To miss the simplicity of the 90s/early 2000s

[Wazza89]

I was discussing with a friend yesterday how much simpler life was was in the 90s/early 2000s. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoy the perks of Netflix, Messenger, etc. But things were just more laid back.

When my younger sister turned eighteen, her and her friends got their lips done. They all looked almost identical. 😂 I remember when any form of cosmetic surgery was only reserved for celebrities. Not that it was right, just that there was less pressure and money in regards to our appearance.

My aunt told me how her daughter-in-law spends over £200 on her children’s birthday parties - the cake, the balloon arrangements, and the costumes. I don’t live in an affluent area at all (it was actually one of the poorest areas in the UK a few years ago) and the school DS goes to has a lot of funding for disadvantaged kids. Yet most the parents I see (and their kids) wear Nike or The North Face. Loads of mums get their hair and nails done regularly and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (I’m a bit jealous, to be honest 😂), but I’m worried about the insane amount of
pressure young girls are under to keep up appearances.

One of the mums was talking about the cake she had specially made for her DS and the lavish birthday party he was going to have. I actually felt guilty that my DS had a Colin the Caterpillar cake complete with balloons and a banner from Poundland. It was acceptable when I was a child but now it seems increasingly uncommon.

Sometimes I wander whether I’m stuck in the past and I’m worried DS will be left out by his peers. Anyone else?

I always find these threads so baffling - do people really not remember that in the 90s/2000s people used to say all of these things - kids were now being given too much stuff, people were too materialistic, teens were too into their appearance, everything was too commercialized? Or do you think that was nonsense but now that you're the person getting older and saying it it's all 100% accurate?

@HardbackWriter

I always find these threads so baffling - do people really not remember that in the 90s/2000s people used to say all of these things - kids were now being given too much stuff, people were too materialistic, teens were too into their appearance, everything was too commercialized? Or do you think that was nonsense but now that you're the person getting older and saying it it's all 100% accurate?

Oh, indeed,

I started teaching in 2003 - it wasn’t unusual for teachers to weep on the stairs. The news was full of broken Britain, phones ruining SPAG and I still remember a pretty harrowing documentary from around 2000 about poverty in the U.K.

@HardbackWriter

I always find these threads so baffling - do people really not remember that in the 90s/2000s people used to say all of these things - kids were now being given too much stuff, people were too materialistic, teens were too into their appearance, everything was too commercialized? Or do you think that was nonsense but now that you're the person getting older and saying it it's all 100% accurate?

I remember but i ignored it then as I ignore it now.

There were other things that made the period great. As a Londoner, less overcrowding and the sense of it being a city for adults were huge factors.

Coffee shops were a novelty. They weren't full of kids either. We've had these threads before and they are usually full of joyful ravers. They probably left MN by now though I wonder if any of those threads went to classics for posterity.

Some things were better. We can acknowledge that. Without forgetting the things that are better now.
But some of this is always about people being young then and life being easier. Whereas now they have children and lots of bills to pay and problems to sort out.

Nostalgia is a pretty dangerous emotion to buy into IMHO. Sure, some things were better/simpler in the past but a hell of a lot of things were worse! Just decide what's important to you and try not to get sucked into doing things you can't afford/don't want to do.

@Monopolyiscrap

Some things were better. We can acknowledge that. Without forgetting the things that are better now. But some of this is always about people being young then and life being easier. Whereas now they have children and lots of bills to pay and problems to sort out.

Lots of bills to pay and problems to sort when young though i guess having the energy makes it different.

When I watch dramas set in that era, I'm really struck how you could be expected to phone your parents from a payphone once a week. Awesome.

I remember if I had a Monday night drink after work, just the one by the time I got to my stop in Zone 4, I'd likely be the only one in the carriage. At 8pm! Wonderful.

Museums and art galleries for adults at the weekend. You could admire the brush work and no one would write articles taking the piss out of you. (I think that was written by a Mumsnetter, someone will know).

@Bramshott

Nostalgia is a pretty dangerous emotion to buy into IMHO. Sure, some things were better/simpler in the past but a hell of a lot of things were worse! Just decide what's important to you and try not to get sucked into doing things you can't afford/don't want to do.

Oh it's wonderful! I love remembering those days.

I did it find it sad when London changed it so much but it's nice to have happy memories.

Someone Tweeted "how do you explain to a teenager that you used to be out raving all night with no phone and somehow get home without your parents finding out". No chance of that with a Ring Doorbell.

Right, I better go before I start wanting a vodka and Red Bull 😂

@EmmaH2022 I think it is the combination of the energy of the young, and bills being more serious when you have children to look after. It is different only looking after yourself, to having responsibility for others as well.

[quote Monopolyiscrap]@EmmaH2022 I think it is the combination of the energy of the young, and bills being more serious when you have children to look after. It is different only looking after yourself, to having responsibility for others as well.[/quote]
Yes
But I don't have kids so I'm not comparing that

I said upthread, my own life was much harder 20 years ago due to working hours and lack of money

But the era, the culture, the environment, was grand.

I think every generation probably feels the same.

For me though, having my autistic children accommodated rather than labelled 'bad' as I was, means I disagree things were better back then. We have moved forward in so many positive ways in the past 20 years.

It's been mentioned before but look at when Kate won Big Brother in 2002. She left the house in jeans, a t-shirt and an England top.

She wouldn't have looked out of place in a club either.

Contrast to nowadays when it would be fake eyelashes, lip filler, expensive dresses, heels make up and a boob job.

Recently I watched some old TOTP videos from the 70s/80s on You Tube

Afterwards, when I returned to the home page, all the usual You Tube recommendations flagged up

It felt physically disconcerting to see the plasticky alien looking faces on the modern videos. I felt a sense of aversion-unease, almost queasy after having spent an hour watching normal faces

Agree wholeheartedly

@Bramshott

Nostalgia is a pretty dangerous emotion to buy into IMHO. Sure, some things were better/simpler in the past but a hell of a lot of things were worse! Just decide what's important to you and try not to get sucked into doing things you can't afford/don't want to do.

No it isn’t. True nostalgia is fine. It’s just a kind of wistfulness.

What’s dangerous is when people try to politicise it into some blanket “fings ain’t wot they used to be” notion.

@Beowulfa

My memories of 80s/90s birthday parties:

-the one where the local pool was hired for the whole afternoon with the massive inflatable crocodile
-the rollerdisco one
-going to one of the first UK pools with a wave machine

• a "PE Party" with all the fun gym stuff, but no PE teachers

These were brilliant, but all paid for by other kids' parents.

I only ever had the old school parties with silly games, (home-made) fancy dress, stuffing your face on Spar own-brand Cherryade, pink wafers and Fox's Party Rings. These were also brilliant.

I also remember being given a lift to someone's party and 4 of us in the back winding the windows down and shrieking singing Like A Prayer at full volume, on repeat, for the entire journey. A glorious childhood memory that cost the parent driving nothing (except possibly her sanity).

Kids just remember fun and high spirits, which don't have to cost loads or be filmed.

I would have faked my own death to get out of going to a 'PE Party'.

@Bramshott

Nostalgia is a pretty dangerous emotion to buy into IMHO. Sure, some things were better/simpler in the past but a hell of a lot of things were worse! Just decide what's important to you and try not to get sucked into doing things you can't afford/don't want to do.

Nostalgia is good

www.bbc.com/future/article/20140603-why-nostalgia-is-good-for-you

I'm older, think of Call The Midwife era.
Neighbour's mums were all called auntie.
I don't think this happens anymore, only in my household where my friends are aunties to my dogs.

Nothing boring with remembering the good aspects of the 1990s, just accept that they will not come back.