I'm curious to know how many of you that have kids expose them to Nostalgic media you grew up with like movies, sitcoms, cartoons, music, etc and what has been their response?

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Lirpa_the_Lurker@reddit

I feel like this is the main reason we got a backyard projector. We’ve watched all of our favorite oldies.

We also have a cabin weekend at the end of each summer and half of that is dipping into the old VHS collection they have.

Even if a movie is awful or cringy… we always have a great time and it leads us into the next movie that we need to watch.

Music and books have also always just been whatever we’re in to which is all over the place as well. He’s just as likely as we are to request a play list from the 90s or early 00s or reference a book we read in high school.

Our son is 20 and it’s cool that he has this eclectic catalog of pop culture and that we get to influence each other’s taste.

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ShivvyMcFly@reddit

My son loves Monday Night Wars era wrestling

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Live4Night@reddit

My fondest memories growing up was watching I Love Lucy and Gilligan’s Island with my Grandma. It’s a big reason they are some of my all time favorite shows.

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Kiethblacklion@reddit

Ever since my oldest son was born, I've been showing old cartoons, tv shows and movies. Admittedly though, my wife and I have been a bit more picky of what we show him than my parents were. For example, I was 5 when I first watched Smokey and the Bandit (and learned how to cuss properly). I waited for our son to be closer to 8 yrs old before I showed him. He is 12 now so we're expanding his film options. He loves Spaceballs, Ace Ventura and the original Jurassic Park. I recently got him to watch Jaws (thanks to a scene in JW: Rebirth that was an homage to Jaws). He isn't big on intense action movies, but we're getting there. He does love the G1 Transformers and Beast Wars (he has quite a collection of the newer, updated versions).

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

My kids are exposed to all the classics. But I have a feeling one day their generation will lash out that they have nothing as "theirs." Does brainrot even count? They know they got offered a real raw bargain culturally.

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HealthAccording9957@reddit

One of my fondest memories as a teenager was listening to classic rock in the car with my dad and him telling me about the bands. I try to do that with my daughters and get little response. Maybe they are still too young?

However, the oldest did ask me about boy bands from when I was her age, and I showered her Step by Step by New Kids on the Block. Her response as she handed back the phone was “That was… interesting, I guess. “ 🙄

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Character-Solution-7@reddit

Your kid asked about music from our era and you chose NKOTB?!? 🤪 I mean, of all the music from that time, you could have chose so many much better artists.

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MadameCassie@reddit

They asked her about boy bands

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HealthAccording9957@reddit

In my defense, NKOTB had just put out a sleep story on Calm and she wanted to know why my sister and I were cackling about it

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nikki815@reddit

I do feel like headphones, for better or worse, has changed the amount of music that younger generations are exposed to. Growing up, my parents were always playing music so those sounds have grown into my soul. Whereas today, we listen to it through headphones or kids have the option to tune it out with their headphones.

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gnomequeen2020@reddit

I think you're spot on. My mom used to have speakers throughout most of the first floor, and she frequently played her vinyl collection (rock and folk from the 50s, 60s, and 70s). It definitely led me to appreciate those classics later, and it made me associate so many artists with her.

Nowadays, I doubt my family would even know what kind of music I like. The only thing I play through a speaker is Christmas music. Everything else is with earbuds.

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gnomequeen2020@reddit

Funny, my parents responded the same way when I was absolutely in love with NKOTB back in the day lol.

As I'm no longer a hormone-addled 10 y.o., yeah, they're pretty cringe.

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sweetnsalty24@reddit

I cringe when I go back and listen to step by step

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Numerous_Team_2998@reddit

I have a soft spot for Cat Stevens who was the staple of my father's car cassette player!

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Seven22am@reddit

Just hummed along to Wide World on the radio. Also, do you watch Bob’s Burgers? There’s a family with a cat named Stevens.

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Present_Type6881@reddit

So far, my six year old loves the "Disney Afternoon" I used to watch after school every day: Gummi Bears, Duck Tales, Darkwing Duck, etc. They're all on Disney+. She's a little young to fully appreciate Gargoyles, but it's neat that she likes the other ones.

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Kazarak_Starflower@reddit

I think every generation revels in its own nostalgia. My parents desperately tried to instill in me a love and appreciation for music from the 50s and 60s (and they succeeded), as well as older musicals or tv shows like Bewitched (loved it), Leave It To Beaver (hated it), Happy Days (loved/hated it), etc. I do the same now as a parent, while also trying to filter in a bit of what my parents influenced me with as well. I think “success” can sometimes depend on how many kids you have (I was an only and I have an only) and where you live.

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FalseEvidence8701@reddit

I showed Animaniacs to my niece, she didn't get why it was so cool. Maybe some day.

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viridiansoul@reddit

My son (20 yo) likes a lot of the same things as I do. Especially music. And whenever I see a good older movie on roku, I always tell him so he can watch it.

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Clevergirlphysicist@reddit

My kid loves the roadrunner/coyote cartoons, the old Mario brothers cartoons from the 80s, Garfield and friends, Hokus pokus

Things that my kid didn’t like that I did like: the worst witch (Halloween movie), Disneys Gummi Bears cartoon, fraggle rock, a Christmas story

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StrongAsMeat@reddit

My 20 yo daughter played 'Take on me' by A-Ha a while ago, it totally floored me and made me so happy

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1732PepperCo@reddit

I don’t have kids but a good friend of mine his kid has no uncles so I like to sort of fill that roll to a degree. I also collect vhs movies. I had a spare vcr and a few duplicates tapes so last Christmas I asked my friend if I could gift his 7yo son the vcr and some tapes. He thought it was cool and agreed. We knew the kid wasn’t going to be super duper over the moon thrilled about the vcr but we hoped that childhood curiosity would win out and it did. My friend hooked up the vcr to their rec room tv, showed him how it works and said “here you go watch them if you want to” and within a few days he was all in and was watching all the tapes.

