What do millennial moms want? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this question.
I was born and raised in costa Rica and it wasn’t until I moved to the U.S. almost 6 years ago that I realized that people were characterized by the year they were born. My in-laws are baby boomers, my husband generation X and I am one of the pioneers of the millennial generation (I was born in 1984).
When I see these studies explaining what our generation wants I just laugh. Seriously. Someone has the time and money to figure out what an entire generation wants… An entire generation that’s filled with so many different personalities, goals and ambitions that there is no way it could be defined in a study. Yet, somehow it is.
Although I don’t believe in labeling an entire generation, I do recognize there are some trends that are more common to our generation, the millennial generation. So I am here to tell you what our generation wants – but really what the newer generation of moms want.
We want a to be able to raise our kids without judgement
So you spanked your kid and that’s why he never threw a tantrum? Well good for you, but we don’t want our children to be scared of us, we rather deal with the tantrum (which is normal part of human development by the way) than to have a kid that is scared of his own mother.
You’re worried because a child is having ice cream? Do you really think all children eat is ice cream…? I bet you know the answer to this question.
My point is, carry on. You don’t need to stop strangers in the street or harass the younger generations in your family just to tell them how to parent because they are younger or do things differently. It’s their child and they don’t need your opinion on how to raise them. Believe me, if they do want your opinion, they will ask for it.
We want to raise our kids with our spouses
My husband works many hours to provide for us and we miss him. It sucks. I understand this is the way the world works but wouldn’t it be nice if we could all have our spouses more at home?
I know many moms feel this way too and that’s why so many of us are doing what we can to provide for our family too. We want to have money and time to spend with our family, and we believe this is possible.
It’s probably why you see so many moms starting their own home businesses or selling products they love. They are doing this to support their families while being stay-at-home moms and that’s admirable.
We are not afraid to do research and question others
Just because someone says you should do this or that it doesn’t mean we believe it. Most millennials moms I know will research a topic they’re interested in so well that they end up becoming experts in a topic.
Sometimes during this research we find information we bring up to our doctors or other professionals because it contradicts what they’re saying and that’s ok. We are a generation that asks questions, that wants answers and that is not scared to debate a certain topic. We don’t believe things just because someone said so, we want data, science but we also follow our instincts. These instincts usually lead us to find studies that confirm what we believe, and if they don’t, we learn and move forward.
We like to splurge on certain things
What’s the point of working our entire lives to enjoy our savings and money when we’re old? We might die before we retire, we won’t be in our best shape and we might even have health issues. Instead, we prefer to splurge our money here and there in things that matter to us…and that’s totally fine.
Our parents might think spending money on an all-inclusive resort is a waste for money, for example, but for us it isn’t. We deserve a nice break from life and we can also accomplish this while creating awesome families memories. If you can afford it now, why wait? We are in our best shape and health now, might as well enjoy it.
We want to live a healthy lifestyle
Every person has their own way of living a healthy lifestyle. For some this means they only eat organic, for others it’s all about exercising daily, some avoid products with toxic chemicals or support companies that are environmentally sustainable and some do all of the above and more.
Whatever their focus is, millennials try to be healthy and are more conscious of the items they buy, use and consume. We were born into a generation that is suffering more diseases than previous generations and we are very aware of it. We are doing whatever we can to make sure our families stay healthy.
We want high quality, even if it costs more
We are tired of spending money on things that fall apart within months. Throwing out all these useless items is just adding more stuff to our environment and that’s not acceptable.
We prefer to spend more money on an item if it’s better quality, if it will last longer and if it’s useful. For example, I rather have a nice diaper bags that will hold up throughout the years and that can be used as a purse after my kids are out of diapers than to spend money on a new diaper bag every year.
We want better quality, durable items and to stop polluting the environment with items, clothes and products that break apart easily.
We want to use technology without being judged
Even the oldest millennials grew up with technology, it’s part of our lives and it makes our lives easier. While I agree that some people can get obsessed with technology, most millennials find it useful. Technology is all about connecting with our friends and family, it’s about automating some tasks to free up our time for the things we love and it’s about using it to improve our quality of lives.
Older generations might not understand it but just because they don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Thanks to technology many moms have a support network and a group of friends they can tap into at any time when they need parenting advice or when they need support.
We want to have many close friends and they are a priority
I believe friendships are important in any generation but some studies suggest that millennials moms have more close friendships then moms in previous generations. Part of this it’s because technology makes it so much easier to stay in touch.
We believe friends are the family we chose and we take care of them and make time to spend time with them, whether it’s in person or online. We also love sharing information and recommendations with our friends so you bet if someone doesn’t like a certain product or absolutely loves it, we will all know about it.
We prioritize friendships over many other things in life because connecting with people is essential to human life. The support network created by friendships helps most moms get through those hard days and makes life that much more enjoyable because you have even more people to share your happiness with.
Millennials do things differently and that’s okay. So, instead of criticizing millennials because they are doing things a different way, how about we accept them and embrace them for who they are, what they care about and respect them?
Kim says
Well stated and well-written.
Carolina says
Thank you!