4. Their babies are online!
While older mums are content with posting pictures of their baby on their own social networking accounts, millennial mums take this one step further. According to a survey conducted by Gerber, close to 40% of mums aged 18 to 34 in the United States created social media accounts in their baby’s name before their child turns one. Some millennial mums took the step in this direction as they did not want their baby’s pictures to take over their personal timeline, while others saw this as a handy way to share photos and updates with family and close friends.
5. They do things differently
Unlike their baby boomer parents who favoured the “helicopter” trend of hovering over their kids, millennials have turned this around by adopting more relaxed parenting styles, according to a recent study conducted by Baby Center.
Although millennial mums may still hover (but at a lesser extent), they tend to follow and respond to their kids rather than to schedule them – a technique known as “drone parenting”, as stated by Time magazine. A report by FutureCast revealed that 61% of millennial parents believe their children need more unstructured playtime, and only 21% view their children as “overscheduled”.
6. They are strapped for time
With the growing number of working mothers among the millennials today, it is inevitable that they find themselves strapped for time when it comes to managing the household and their family. In a recent US-based survey, 20% of millennial mums say they would pay to have someone help manage their busy lives. This has led them to “outsource” various tasks that they are not able to do themselves, with house cleaning and child care being the most common.
7. They teach their children about empowerment and resiliency
Millennials grew up in a world where change was constant, and adaptation was the way to survive. As parents, this has made them realise that life may not always be perfect – and it is through this experience that they have learnt to cope. But rather than protecting their children from disappointment, they seize every opportunity to give their children the skills they need to go on, knowing that feelings come and go but things will always get better. In fact, studies have shown that “open-minded”, “empathetic” and “questioning” are the qualities that millennial parents want most for their children.
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