I still get him cool movies if I’m out thrifting.

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Worried_Bullfrog_937@reddit

I've tried. He doesn't like anything I show him. He only likes things he discovered himself on the YouTube Kids app.

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Discobastard@reddit

Absolutely.

Movies with my eldest is great.

Also have a bank of CRT TVs and a load of retro machines in the games room :)

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HeatherNo1@reddit

My kids love all the old stuff, and we always point out the connections. They (5 and 10) watched Flight of the Navigator this weekend and loved it, especially when I pointed out the Twisted Sister reference and how it ties to Pee Wee who voices the spaceship.

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Clear_Tangerine5110@reddit

So I have a son and he has autism, and in his case, emotional regulation is a bit of a challenge sometimes. One day we thought it would be fun to sit down and watch the movie “Big” with Tom Hanks. Near the beginning after he turns into an adult there is a scene where he tries to go to the house and talk to his mom, but she doesn’t recognize him because he’s a grown adult and looks nothing like her son, so she ends up chasing him out of the house with a knife in a panic. That’s all it took for my son to check out. He thought that was a little too intense. Since then, we have been making sure to rewatch some of those old movies to make sure there’s not something that could potentially distress him.

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StabbyMcStabsauce@reddit

My kids get all the old Simpsons references and I'm so proud!

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Aggressive_Power_471@reddit

I have an 11 and a 5 year old. My 11 year old is more into the older music I expose her to, while my 5 year old is more into the older cartoon and movies. both enjoy vintage video games (we still have gameboy color that works with some games, as well as other older systems).

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Gloomy-Albatross-843@reddit

I immersed my children in it. It's what I wanted to listen to and watch, so they also got to listen and watch.

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humanoidtyphoon88@reddit

My 10 yr old is obsessed with Mrs. Doubtfire. I'm so proud 🥲

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Kemosaby_Kdaffi@reddit

I don’t have kids of my own, but 2 years ago my sister suggested coming over on Sundays to watch Star Wars with her kids as a bonding experience. They were foster kids and she was moving towards adoption.

After Star Wars, we moved on to other movies from my childhood like Spaceballs, Goonies, ET, and Uncle Buck. They’ve liked almost everything. I think they enjoy the pizza and the time with their “Funcle” (Fun Uncle) too. I try to engage with them and take an interest in them

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Shaydee_plantz@reddit

Oh, for sure! My 7yr old loves Family Matters. We watch AFV regularly. They thought PeeWee’s playhouse was too weird.

They liked The Sandlot and The Wizard (they still quote ‘Califooooorniaaa’). We showed them The Goonies and they said they liked it but never requested it again.

There is still so much to show them. I have two boys though and they don’t exactly like Disney Princess movies that I loved as a kid.

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BayouLuLu@reddit

My sister tried showing PeeWee’s Christmas special to my niece when she was 9. She kept saying “This is weird.” Finally she got up and left. She loved Ghostbusters. I’m not sure what all else she’s watched for movies. Recently she was introduced to Hey Dude and liked it.

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Shaydee_plantz@reddit

Oh yeah! My kids also loved Ghostbusters and Beetljuice! I have got to get them to watch Hey Dude and Salute Your Shorts! Where do you stream them?

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BayouLuLu@reddit

I think she watches on Paramount+.

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MissMushroomBerry@reddit

My kid (9) most recent favorite movie is Back to the Future, and even requested a puffy vest which he wears on special occasions 😂

He’s also loved Flight of the Navigator, Honey I shrunk the Kids, and LOVES retro video games like Metroid, the original Zelda, 1943, Street Fighter and its music, to which he listens to frequently.

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xHandelx@reddit

Mine love Labyrinth, Teen Witch and Neverending Story and some other 80s classics. I never pushed my stuff down their throat and let them find their own entertainment. They both have great taste in music without my interference.

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strongcoffee2go@reddit

My daughter loved The Last Unicorn as a kid and now as a teen she still considers "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" one of her comfort shows. Mixed reviews with other media. But when I was a kid, I watched Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, Three's Company, The Monkees, I Love Lucy, etc. My parents didn't introducee to them, they were on tv as reruns. But I think kids will always find.some interesting things in the past if you give them access.

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DrewBaron80@reddit

We watch movies from the 80s/90s on a regular basis. My 10 year old loves them cause they're great movies (Goonies, Gremlins, Indiana Jones, etc.), but also because it's funny to see what passed for PG back in the day.

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COV3RTSM@reddit

Your kids must have loved watching that scene with Ray with their parents. 🤪

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DrewBaron80@reddit

Funny you bring that up. We’ve been watching the entire run of The Wonder Years with our 10 year old. We’re in the middle of season 5 and just had the episode where Paul loses his virginity. It was a little uncomfortable, but we’re trying to be open about that kind of stuff so when he’s a teenager he’s more comfortable talking to us than we were with our parents.

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Mission_Spray@reddit

We watch “I Love Lucy” on the free streaming channel that comes with our smart TV. It’s what I watched as a kid in the 90s, even though it was already 40+ years old at that time. Other than the constant smoking, it aged well.

