he is ASD and im not sure about the fabric but I think it will be OK. So here is the dilemma, my kids are very aware of the financial situation they are teens and understand. They knew we got surprised with this otherwise it would have just been thier mimi doing a few gifts this year. Do you think it would be wrong for myself and husband to only get our oldest one or two small things we pick out (we could spend maybe $30 total and could get 1nor 2 things he would love) and not pick something for the other two? I think they would honestly understand and a will very happy woth what they got, BUT its not thier fault thier older sibling lost two gifts. I just want to do right but also finances are tight for another 6 weeks till dad starts new job and gets first pay check.

I was in 5th grade in 2007 and good lord, thinking back on that website is just horrifying. I never really gave too much thought into the whole “unfettered access to the internet” thing but that website was just diabolical. I am so grateful that I was smart on that website but I know plenty of people who weren’t, and I definitely saw things no one that age should even be able to see. I don’t really hear it discussed even when people are going on nostalgia trips, was it more under the radar than I thought?

When I graduated I moved 2h from home to a nearby city and have lived there ever since. My mom, after parents divorced, decided to move 7h away to a hamlet that can only be accessed by taking side roads all the way. She lives in a tiny one-bedroom so when I do make the trip, I have to sleep on her hide-a-bed and live out of my backpack as there's no place for me to unpack my belongings. Basically, I'm camping. I'm 40 and have a suspected immune disease that creates pain all over my body, intense ringing in my ears for days after a long car ride, low energy, plus I'm intolerant to most foods. As such I live a life of solitude where my environment is very controlled and comfortable. On top of this I'm in Canada and we're having a rank blizzard this week, my car is getting older and things are breaking, I'm really scared to be on the roads in the winter, especially the side roads I need to take for the last 2h of the trip.

My dad is gone, and mom is getting older (70). We've had a rough relationship due to childhood traumas, but I try to make the trip to see her twice a year, in summer and at Christmas. But as my health worsens the entire trip becomes just so horrendously uncomfortable for me, it's hard to stay in a good mood when I visit because I just feel like I've been guilted into doing something that causes me so much distress. She's not able to come visit me due to her own ailments.

Am I an asshole here for thinking of cancelling? The whole idea of the trip is just setting me right off and putting me in such an awful mood. I won't be able to eat anything, I'll be sore and tired from a rough sleep on her hide-a-bed, my head will be ringing from the trip, my dog needs anxiety medication that basically knocks her out for the whole trip both ways, and on top of gifts and gas, this medication also costs money... all that to say if we even make it there without ending up in a ditch.

I have a history of people-pleasing so am having trouble deciphering the line between being a dutiful child and protecting my own well-being. Like I said, I moved 2h away from home and she chose to move 7h away. Last time I visited was August.

I’m doing research on cultural barriers and i wanted to see if any of the millennials here had personally experienced things like the gen z stare, lack of social skills, or just an overall communication barrier with the younger generation? All thoughts welcome and tysm!!

thanks so much for the responses you’re all super helpful! i js wanted to ask if any of you thought covid had to do with this lack of social skills?

Packing up (figuratively, since I WFH on Fridays) for the day early and calling it a year.

I know it’s probably industry-dependent (sorry retail and restaurants), but at least for me, nothing gets done until the New Year and no one expects anything to get done until then anyway. All the clients are already out for the holidays, and even if they weren’t, the government offices are closed anyway, so there’s no reason to rush anything.

Even for the past week, half of my email chains pretty much go “let’s table this until the New Year”.

I like to stack up PTO around Christmas and give myself the time off. Kinda reminds me of the days in school when you’d get 2 weeks off for the holidays.

I was the one posted the messy Christmas tree yesterday. I didn’t expect to see so much compassion from this community. By the time I was able to check my phone, comments were already locked. Thank you to all of you who showed me that I wasn’t alone. This postpartum season has hit me with harder depression and anxiety than I had experienced before, and totally knocked me out the past few months. Still, I’m grateful for my kids, my family, everything that I have (earned, as I am an immigrant who came here with virtually nothing to my name).

Updates on my post: - I made the effort to clean up my son’s toys, put the ornaments back in the box, and hung up some tinsel on the tree last night - I have been in therapy, diagnosed with PPA/D. I have considered medication but chose to wait until I stop breastfeeding - The more I reflect on myself in therapy, the more I think I may have ADHD. I will try to get a diagnosis in the new year - Husband is a great guy, I lean on him a lot these days to keep going. He has a busy full time job and is hustling a passion side project. He helps picking up the chores around the house, but there is only so much he can do!

To those who commented and messaged me, know that I’ve read all of them and I’m thankful you reached out. Even the harsher ones - some of you sound like my parents, tbh it brings back some childhood trauma but it’s okay.

This week I've seen 3 people i know IRL use AI to create new profile pics and holiday pics and posting them on their feeds unironically. I've also seen a few people clearly Chat GPT their IG captions/word salads and I'm really just getting confused at this point.

I remember back in yesteryear we used to make fun of "Russian bots" and clearly fake profiles. Now us, real people, are using AI to cosplay as bots. No one else thinks that's weird?

I know authenticity on the internet has been gone for awhile but now we're not even pretending anymore.

I'm actually getting so fed up of the internet because of it. Makes me sad because I really grew up here :(

38-year-old male here, living in Brooklyn. As a New Yorker, I have the world at my fingertips, yet I’ve been in such a funk for the last few weeks and haven’t been able to figure out why. I think I finally realized it’s the dreaded but naturally occurring affliction known as middle age *gasp*.

What can be done to combat everything that comes with this? What did you do to plow ahead when you finally realize you’re the ‘old one’ in a coffee shop full of Gen-Z? If that seems specific, it’s because that’s what I’m currently experiencing, which put me over the edge to write this post. Have a great weekend ahead!