Xennials share the best life lessons they've learned from their Boomer parents
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Xennials share the best life lessons they've learned from their Boomer parents

Xennials (those born 1977 to 1983) are a microgeneration between Gen X (those born 1965 to 1980) and Millennials (those born 1981 to 1996). These late '70s and early '80s babies were mostly raised by Baby Boomer parents (born 1946 to 1964) who taught them lots of positive life lessons that have stuck with them. In a discussion among Xennials on Reddit, one posed the question: "What do you think was your best lesson learned by being raised by Boomers?"Fellow Xennials shared their open and honest answers about the good their Boomer parents instilled in them. These are 15 things they appreciate having learned from their Boomer parents: Xennial woman with her Boomer mother.Photo credit: Canva"My parents were born in the late 40s. I got the same indoctrination to only show calm. And you know what? It has worked out for me. I feel the feels, but I have the mental equipment to only show the calm. I think this is actually a benefit of our upbringing." - FastWalkingShortGuy"My parents were both born in ‘48. They have always been fairly liberal, artsy types. The best thing I learned from them is that racism, sexism and homophobia is wrong and we should all actively work to make the world a better place. Also, that societal expectations are arbitrary and that you should carve your own path and be yourself." - Public-Grocery-8183"My dad worked harder than I ever have. He literally worked 24 hours days when it would snow. Worked his regular job for 12 hours, then snow removal all night long. Before the sun was up, he was back at his regular job. I'm so glad I don't have to do that. I feel terrible all the times I kept him up at night with my videos games or other youthful bullsh*t. It gave me a work ethic like no other. If you want to own your own business, it's best if you don't have any 'quit' in you." - 86400spd"Good: Mom and dad can both work full time and still cook a healthy and good dinner for the fam every night." - Verbull710"I was born in ‘79 (mom 1955 and dad 1949 so both boomers). The best thing I learned from then was to not make excuses and be independent. They were not neglectful but they weren’t helicopter parents and let me suffer the consequences of my actions when I messed up." - Creative-Tomatillo"A couple come to mind: Rely on yourself. Don’t expect anyone else to figure things out for you. And balanced meals, how to garden." - mel060 A Xennial son spends time with his Baby Boomer parent.Photo credit: Canva"Boomer parents taught me about cool hippie era counter culture stuff and gave me a leg up on having music, literature, and film nerd cred." - User Unknown"I learned how to budget, survive on a poverty level income, and persevere no matter what is thrown at me. I was taught to fix things rather than replace when possible." - Economy_Dog5080"Learning to suck things up and move on rather than dwelling on them. I think they probably took it farther than they should with that, but as I see gen Z being kind of ruled by their trauma (and don't get me wrong, I love gen z), I'm glad I learned to just deal with stuff and press on when I need to. That and not micromanaging my kid- boomers were pretty hands off parents and while it wasn't perfect, I do think it's much better than the helicopter parenting of today." - Myrtle_Snow_"My parents very much taught me how to do things for myself. I knew how to fix the minor things on my car, basic plumbing, electric, obviously I could mow a lawn and grow some plants. They taught me to cook more than just the bare bones, but tasty stuff. I could do laundry the right way. And my mom actually took time to teach me how to learn. Back in the day you needed to know how to use encyclopedias and librarians. She told me I needed to know how to ask the right questions to learn what was necessary. I think they did a great job with these." - esignIntelligent456 A Xennial son goofs around with his Baby Boomer dad.Photo credit: Canva"My parents are both 1956, def Boomers. They are pretty frugal and taught me to never be wasteful, which actually they got from their parents and passed down. My mom was a huge fan of garage sales, shopping for our clothes and toys and stuff and then having sales and selling the same stuff after we were done with it. Then in order to get the most money when reselling we had to take care of the stuff so we could sell it so that taught us to take care of everything we had. I hated it then and found it embarrassing, especially when we went into someone’s garage and it was like a kid from my school sitting there. But now I freaking love going to find treasures. Haha. They also taught me to save money. When I was a kid I hated getting 'money for college' for Christmas and birthdays but when they were able to pay all of the tuition for me without any loans I knew I wanted to do the same for my kids." - JumboThornton"Life is hard, don’t give up. My pops was pretty sick, had a stroke, seizures, and was an amputee. He lived way longer than he should have apparently and he refused to let that shit define him. My mom showed me that when you really love someone, nothing gets in the way. My dad got sick like 2 years after they married and they loved each other until the day he died. So, she showed me how strong love can be. She also told me to punch my bully in the nose as hard as I can, that way he will tear up and it will definitely leave him hurting lol." - Intelligent-Invite79"Life is not fair. My dad preached that to me and it may be painful, but true. You dint get 'participation trophies' in life!" - SafetyNo6700"How to spend money responsibly. I don’t actually need everything." - Demon_Eater12345"My parents were huge on respect. They taught me to respect others and think before I speak. It even went so far as to consider how others might take what I say based on their perspective, religion, experience, etc. Now, 45 years later, I need to teach them the same lessons they taught me." - truthcopy