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spookyhellkitten@reddit

I have shared some things with my daughter, more stuff from the 90s than the 80s though - my childhood was shit so sharing teen memories is more my wheelhouse. Except music. We introduced her to music from across the eras.

My mom was 17 when she got pregnant with me. So we grew up together. I know all the hits of the 80s and she introduced me to the 70s hits as well.

She married my step-dad when I was around 9. He was 16 years older than her. He came from a musical family. They introduced me to jazz legends and all things guitar. Max also introduced me to Chhech & Chong, Monty Python, Faulty Towers, and The Blues Brothers. I, in turn, introduced the kid to all of that.

The kid is 25 now and works at a dive/biker bar. All the old dudes love that she knows their old man movie references and can sing the songs they put on the jukebox.

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roonilwonwonweasly@reddit

I do but my child has made it his mission in life to hate everything I love so it's completely useless. I keep trying though!

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seminarysmooth@reddit

I have a 12 year old niece who is only interested in whatever her step sister is doing. My nephew has the attention span of a gold fish addicted to YouTube shorts.

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Farty_mcSmarty@reddit

We watched harry and the Henderson and Beetlejuice together. It was awesome

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theatredork@reddit

Harry and the Hendersons was like the first live action movie my kid sat through. He was 3 and he loved it.

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Parabolic_Reflector@reddit

Harry has to be a driving force behind Xennial appreciation of Bigfoot.

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pow206@reddit

Our 6&9 yr olds loved Harry! We watched it at Seabrook after spending some time in the woods out there.

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Ash12783@reddit

I loooved HatH when i was a kid!

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theatredork@reddit

My four year old loves stuff from the 80s (my husband is full blooded 1975 Gen X). We realized one day that the only one of his favorite musicians that was still alive was…. Elton John (I’m Still Standing is the video he loves). Michael Jackson, Prince…. Gone but not forgotten. At all.

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Bnmko_007@reddit

My son is a few years away from dating so he’ll be watching the movie Kids when that time comes, as a warning

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peekaboooobakeep@reddit

If my 11 can't quote Monty Python and Spaceballs, what are we even doing here?

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sh_sh_sharon@reddit

My 6 year old does the whole spam routine.

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peekaboooobakeep@reddit

Hehehehe

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bellydncr4@reddit

Yes because I need my kids to know movies aren't just Marvel sequels

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crapatthethriftstore@reddit

One kid has absolutely embraced “old tech”. She has a record player, a tape player, uses her dad’s Walkman lol. We watch old VHS movies at home often. Other kid isn’t as into it but he knows the old movies at least!

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BeardedK@reddit

Pretty sure my 15 year old is a xennial resurrected. She’s into 80’s and 90’s culture and it’s awesome! She loves “old” movies, music, and clothing styles. She’s legitimately bummed she wasn’t able to live through the times. Our 21 year old on the other hand, couldn’t care less about any of it.

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msondo@reddit

I feel like Xennials and millenials are extremely nostalgic and therefore maybe are showing their kids more of the media they loved? This isn't something I really feel like my parents did with me and maybe didn't happen with older Gen Xers and their kids either.

Kids today have access to over a century of media at their fingertips. They can queue up virtually any song, movie, or tv show instantly. This definitely wasn't possible when we were growing up, otherwise our parents would have probably inundated us with their nostalgia.

Many kids have told me that they don't really care as much when something is from, just as long as it is good. They obviously get a lot of inspiration from us but I think it's amazing that they are growing up in a time where there are so few barriers of access to content and information.

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ArthurBea@reddit

I do! But self-consciously. Our own parents inundated us with their nostalgia, and some was good (rock n roll) but some wasn’t (black and white western soap operas).

I don’t want my kids to be wary of nostalgia. I think it’s something that prevents progress, and that puts rose-colored goggles on the past. I don’t want them pining for some past utopia that never existed (and be part of an insane political movement that has the same tunnel vision).

That said, I see it more cultural. Educational. Like reading the classics in high school. Movies, tv shows.

But I want them to be part of their own current culture. I want them caught up in their own zeitgeist. I want them to share identity with their fellow Gen Alpha, the way I share identity with Xennials. I don’t want to supplant their generational memories with my own.

But there is room enough for both! It takes some time management.

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Sorry_Challenge_4179@reddit

I was going to show my kids American tail and secret of NIMH but why should they have our nightmares?

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saltnshadow@reddit

My 14 year-old's favorite music is Weezer, especially the Blue album, especially "Buddy Holly." I tool her 2 years ago to the 30th anniversary tour, and it was amazing, she and I singing along.

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Nervous-Shark@reddit

I love this! My 10 year old's current favorite band is Weezer - his birthday was last week and we got him tickets to their concert w/The Shins and Silversun Pickups and a Weezer t-shirt. He's so excited :)

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saltnshadow@reddit

Haha, she's DYING to go to that one, but I think I might hold out for the Pinkerton anniversary tour. I'm not sure yet, but her birthday is in 3 weeks.

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Nervous-Shark@reddit

Pinkerton anniversary tour would be amazing!!

My son had a karaoke party this year and he kicked it off with "In the Garage". He's a 90's kid through and through.

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saltnshadow@reddit

Love that! These kids know what's up!

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SilentSerel@reddit

I lucked out with mine. He loves just about anything related to the 90s and early 00s.

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HistoricalChicken691@reddit

I just showed my 16 year old Salad Fingers. He was delighted.

