Latest news with #Vallotton
USA Today
27-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- USA Today
Millennial parents want to give their children a '90s kid summer. What does that mean?
The '90s nostalgia that brought back cargo pants and flip phones is also fueling a parenting trend among Millennials called '90s kid summers. The idea is to recreate the core childhood memories of a typical summer in the 1990s, such as running through sprinklers, drinking from the garden hose and chasing after the ice cream truck. 'That's where you just open up the backyard, give them a garden house, let them go to town,' Kristin Gallant, the parenting expert behind Big Little Feelings, said in an Instagram video. 'Independent play, creativity, ride bikes and do that from sunrise until sunset.' Research shows that unstructured playtime helps build healthy bodies, increases energy and reduces tension and anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association. But it's not always possible to give children the perfect '90s summer in 2025, and parents shouldn't stress out about it, said Claire Vallotton, professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University. The desire for a '90s kid summer is likely a reaction to a parenting culture that tries to overschedule kids with summer activities to optimize child development, she said. 'They are overscheduled and using technology too much," she said, and not spending time in nature like many of their parents did. 'It's a reaction that 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.' Many parents who work full-time depend on structured childcare and can't be available for their children throughout the summer to bandage a scraped knee, she said. It's also important to find peers for children to play with outside and many families don't live in safe neighborhoods where other children live nearby. An Instagram user made a similar point in a comment on Gallant's video. 'Give me a '90s economy and '90s real estate prices and I'll see what I can do,' the user said. 'Living room' vs. 'bedroom kids: What it says about your family dynamic But even if there was a parent at home and the family lived in a safe and social neighborhood, Vallotton said the '90s kid summer may not make sense. If children aren't given unstructured freedom throughout the school year, they won't know what to do with it during the summer. 'You can't just have this over-scheduled, technology-saturated life for nine months of the year and then switch into this absolute freedom,' she said. 'We haven't prepared our children for that… It's going to make the children potentially more anxious.' Although a complete switch is ill-advised, Vallotton said there are ways for parents to ease their children into a '90s kid summer by slowly limiting screen time, promoting more outdoor activities and fostering opportunities for peer play with minimal supervision. In case you missed: Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell are embracing free-range parenting. What is that? But that may not work for every family and parents shouldn't feel pressured by a social media trend, she said. 'Social media is a tool for social comparison and self-judgment,' Vallotton said. 'I would challenge parents to take a '90s summer for themselves and pause social media use.' Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@
USA Today
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Sibling gifts for birthdays? Kylie Kelce 'vehemently against' new trend – and experts agree.
Kylie Kelce has some hot takes on new parenting trends. On her 'Not Gonna Lie' podcast, the mom of three girls said she's 'vehemently against' a new trend parents are not only expecting gifts for their child on birthdays but are also requesting party attendees bring gifts for their child's siblings. The trend gained attention on TikTok when a mom shared a birthday invitation her 6-year-old son received that asked parents to bring a gift for the child's 3-year-old brother 'so that he didn't feel left out.' Thousands of commenters were outraged by the idea – and Kelce agrees. 'Our family knows no one else is receiving a birthday present for Bennett's birthday,' said Kelce, who is expecting her fourth child with husband, retired Philadelphia Eagles star Jason Kelce. 'When your siblings get presents for your birthday, it reduces your birthday. It's not their birthday, it's your birthday.' Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Babymoons:Why expecting parents should take one: 'Get excited for this next phase of life' But parenting experts say bringing birthday gifts for siblings does more harm to the siblings than it does to the birthday boy or girl. By requesting gifts for siblings, parents might think they're helping their child avoid uncomfortable emotions like jealousy, frustration and sadness, said Claire Vallotton, professor of human development and family studies at Michigan State University. But it's normal for children to experience those feelings when they see another child who has something they want, and it's up to the parents to teach them how to cope with those difficult emotions. 'Our early childhood is when we get to build that coping set and build that resilience around uncomfortable emotions,' Vallotton said. 'Parents are missing an opportunity to help the sibling manage and learn about uncomfortable emotions' when they ask for additional birthday gifts. It's important for parents to name those uncomfortable emotions with children and validate them, she said, without making them feel shamed for expressing them. Missing these opportunities to set up children with the social-emotional toolbelt to manage difficult feelings could set them up for a hard road ahead when they reach adolescence or adulthood. 'A child that doesn't have those opportunities or given the message that it's not OK to have those emotions is going to feel like there's something wrong with them,' Vallotton said. They can 'potentially fall apart when they are then faced with inevitable uncomfortable emotions later in life.' While siblings may miss out on the chance to learn an important life skill, she said there's no evidence the birthday girl or boy suffers any psychological drawbacks when siblings receive gifts on their special day. 'No one ever granted us the universal human right to be the king or queen of the day just because it's our birthday,' Vallotton said. Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@
