When do parents start becoming uncool?

indiepanda

CAZBEAR wrote: »

oh bless you!! I had nhs specs too...and i was chubby!! Also moved schools 3 times in 2 years so my confidence was really low. My parents insisted i wore big clumpy black shoes that 'would last' but i think the briefcase is awful..:eek: I always let my daughter have bags and stuff she wants within reason but make her save up or use birthday/xmas money if it's pricey so she values it:)
It's cruel to make them stand out too much when they want to fit in!!

I feel your pain - at primary school we were always made to have "sensible" clarks shoes - and in those days clarks were deeply unfashionable. Got a bit more freedom at secondary school but the uniform was fairly strict anyway.

I was convinced I was chubby as my mum used to tell me I had inherited her thunder thighs - but given at 17 I had a 23 inch waist and used to buy size 9 jeans (weirdly we had a falmers factory in our town that offered size 9/11/13 as well as 8/10/12 etc) I can't really have been - would kill to be that chubby now!

I was also the only girl in my youth club not allowed stilletos for the youth club disco (this was Essex in the 80s...). Mind you given a) my ability to sprain my ankle when wearing heels now and b) how many of them spent a lot of the evening in the toilets with their shoes off rubbing their feet, maybe that wasn't so much of a cruelty on my parents part.

I also wasn't allowed to have pierced ears till I was 16 - in the end I was in my 30s when I got them done - from 16-22 I was working in cafes where jewellery was banned and the desire to rush out and do it had reduced by the time I could do it.

Oh, and I can remember getting in trouble with my dad for coming home smelling of alcohol from a party when I was 16 - it was because someone had open a can of lager they had been shaking as they walked past and it sprayed my shirt - I would have hated the taste of lager at that age. I was actully one of the few people at the party who was sober. After that I felt I might as well break the rules if I was going to get in trouble even when I kept them!

In between all this and being academically strong, rubbish at sport and rather shy, my school years weren't much fun. My mum even noticed i used to walk with a pronounced stoop as I used to slope around trying to avoid being noticed.

I can't imagine why it was I didn't feel at all homesick when I went to university...

In fact, I remember I got to the halls of residence, unpacked and saw my parents off on their journey home before anyone else had even arrived in my house on campus!

esmy

Goldiegirl wrote: »

When my dad went out, his clothing of choice was a mac and a beret

My Dad was clearly leading a double life!! I feel your pain............

Detroit

I don't know whether it's my imagination, or even self delusion, because Im a parent of teens, but I (like to) think parents are generally a lot cooler these days.
It's common to see mothers and daughters shopping together like friends, and even going out on the town together.
I think parents are a lot more in touch with what goes on, thanks to the internet and social media, and generally seem to have more in common with their kids, and enjoy each other's company more than my generation ever did with their parents.
I found my parents excruciating from the age of about 11, and this lasted until I was about 20. The worst thing was my mom's habit of coming to find me if she had something she thought was 'urgent' to tell me. She turned up at lessons, friends houses and even (horrors!) at a nightclub.
How I wish there'd been mobiles back then!

Lucyxx

This thread is brilliant!

I can't remember really thinking my parents were uncool, but my dad always used to embarrass me if he walked me to Primary school and we saw the class naughty boy who lived on our road who was typically walking in the opposite direction to the school, or super slow to get there and he would always say "Hello Peter" and I would honestly die a little inside thinking people walking/driving past would think we were friends with the naughty boy! He actually ended up in prison for drug dealing amongst other things. You could tell he was a wrong'un right from Primary school!

CAZBEAR

Detroit wrote: »

I don't know whether it's my imagination, or even self delusion, because Im a parent of teens, but I (like to) think parents are generally a lot cooler these days.
It's common to see mothers and daughters shopping together like friends, and even going out on the town together.
I think parents are a lot more in touch with what goes on, thanks to the internet and social media, and generally seem to have more in common with their kids, and enjoy each other's company more than my generation ever did with their parents.

Yes i think that's maybe true....even tho the gap is probably bigger in terms of age than previously. Perhaps it's because this generation had more choices about when/if to have kids ?? and how many!! So they have more time and patience for them and maybe money too ..I do remember feeling that we kids were more of a burden to our parents than a blessing!!

marleyboy

When do parents start becoming uncool?

As soon as they try being cool. I think everyone remembers how embarrassing their parents were in thinking they could break dance.

jrtfan

My parents moved me to a new school when I was 8 and mum not only had bought me a pair of sensible, black, flat-as-a-pancake lace-up shoes (which looked like a pair of men's shoes), she'd also knitted me a school skirt and I had no option but to wear it. My parents were definitely uncool in my eyes before I left primary school.

My son, on the other hand, did go through the summer holidays at age 10 insisting that he walked on the pavement on the opposite side of the road to me, in case we happened to come across any of his 'friends' on our travels, but a few years on from there he's quite happy to walk with me chatting and laughing, and couldn't give a fig what anyone else thinks of him!

Ancel

I guess I realized it in about the same age as you did.
It happened when my father took me shopping. He was so irritating, telling me what to buy and what I should try on. I even bought something that did not really like because he said that this is not something I was going to wear.

Detroit

Sorry CAZBEAR, I don't know how to quote your post, but think you make an excellent point.
I, my friends, and, from what I read, the people who post here, take a very different approach to parenting than our parents tended to, which I think makes us 'cooler'.
When I was a child, the world belonged to the adults, and their views and wishes were paramount.
I never remember being asked to input on things effecting the family, I was just told what was happening; whereas in my household the kids have been encouraged to (age appropriately) contribute to family decisions such as where we live, where we go on holiday etc from a very early age.
I think this fosters a better relationship, with the parent perceived as cooler; as kids feel they listen to and understand them, rather than being out of touch dictators out to ruin their lives!
Parents also include their children much more in their own social activities, and get involved in their child's interests, taking them out, rather than sending them out, and I think this helps close the generation gap.