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Any_Ring_3818@reddit

I always make my 10 year old listen to my music in the car. We went on a cruise last year that had Back to the Future as the Broadway show, and they had a BTTF channel in the room that played all the movies on a loop. He was ambivalent towards it. We watched the TV version of The Big Lebowski the other day cause he asked to see the movie I kept quoting. He found Full House on his own after the reboot. Goonies is still on the DVR. I've tried to watch Indiana Jones, but my wife says they're too intense for him. My wife spent a lot of time in the car with him and now he likes modern country. I played Garth Brooks for him, but he said, "I prefer Shaboozey".

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Primary-Strawberry-5@reddit

The Last Unicorn is my kid’s favorite movie, along with Kill Bill. This is my fault.

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DarwinGoneWild@reddit

Not yet but I plan to. From what I’ve heard it’s very hit or miss. Some kids really take to “retro” stuff and others won’t watch or play anything from “the 1900s”. Hopefully my kid turns out to be the former!

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LarryGoldwater@reddit

Worse.

I have them watch Leave It To Beaver

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Ginger630@reddit

My kids listen to 80’s and 90’s music. We have watched movies and TV shows from my childhood. They’ve enjoyed it.

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nochickflickmoments@reddit

I have them watch all the movies I grew up with. One is 11 and thinks Beetlejuice was boring! We also play the boardgames of my youth. They love games and we also mix it up with digital games. My 29 year old Likes listening to Queen and the 11 year old is obsessed with Weird Al.

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mmoonbelly@reddit

Let my kids watch 80 days around the world ( cartoon version) and the Cities of Gold when they were 6-7 years old (sorry). They loved them.

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mmoonbelly@reddit

They weren’t so keen on Dogtanian (might have been because of the French accents in the English version and they’re French)

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R0botDreamz@reddit

We've got a ten year old girl and so far we've watched:

The Princess Bride

Jurassic Park

The Sandlot

Honey I Shrunk the Kids

Umm.. probably a bunch I am missing plus the entire Disney catalog (thanks Disney+ !!!). She loved everything.

This Halloween I think I'll introduce her to Gremlins. Jurassic Park is the scariest we've gone so far.

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Listening_Stranger82@reddit

My kids are in their 20s but were absolutely raised on my media.

I did a whole history summer learning project based on their love of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure when they were little.

Just yesterday I saw a play with my 20yo daughter and 21 yr old son.

The 20yo daughter was swooning that the lead actress looked like "brown eyed Cher Horowitz" and for the ride home my son put on his playlist and my mom was like "why does this sound exactly like carpooling you to school?"

It was all Pearl Jam, Metallica, Soundgarden.

My oldest, the 23yo, ran a film club in college to introduce her peers to "classics" like The Matrix, Fight Club, The Color Purple, Ferngully, PCU, etc

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davwad2@reddit

The kids have enjoyed Back to the Future maybe the most among the 80s movies I've shown them. One highlight was seeing E.T. for the first time in a theater when the movie was on it's 40th anniversary release. I was overwhelmed with emotion by the end.

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HicJacetMelilla@reddit

All of it. But what’s kind of funny is that I don’t care necessarily about exposing them to what was popular during my kid heyday. We watch way more things that were already old when I was a kid. 60s Disney films, Andy Griffith, the Flintstones, Wacky Races, Bewitched, original Scooby Doo. I don’t want to sound stodgy but for my kids who are early elem and younger, older stuff is more wholesome. I’m excited to show them Jurassic Park and Ferris Bueller and the Goonies and all that once they’re a bit older. And then Dirty Dancing and so on.

I listen to music from every decade going back to the 1920s so my kids are getting a ton of exposure that way. Just last night I danced with my daughter to Show Me Love by Robyn. My toddler and I dance to Doris Day in the kitchen. The other day I had Mazzy Star Fade into You playing and my 8yo son came in and said “Nice song” and walked out haha.

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creepygurl83@reddit

My kids really loved older Japanese cartoons for children. Hayao Miyazaki made a very cute show for small children called Panda! Go! Panda!

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CheesyRomantic@reddit

My first child never seemed/seems interested.
My second seems to enjoy some of them.

I am referencing movies, cartoons, children shows, regular TV shows and some music.

They are 2.5 years apart.

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Nitetigrezz@reddit

Our 6yo absolutely loves Motown XD She also enjoys a lot of the music we grew up with in the 90s. She finds some of the kids shows entertaining, but isn't that big of a fan of the old sitcoms. She recently enjoyed some Tiny Toons shorts we found on YouTube. It's been pretty fun to see what hits and what misses :)

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GoodMourning81@reddit

Yes, definitely. Music now sucks. My son (10) loves a lot of the old movies too.

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ajk244@reddit

Fortnite is exposing my kids to tons of old media, way more than I ever have.

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icroak@reddit

He’s not really aware of it being “nostalgic” media despite it being that for us. I’ve always tried to expose him to everything from every era. He loves the Sandlot because he plays and loves baseball. It’s not really part of the conversation that it’s an older movie.

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Zerostar39@reddit

My brother got my nephew into all the old weird al music from the 80s and 90s.

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poindxtrwv@reddit

We have almost 6 and 8 year olds and we do sit them through "the classics" once in a while. They loved Princess Bride and enjoyed The Goonies (unfortunately I forgot that Goonies opens with a guy hanging in a jail cell). They were creeped out by the wall of goblins at the beginning of Labyrinth. They enjoyed ET. I sat them through Star Wars once. The younger one really liked it but they both liked C3PO and R2D2. So, we watched Short Circuit with them and they loved it.

