25 Senseless Life Lessons That Millennials Were Taught As Kids

Our childhood experiences and the values instilled by our parents often shape our actions, even into adulthood. While most parents aim to do their best, some of the beliefs they pass on can be questionable. 

#1 Being a member of the clean plate club is not the badge of honor I was told it was

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#2 Being called ‘mature for my age’ / ‘old soul’ was not a gold star, it was because I had no personality other than gaining the approval of parental figures. I always existed for other people, grew up way too fast, and set impossible standards for myself. My late twenties have been fun as I try to figure out who the hell I am now.

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#3 Mental health isn’t real.

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#4 Other people’s perception of you was always more important than what you wanted or how you expressed yourself. My grandparents pushed that a lot so I understand where it came from, but once I got older I realized how damaging it was.

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#5

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My dad had a*s hole humor. Like being a jerk is funny. I was an innocent a*s hole to people for a long time. My boyfriend in college would point it out and I was like “what are you talking about?” And it was literally the only thing that straightened me out.

My dad came from an abusive home as a child and as recently cooled his jets in his older age. I think he was unaware and his mom came from an extremely abusive household. Like- she had red hair and they sent her to a farm away from the family and beat her all the time. The other siblings got to live at home.

My college boyfriend came from an abusive household just like me (his dad was an alcoholic, my mom was an alcoholic) so we kinda understood each other and called out each other’s a*s hole-ness all the time.

My husband and I have also worked on it. My husband came from a religious family who shamed as a form of punishment, also pretty abusive. It’s taken years, therapy, and many books, but I think it’s over.

Coming from a tough family takes so long to realize “hey, that’s not normal. That’s being an a*s hole. No wonder I have no friends!” We’ll be raising our son with kindness and not being AHs.

Also, Reddit. I think getting dunked on by you guys all the time made me realize how much of an AH I was too. It hurts, but it’s needed.

Generational trauma! So fun!

#6 That perfectionism is the standard. Things aren’t worth doing unless you do them so thoroughly and perfectly that you basically are never done editing. helllllloooooo burnout

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#7 I was told, over and over, “Just wait until you are a parent!! Then you will understand!!” Now I’m a parent and have fully concluded they were just trying to mask their insecurities with gaslighting.

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#8 Respect your elders. A lot of old people are s**t.

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#9 That EMTs care about your bra and underwear matching.

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#10 Destroying documents. I cant just shred them, i have to run them under water, cover them with soap, and put them in 3 separate garbage cans. Thanks dad.

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#11 That you must have a “valid” reason for everything you do. “Because I want to” or “because it makes me happy” are not valid reasons.

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#12 Hmm… The sort of “Sanctity” of family. Like, just because you are blood related, you somehow need to bend over backwards for them. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and that includes the ones I don’t see often. That said, some of them are total pricks.. And I would bend over backwards for people I work with that are kind long before I would them. You don’t get a pass just because we are related. ^^;

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#13 College = success/money. Haaaaaaa!!!

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#14 That the beatings she doled out as discipline always hurt her more than how she had hurt us.

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#15 My parents engrained in me that I absolutely cannot waste food. So, I have a psychological obsession with eating everything from my plate, even if I was already full. Now, when my children didn’t finish their plates, I’d have the urge to finish for them instead of throwing the leftovers away. It’s really unhealthy, literally.

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#16

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My dad convinced me that “unions suck”, either because “dues” or “lazy workers” or “they’re all left wing”

Then I got into a union, and the monthly dues are a drop in the bucket compared to my old non-union wages, the wages are high enough that everyone is happy to bust a*s if it’s ever actually necessary or beneficial to bust a*s, and the group is generally pretty politically diverse.

Union elections matter as much as actual elections once you’re in one. I’m far more concerned about who my union stewards and BAs are than actual politicians.

#17 That using public safety net programs made you a bad person. Food stamps, WIC, and Medicaid were for people that were completely morally bankrupt and would never make anything of themselves.

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#18 You must conform and appear “normal”, otherwise someone might judge you as “weird” and that’s just the worst thing that could possibly happen .

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#19 Purity culture

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#20 Saving the best for last. Whether it’s beer, food, or a nice soap someone gave as a gift. My mom would hoard them until they were ancient and no longer in fresh enough condition to enjoy properly. Now I have the best thing first and enjoy it to its fullest potential.

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#21 That I don’t need to learn to cook or do laundry because “my wife will do that stuff when I get married”. I went off to college having no clue how to do laundry and I didn’t learn how to do the most basic of cooking until my 20s. My three year old literally helps with laundry and cooking more than I ever got to do my 18 years of living at home.

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#22 Someone’s salary reflects both their intelligence and worth as a person, eg the higher salary the a smarter, better person

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#23 Make sure to tell your boss that you want to work all the weekends, evenings and holidays so that they know you really care about your job.

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#24 Gendered chores. My husband and I do not observe those rules

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#25 Calling everyday when you apply for a job, totally horses**t but I f****n did it for like 5 years after leaving home. Anything concerning work culture honestly

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