‘90s kid summer' trend ditches tech in favor of retro fun — here's why it won't work for all parents

Yahoo

8 hours ago

Millennial parents are throwing it back.
After the recent resurgence of iconic nineties trends jelly shoes, chunky highlights and flip phones, the ''90s kid summer' parenting trend reeks of turn-of-the-century nostalgia. Yet, proponents behind it say they're not just harking back to their childhoods — they're sick of their screen-addicted kids.
Just before summer vacations across the country began, millennial parents took to TikTok en masse to reminisce on their own school-free months.
In the comments of TikTok posts like this video by @_natenorman, nostalgic nineties kids recalled the days spent outside from dawn to dusk, biking alone to community pools, the unsupervised neighborhood playtime, and above all, the lack of communication from parents who simply wanted a few hours of peace and quiet.
'My summer memories all involve pools, sports, and exploring the woods. Creeks, birdwatching, riding bikes with the neighborhood kids and my siblings,' read one reply. 'The attic fan on at night is all I remember of indoors.'
Many parents online claim that they're giving their kids a '90s summer to promote positive development like independence and creativity.
And according to experts, they're not wrong to do so. The American Psychological Association says that unstructured play can help children progress in important body and muscle growth, socializing, decision-making skills, conflict management, and empathy, among other areas.
However, a '90s summer is simply not feasible for some, and growing pressure from online parenting communities is leading to undue stress and guilt.
Kristin Gallant, a parenting expert who posts child-rearing and mom life content on Instagram as @biglittlefeelings, was among the anxious millennials.
'If it works for your family, great,' says Gallant in the video. 'Working parents, we're stressed out when we see this. We need to send our kids to camp or have some child care' so the unplanned routine doesn't work quite the same, she explained. She also mentioned how neurodiverse kids and sensitive children who thrive on structure likely also wouldn't benefit from this trend.
'If you can't give your kids a '90s summer, don't let it make you feel like s–t,' she concluded.
Claire Vallotton, professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University, agrees that making a sudden shift towards the '90s summer lifestyle is not beneficial to kids, and explains that the trend is likely a response to the tendency that many modern parents have towards both maximizing their child's development by overscheduling them with classes, camps and other programs, as well as allowing young kids to have way too much screen time.
In an interview with USA Today, Vallotton said that most kids of today 'are overscheduled and using technology too much,' and a majority of them are not spending time outdoors alone like their millennial parents. The urge to overcorrect with the '90s summer trend makes 'a lot of sense, but trying to solve it all in one summer isn't going to work for either the children or parents,' she explained.
'You can't just have this over-scheduled, technology-saturated life for nine months of the year and then switch into this absolute freedom,' Vallotton elaborated. 'We haven't prepared our children for that… It's going to make the children potentially more anxious.'
Some parents online have commiserated with Gallant for numerous reasons. Some complain of 'velco children' — kids who stick to their parents' sides non-stop — while others bemoan the dangers and rising childcare costs plaguing the modern world.
'Give me a 90s economy and 90s real estate prices and I'll see what I can do,' replied a mom, agreeing with Gallant.
'I wish ['90s summer] was an option now for our kids. Karens everywhere crying about the noise of a basketball, no woods to go venture in or build treehouses, and people are always driving distracted, so riding bikes down the road can't happen,' said one commenter under @_natenorman's TikTok, explicating the impossibility of recreating those summers of the past.
Meanwhile, other parents offered their own interpretations of the sudden online push for the resurgence of a '90s summer.
'What I take from the 90s summer is letting go of the pressure to be over-scheduled, do every single expensive camp, and be IG perfect,' replied one user under Gallant's video.
'I think the takeaway is that it's okay to let your kid have a solid chunk of independent play where you as the parent are not playing camp Director,' explained another. 'It's not unsupervised but unstructured. Not all day but part of it. For me, after lunch, I might push the kids outside and go read on the porch while they figure it out. They have things to do provided, but it's dealer's choice.'
Instead of making an instantaneous transition like millennial parents across the Internet seem to imply, Vallotton advised that parents slowly reduce technology access for kids and encourage children to play together outdoors while supervising from afar.