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ConnectKale@reddit

Large Marge was my first jump scare memory. I was probably 4 or 5 at my Grandad’s house. After an evening of games and cocktails we all settled in for PeeWee’s big adventure.
I was a huge fan of PeeWee Herman’s Playhouse.

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CaryGrantsChin@reddit

Large Marge was my first jump scare memory

I (no joke) think this is a core event that defines Xennials.

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ConnectKale@reddit

I never wanted to get in the Jump seat of a random 18-wheeler. Lol.

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CTMechE@reddit

That Large Marge moment/face creeped me out for years!

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bh4th@reddit

I used to wonder whether the extreme quotability of The Princess Bride was a matter of having seen it at a certain age at a certain time when it was of the cultural moment. Now that 14F and 10M have seen it, I’m pleased to report that it’s just an insanely quotable movie.

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poindxtrwv@reddit

Well, that's just... INCONCEIVABLE!

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bh4th@reddit

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

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ouijahead@reddit

I remember I was kinda watching labyrinth just for myself. My child was not verbal at 2 years old. She was just sitting on my lap. I don’t know if you remember, the first time they show the wall of goblins, it is almost for less than a second. Just a quick flash, you could miss it if you blinked. You know you just saw something dark and fucked up, but you’re not sure. I remember that flash happened, and I could feel her anxiety. She kinda cringed up and then ran away.

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Sensitive_Pianist777@reddit

I liked Adventures in Babysitting. Showed it to my girls at the time 11 and 9.

It was kind of shocking to see a 16 year old hooker, 14 year old horn dogs hitting up their 16 year old babysitter with a nudie mag that they think is her. I don't recall it being anything like that. But it was so normal then so it didn't stick out in my memory.

Showed them some Nightmare on Elm Street, Terminator 2 (even 1 was much more frightening back then). And of course some one school WWF (WM 3 and around that time to WM7).

Tried showing them old cartoons and they got bored of it fast.

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ouijahead@reddit

Those were my only years I was into wrestling. Mostly started around wrestle mania 5. The feud between hogan and savage just got me all riled up. Hogan was just larger than life. I hate that he turned out to be someone I would not look up to.

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Sensitive_Pianist777@reddit

Man for a 1980 born, that's late! I'm 79 and has a few friends from 80 and even 81 and were already heavy into it for WM3. Along with all the cartoons at the time.

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poindxtrwv@reddit

My wife and I recently went to Chicago and from Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean") you can see the building from the movie, so we had to watch it when we got home.

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Hips-Often-Lie@reddit

My daughters love Thunder Cats, Blink 182, Green Day, and older Disney, among many others I can’t think of atm.

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goddam_kale@reddit

One of my toddlers favorite songs right now is Ninja Rap by Vanilla Ice from TMNT2. Haven’t watched a lot of older movies yet.

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animefemme@reddit

We have a 16 and an 18 year old, and they ask why movies aren't like that anymore. Makes me feel sad for them, honestly.

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PM_Me_Ur_PoopKnives@reddit

Once a week I sit my family down and we watch the complete match of Mankind vs the Undertaker’s Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998.

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silentlyshe@reddit

My 6 and 4 year old aren’t super into it yet, but we keep trying. They liked the ‘90s Garfield and some Looney Tunes.

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arcanix1981@reddit

My 26 year old watches movies and listens to music that I did in my high school years. He says, and I quote, “New shit is trash. Give me Tool, Aliens, and Voltron.”

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ProfessorOfLies@reddit

I grew up with bonanza, Star Trek the original series, gun smoke, abbot and costello, the Marx brothers, etc. I feel its my right and duty to make sure my kids watch transformer (86), the three amigos, big trouble in little china, the Terminator, aliens, robocop etc. hell we grew up in a golden age

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TrustAffectionate966@reddit

It was the butt of jokes back then to reminisce and it is the butt of jokes now. A lot of that stuff is old and hokey from a young person’s perspective. They never grew up with it, it’s not new, and there may be a newer replacement for it.

It reminds me of how Kelly and Bud would see their parents and their neighbors in Married… With Children. “He’s old and confused.”

gif

🧉🦄

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AppropriateAmoeba406@reddit

The Last Unicorn is my comfort movie. My kids have seen it dozens of times.

They’ve been exposed to many of the movies and songs I loved.

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PhiloLibrarian@reddit

Yes we call that “required family viewing” in our house 😆

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SteveEcks@reddit

Raise 'em right

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SteveEcks@reddit

My kids love Weezer. That's all my fault.

Willy Wonka, Wizard of Oz, Neverending Story, and Hook are all often-watched. My daughter is only 4, so we've been sticking to a lot of Disney (new and old) and Pixar (and others).

My son just turned 8 and I have a full on list of what we're watching together this summer, starting with Jurassic Park.

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SteveEcks@reddit

Almost forgot about video games.

Someone gifted us and Nintendo Wii about a year ago and my son is obsessed with Mario. We play Mario All-Stars a lot. He likes doing the battle in Mario 3.

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Plumeria9798@reddit

I know this is likely to change when they’re teens but my kids, 9 and 7, have been exposed to so much Xennial stuff since they were born (they only watched old school Sesame Street on my watch!) and they absolutely love our media and music. I’d say both of them love 80s music more than any other decade. They are huge into Full House right now but have previously enjoyed other stuff we loved, like Care Bears, Gummi Bears, basically any Bear cartoon from the 80s, haha. Their dad got them into the Power Rangers too.

