As millennials, our generation is unique in that we’ve adapted through the fastest advances in technology in the span of 30 years. We went from typewriters to having minicomputers in the palm of our hands within our lifetime and because of such rapid breakthroughs, we are the most adaptable generation. However, just because we are used to change, doesn’t mean we aren’t affected by it. With constant change comes the anxiety of being overloaded, overstimulated and overwhelmed with a desire of wanting it all, doing it all and being the best at it, while feeling like a failure when we don’t achieve it all. A great example of a millennial working their way through all of this is the millennial mom.
I’m the millennial mom trying to do it all. I want that successful, long term career as a personal stylist. I style private clients during the week and on weekends. I manage my own website and try to post interesting content to my social media as much as I can. I want to be a self-aware mom that is always there for my daughter and raise her to be as physically, emotionally and psychologically healthy as possible. In an era where women are statistically speaking, waiting longer to get married, I chose to get married in my late 20s and want to nurture and continuously work on growing my marriage. I want to be physically healthy, so running 2-3 times a week is a must. The more I watch The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, the more I want to try baking more complex recipes. I’m currently trying to get through Game of Thrones season four and Peaky Blinders season one. I take my daughter to mixed martial arts classes, museums and nature walks every weekend. My Bose noise cancelling headphones are a part of my wardrobe as I listen to different podcasts trying to stay on top of current events. When I have a spare moment, I like to read academic articles about outer space and science. You read that right; I like science n stuff.
These are my wants; all the things I believe I can take on by listing them in my calendar and checking things off my notes app. Each one fitting into categories career, motherhood, marriage, hobbies, parenting and education. Since I’m used to adapting, I take all this on because I believe If I achieve most of this, I will have done all the things and be happy. TBD on if that’s working.
The millennial mom outfit details:
Skirt designed by MSGM via Rent the Runway. Turtleneck by Uniqlo, necklace is from a thrift store and shoes by Charlotte Russe.
That’s the fun stuff, the obligatory “adulting” stuff comes in the form of being the family aide which consist of accounting and managing the social calendar. There isn’t a penny that goes in or out that I don’t know about and I have a spread sheet with a 3-month forecast of the family budget. I set reminders on my personal calendar for every monthly payment and have just recently added my husband to all calendar notifications. I got tired of being the only one who knew how the machine works. It was time for him to know the inner mechanics that sometimes I feel men don’t want to be bothered with. I’m an introvert/extrovert if that makes sense. I love my home time with my family but also can’t see a beautiful blue sky on the weekend and not plan fun things for us to do.
What you just read is this millennial mom’s wants and needs and the mess behind me is the personification of all of that. It’s pretty, it’s fun, it’s a mess, but it’s my mess. Do I accomplish half of these goals on a regular basis? Meh? Do I want to and have the best of intentions of nailing everything and end up on the couch not doing a thing? Of course, I do. I own all of it.
In today’s world, we are constantly plugged in thanks to the technological advances that my generation has grown through. We assume as a society that with so much technology it can help us (especially the millennial mom), juggle it all. In reality it has done the opposite, at least for me. It’s magnified all my aspirations and intentions and instead gives me statistical updates on how I’m not achieving all the goals I set out. It’s made me feel overloaded, overwhelmed and overstimulated. I even use my calendar to carve out time to take time for myself. How wild is that? I have other millennial mommy friends who feel the same way and feel they are in a constant state of failure when in fact, we are doing a lot, all the time. I’ve learned that adaptable doesn’t mean invincible and sometimes it’s ok to close the door to the playroom and pretend the mess isn’t there.
I salute all the millennial mommies out there as they scroll through this post while on the treadmill, commuting or at the indoor play place on a play date. - Patty