Of course they’ve also found more modern stuff they’ve liked that was after our time like Phineas and Ferb but they definitely have that Xennial influence going for them. I hope it’s some of the stuff they’ve look back on fondly from childhood like I do with my parent’s music and pop culture (yes, I was one of those Xennial kids also obsessed with the 60s.)

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Enygma0710@reddit

Mixed results, Movies are 50/50, some they like some they don’t, but my 10 yo loves the Predator movie, edited of course lol but didn’t like the Goonies

Cartoons, they like the old school Disney afternoon series and BTAs & wull watch Star Trek TNG with me.

Music they are all for it, my 10yo is starting to develop his own taste but will request DMX, ATCQ, Beastie Boys. My 3yo is stuck on “Let’s Dance” David Bowie and wants to sing to MJ & Janet Jackson

Then again my parents shared a lot of their music, movies, tv shows growing up so for me it’s less nostalgia but family tradition.

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atmkcmo@reddit

My 6 year old gave Karate Kid and standing ovation when it was done- no lie. My 12 year old daughter loved it too. They rewatched it many times. They loved back to future and Indiana jones series too. Music not so much although Baby got back and Pump Up the Jam are well known songs in my home.

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SixAlarmFire@reddit

I have been with my partner for 6 years and his kids are 19 and 21 and I am really tight with the 19 year old. I want them to be well rounded and know their weird movies in case they ever make friends with snobs and need to hold their own.

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PishPosh-01@reddit

For sure, Planes Trains and Automobiles and National Lampoons Christmas Vacation are holiday Classics-along with Home Alone. We played the soft soothing tones of AC/DC quietly for our daughter while she snoozed in her Mama-Roo. She’s 10 now and likes a lot of 80s/90s music/media. She really likes watching “Home Improvement”. I introduced her to “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” this past weekend. She loved “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Signs”.

My parents shared some of their favorite media with me when I was younger, too. I was born in 83, and in 6th grade when I got really into Star Wars after watching a weekend marathon with my mom. ROTJ came out in 83, and I had a vague recollection of watching it when I was really little, but I didn’t remember the plot of the trilogy. I remember watching old reruns of The Munsters, Addam’s Family, and (my favorite) Get Smart. When I was a teen, I hated the Boy Bands and was less into Pop and more into 60s-70s music. Of course, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Aerosmith, but also The Mama’s and The Papa’s, Steppenwolf, The Grassroots, Jethro Tull (who I saw in concert-twice).

Actual conversation while driving listening to the radio: Daughter:“Mom, is this Matchbox 20?” Me:“Yes, it is-why? Do you like it?” Daughter:“Yeah, I love this song!” Me:“Me too, I’ll turn it up!”

It’s fun sharing things you grew up with, with your kiddos. I love seeing them get as much enjoyment out of things as I did.

We live near this family-owned amusement park that’s celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The park has really become this generational experience. My grandparents went there, my parents went there, I loved the park. My husband had the same experiences with his parents and grandparents, and we take our daughter there. We’ve all ridden the same rides have made such great memories in the same place. There’s something really special about that!

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Clumsy_Ninja2@reddit

My 24 year old grew up on 90’s alternative and movies like Labyrinth 😂. She’s far cooler for it

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kermitcooper@reddit

The kids stuff they don’t care much for. The PG and PG13 stuff they live as they are getting older.

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Wak3upHicks@reddit

I'm taking my 28 year old to see GWAR tonight

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Brilliant_Addendum56@reddit

Ha, my 16 year old said she hadn't watched Billy Madison because she doesn't like "Old people" movies.

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Blackbird136@reddit

I’m not a parent, but along a similar line I find myself choosing “our parents’ music” a lot these days. Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, Steely Dan. Stuff I was exposed to not by choice (!) in the 80s/90s.

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Elevenyearstoomany@reddit

My kids love The Sandlot and Full House. My oldest liked the original My Little Ponies for awhile. Home Alone is always a hit.

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Witty-Management6094@reddit

My husband is better about this than I am. Mainly because I need things to be quiet lol. Our tween is into Michael Jackson and Brandy.

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Cool-Word2409@reddit

I just got my 2yr old into Ringo-narrated Thomas the Tank Engine. He adores it, and I'm enjoying watching it with him as I watched it myself as a wee one.

He also watches a lot of classic Sesame Street which I, being British, never saw as a kid. His favourite Sesame St song was recorded in 1974: "What's the Name of that Song?" (I must say, I am enjoying the older Sesame St stuff immensely).

This weekend I try him with Button Moon. Wish me luck!

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edwardturnerlives@reddit

We try. Very little interest.

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ChiMara777@reddit

Not much, but I have showed them age-appropriate clips from various movies and tv shows and they love it! Ex - Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

I did put on The Sandlot recently for myself and they joined in and really enjoyed it.

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DifficultMinute@reddit

Some, but not everything.

They know about my music because they're a captive audience in the car. They've seen a lot of old movies because my wife and I, and my parents, "made" them watch it while they were younger. They've also played a few old video games for the same reason.

That said, as they got older, I'm not going to force them to watch a movie, or play a game, just because I enjoyed it.

It's more the opposite now. I watched Hunger Games with my daughter, play some Rocket League and Fortnite with my son, watched Old Dads because my son said it's the funniest movie of all time (it wasn't).

They'll occasionally sit in the living room and watch some movies or shows with my wife and I, but for the most part, they're both adults now, and they do their own things.

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Mike_Danton@reddit

Yeah, they like lots of current stuff but my husband especially likes to expose them to things from our era. They love new wave music, old Simpsons episodes, Red Dwarf, and a never ending rotation of 80s movies (they especially love horror). One of my daughters went through a Thundercats phase, and one of her fave movies is the Lost Boys.

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RaphaelSolo@reddit

My son is quite fond of classic 8-bit games and used to take my Atari Rebound to his school's Videogames Club.

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urfriendflicka@reddit

Myc16 yr old hated Drop Dead Fred because of second hand embarrassment and thinks Clueless is cringe bc not only is Josh her stepbrother, who is treated like family but she's 15 and he's definitely over 18.

She does love Gremlins, Jaws, and all the Scream movies, and when she was little she lived Gem and the Holograms and the Rug rats.

And she loves the music. We went to Nelly's tour last summer and this summer we're going to Simple Plan. We also looked into the tickets for Salt n Pepa, TLC and en vogue but they're significantly more than I have to spend right now. She wishes she could have been around to go to the Warped Tour of our youth ans used to say she wishes I was a teen mom so that she was alive when these bands come out. She really likes music from the 90s- early 2000s. She doesn't love a lot of the 80s stuff though. I think her least favorite is when I get in a hair band mood.

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sageamericanidiot@reddit

My kids don't care too much for the shows I've introduced them to, but my 10 year old absolutely loves the music. He plays guitar and thinks 90s grunge is amazing. He's currently learning to play "Man in the Box" and he just might be my favorite child.

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tettoffensive@reddit

The only thing I have been successful with is getting my 8 year old into The Simpsons

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Numerous_Team_2998@reddit

I try not to discriminate. I watch new stuff they discover (like K-Pop Demon Hunters), we discover old stuff together (The Princess Bride was not a big hit in my country and I had no recollection of it, but we watched it together based on good reviews, it's so funny!), and I do play some of the old entertainment I enjoyed as a child.

The word (and time) is our oyster!

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aluminum_jockey54634@reddit

I can't trust streaming media these days. Foul language nudity, sexual content is all legal on streaming platforms. Watching sitcoms from the 80s and 90s is my family safe space

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Starkravingbrie@reddit

My kids love Full House. Even more than I ever did 🤣

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MapleSugar228@reddit

Same! It’s my 9 years olds comfort show.

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Starkravingbrie@reddit

My ten year old has watched it start to finish at least four times and used to leave the dvd in all night so the other kids started to hate the theme song. Definitely his comfort show and I will forever love hearing the song because of him!

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Aronacus@reddit

Saturday Morning Cartoons on Youtube

This guys YT I've linked is the GOAT. He does Saturday Morning Cartoons with all the old commercials. My kids love them and ask to watch each Saturday.

I have a huge collection of DVDs, most of my DVDs are re-releases of shows from my childhood. We watch the old movies and kids shows with our kids. TMNT, Real Ghostbusters. C.O.P.S, etc. Disney channel having Gummibears, Darkwing Duck, etc. was a huge win too!

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Lensgoggler@reddit

We are turning Home Alone into a must watch thing.

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artemis17121985@reddit

My 2 year old loves He-Man, loves our vinyls he dances to 90s house music, 70s and 80s rock/metal and 90s 00s new metal and Brit pop. My 12 year old stepdaughter loves a lot of 80s music including the Specials and my 18 year old stepdaughter loves indie and Britpop from 90s and 00s. They both love Friends too.

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Adrasteia-One@reddit

We showed my 8-year-old Disney movies like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and others, as well as movies like Home Alone 1 and 2, Jingle All the Way, and Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and she really enjoyed them all. I've introduced her to music like Evanescence, Letters to Cleo, Avril Lavigne, Van Halen and Def Leppard, and she likes it. She likes current pop stars, so I try to balance the older stuff I like with letting her listen to what she likes. I feel a little more "with the times" hearing stuff she likes like Chappel Roan, Ava Maxx, and Dua Lipa, hehe.

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DJSfromthe1900s@reddit

We started our son gaming on a Genesis Mini when he was about 5 before getting him a Switch later. As a result he loves the classic Sonic games. We've shown him tons of movies from the 80s and 90s and those are hit or miss. He loved Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, but hated Goonies. He loves Dokken and Ozzy, but hates Nirvana. To us it's not nostalgia, it's just still enjoying things that are good and sharing them. We've realized the right approach is just to expose them to as much of the stuff you love as possible, and be accepting of whatever the kid's opinion is.

Additionally though, I think a lot of it is that we don't really have much of a monoculture anymore, so it's easier to go back and enjoy stuff from when we did.

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pink_faerie_kitten@reddit

I loved sharing '80s stuff with my nephews. Perfect Strangers was a big hit with them.

But my parents also shared a lot of the '50s and '60s with me and it was literally everywhere in the '80s. I think that generation (Silent and Baby Boomers) were incredibly nostalgic.

Movies: Back to the Future, biopics on Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Jerry Lee Lewis (barf), Peggy Sue Got Married

TV: From Rags to Riches, The Wonder Years

Music: Billy Joel with his retro sound, Ronnie dueting with Eddie Money, Soft Sell sampling The Supremes, etc

Thanks to Columbia House having greatest hits, my mom raised me with Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers...and her own vintage collection of The Beatles and John Lennon's solo work. And Dad k ved his oldies station for long car trips.

Then there were two restaurant chains in Chicagoland, Portillo's and Garibaldi's, that had full out '50s decor and music blasting. Memorabilia was everywhere.

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panielsrok@reddit

My 9 year old daughter loves Gutz and Legends of the Hidden Temple!

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TheCunningRabbit@reddit

My ten year old has liked most of the music and many of the movies. He has not been as receptive of TV shows.

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Frosty_Cloud_2888@reddit

When I had a 5 year old she loved to watch the 80’s My Little Pony. It was free to stream and she had to watch that over and over again. I checked out the 80’s animated movie and Danny Devito voiced the goop monster or something.

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Calculusshitteru@reddit

My mom was always sharing her Boomer nostalgia with me. I liked it until it got to a point where anything my mom liked was lame, so I distanced myself from almost all of it.

My kid is only 7 and still thinks I'm cool, so it's nostalgia all the way. Recently she is obsessed with the LOTR trilogy.

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BingErrDronePilot@reddit

My 5 year old likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My 3 year old loves SpongeBob. They both enjoy Fantastic Mr Fox.

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Epicardiectomist@reddit

Music is a big one as I always have it playing around my kids, but I don't force them. They know I feel strongly about the things I enjoy and grew up with but it's mostly peripheral. It's just going to help give them a depth to their interests, rather than me trying to steer them one way or the other.

I'm a Star Wars dork, but my son has never been interested, so I never pushed it. I always wanted to show them but I wasn't going to force anything as I figured curiosity would eventually win out. It did this past weekend and we watched A New Hope and Empire. His overall thought was they were much better than he expected, even saying he loved Empire, and is now itching to watch everything else.

Ultimately, I can only show them the door. They have to choose to walk through it.

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Intelligent_Owl_377@reddit

I have a 13 yr old and have shared tons of movies and TV shows that I grew up with. They even like to dress in 90s fashion... whatever that is. Lol..

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ppatek78@reddit

My kids prefer classic rock to anything- Queen , AC/DC, Boston

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MrTigerEyes@reddit

My kids have grown up watching the classic films of our childhood but I only show them the ones that are more timeless like the ones you've mentioned. Last year and the year before one of my kids is a teen and wanted to get into horror in October so we watched a broad selection including some from the 80's and 90's (stuff like Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, and another one I'm forgetting) that are really good. We've also watched stuff like Ghostbusters but that's kind of for at least pre-teens at earliest.

The problem we run into with the films they end up not being a huge fan of is around pacing. Older films were able to let their content breathe more, and it was ok if there was a scene of someone walking down a road not saying anything because it was building some atmosphere to set up the next scene. In contrast we just watched Super Mario Galaxy which was so fast-paced that there was no character development, no real cohesion, and the plot was just one thing after another happening to the characters and they would react.

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brainvheart143@reddit

My son is 7 and we do Home Alone every Christmas. There are actually like 5 of them now. They start having nothing to do with the OGs but still entertaining for a “family” movie.

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CTMechE@reddit

Definitely some of those. They enjoy a few, but I have to remind myself that there is SO MUCH MORE content of high quality nowadays that there's just no way to understand what it's like to have no Internet and 2-3 good movies a year, so we re-watched stuff all the time.

We just watched Pulp Fiction with our 15yo this past weekend. She said it was OK.

I did explain the main references, and how influential it was at the time, both for pop culture and for movie making itself.

And while we were considering this already, I will admit that the recent Hegseth situation did further prompt the viewing. 🤣

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brainvheart143@reddit

What a great way to illustrate how awful this admin is, and also a lesson for her on doing proper research / citing sources/not being a tool.

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ouijahead@reddit

God he’s such a tool. I heard about that.

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thejunkmanadv@reddit

Some things hit and are timeless, others they give funny looks. It just depends. I never had nostalgia for Goonies, for example, but we all watched it and they loved it. BTTF trilogy, they love it and go back for more. Animated classics are hit or miss, they dislike the OG Toy Story for example, but rewatch Aristocats.

Music, they pretty much like all the stuff we like as that is all they have ever known, which is mostly classic rock.

Growing up with my parents, they introduced us to as much of their childhood/formative era stuff as they could, but it was far less accessible at the time for them. We have "the internet" and can go back somewhat easily and give them a slice of what it looked like. Heck most of us even have some "home movies" type of media to show, unlike our parents did.

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ouijahead@reddit

I have an autistic daughter and she doesn’t like to watch new things. She has to branch out slowly. For years it has been yo gabba gabba. That’s old now actually. And My neighbor Totoro. I do not ever remember hearing of Totoro when we’re young. He’s somehow popular again.

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Inevitable_Tone3021@reddit

As an auntie I would always play old school Sesame Street clips for my nieces and nephews on YouTube. I knew all the words to the songs and they would get into it. The biggest hit in my repertoire was Kermit the Frog's Bayou Alphabet, because they would always crack up when he said "D is for the Dew"

They lost interest in my influences when they started school and preferred the things that their school friends were into.

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drainbamage1011@reddit

Mixed results. For a long time, he had zero interest in non-CGI animated movies, so any old-school Disney was out. That's eased up with time.

He's gotten interested in TMNT, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Transformers, the original Power Rangers (the power of Amy Jo Johnson on preteen boys is timeless 😂), and more recently Spaceballs and Jurassic Park.

Music hasn't really drawn much interest at all. I've usually got something playing in the car or in the background while I'm doing chores, and he ignores it equally whether it's old or new. If it's not the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, it doesn't register.

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ConnectKale@reddit

Its been a mixed bag really. Some of it he liked, some of not so much.

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Matt-J-McCormack@reddit

UK here, Sooty and Sweep’s 80’d run has gone down quite well, the comedy holds up and it isn’t all fast cut coco melon shit.