Okay, let’s take a fun trip back to when bell bottoms were cool—if you think your parents’ fashion choices were wild, wait until you hear about their parenting styles! The 70s and 80s were basically the Wild West of child-rearing, and some of these stories might make you wonder how we all survived. Let’s dive into some parenting trends that would probably get you some serious side-eye today.
1. The Summer of Zero Plans
Summer vacation wasn’t a carefully orchestrated sequence of camps, classes, and enrichment activities. Kids would wake up with absolutely nothing planned and somehow fill entire days. Parents didn’t worry about their kids falling behind or missing opportunities for skill development. The only summer planning involved was maybe buying a new sprinkler or fixing the bike tire. Every day was a blank canvas of unstructured time, and everyone was totally cool with that.
2. Road Trip Entertainment (Or Lack Thereof)
Modern parents would have a panic attack thinking about long car rides without tablets, DVD players, or endless snack options. Back then, kids had to make their own fun with nothing but their imagination and maybe a coloring book. The entertainment was literally looking out the window or playing endless rounds of I Spy. Parents would just tell kids to “look for license plates” and consider their entertainment duties done. Sometimes they’d toss a comic book in the back seat and call it good.
3. The Car Seat Situation
Remember those family road trips your parents love talking about? Well, here’s what they don’t mention—babies were basically free-styling it in the back seat. No fancy five-point harness systems or carefully engineered car seats in sight. Most babies just chilled in Mom’s lap or bounced around in the back like tiny human ping-pong balls. Your parents probably tell stories about how they’d sleep across the back window shelf during long drives (you know, that spot above the back seat where people now put their stuffed animals). The closest thing to safety gear was probably Dad’s arm shooting out to stop you from flying forward during a sudden brake.
4. Lead Paint Paradise
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room—or should I say, the lead in the walls? Back then, lead paint was everywhere, like literally everywhere. Parents would deck out nurseries in the most cheerful colors, not realizing they were basically creating tiny toxic wonderlands. Kids would nibble on windowsills and crib rails like they were candy bars, and nobody batted an eye. Looking back, it’s kind of wild to think about how many walls got a thorough taste-testing from curious toddlers. These days, even the mention of lead paint sends parents into a full-blown panic mode.
5. The No-Bedtime Bedtime
Forget all those strict sleep training methods we have today—bedtime in the 70s and 80s was more of a suggestion than a rule. Kids would basically keep going until they crashed, whether that was at 7 PM or midnight. Parents weren’t stress-reading sleep blogs or timing sleep windows—they just let nature take its course. Sometimes that meant kids zonking out in front of the TV, and honestly, that was totally fine. These days, we’ve got bedtime down to a science, but back then, it was pure chaos theory in action.
6. The Smoking Section (Which Was Everywhere)
Here’s something that’ll make you cringe—smoking wasn’t just allowed around kids, it was totally normal. Parents would light up in the car, at the dinner table, even while feeding the baby. Nobody really thought twice about hotboxing the station wagon with the whole family inside. The concept of secondhand smoke was about as foreign as smartphones. We’re talking about ashtrays in every room, including the nursery.
7. Neighborhood Free Range Kids
Remember when your parents talk about “playing outside”? They mean actually being completely unsupervised for hours on end. Kids would leave the house after breakfast and only show up when the street lights came on. Nobody had cell phones or GPS trackers—your mom would literally yell your name out the front door when dinner was ready. Parents had absolutely no idea where their kids were most of the time, and somehow that was completely fine. The only rule was “be home for dinner,” and even that was pretty flexible.
8. The Sugar-Coated Breakfast Club
Breakfast in the 70s and 80s was basically dessert with a side of cartoon characters. We’re talking about cereals that were practically 90% sugar, topped with an extra spoonful of sugar (you know, just in case). Parents weren’t counting grams of sugar or worried about organic options. The most important nutritional consideration was which box had the best toy inside. If it turned your milk a fun color, that was considered a bonus nutritional benefit.
9. TV as the Ultimate Babysitter
Long before iPads and educational apps, the television was every parent’s reliable electronic babysitter. Kids would park themselves in front of the TV for hours, watching whatever came on. There were no carefully curated educational content or screen time limits. Parents would use Saturday morning cartoons like a free daycare service. The TV was always on, always blaring, and nobody was tracking minutes or worrying about developmental impacts.
10. The Helmet-Free Zone
Riding bikes, skateboards, or anything with wheels was a helmet-free adventure back then. Kids would zoom down the steepest hills in the neighborhood with nothing protecting their heads but their awesome 80s hairdos. Parents didn’t think twice about sending their kids out to do skateboard tricks without any safety gear. Elbow pads and knee protection? Those were for wimps. Every scrape and bruise was just considered a badge of honor.
11. The “Whatever Goes” Discipline
Let’s talk about discipline—or rather, the super casual approach to it. Parents weren’t reading books about positive reinforcement or time-out techniques. Kids would be told to “go play outside” when they misbehaved or just get “the look” from Mom. There weren’t any behavior charts or reward systems. Sometimes you’d get grounded, but even that was pretty loosely enforced.
12. Snack Time Gone Wild
Snack time was like the Wild West of eating. Think bright red drinks that definitely weren’t found in nature, chips with colors that probably glowed in the dark, and enough sugar to fuel a rocket. Parents weren’t checking ingredient labels or worried about organic options. If it came in a fun package and kept kids quiet for five minutes, it qualified as an acceptable snack. The only real rule was “don’t spoil your dinner,” and even that was negotiable.
13. DIY Everything Baby
Before there were specialty stores dedicated to baby gear, parents just kind of… winged it. They’d make their own baby gates out of old screen doors, and turn regular chairs into high chairs with some creative rope work. Car seats were often homemade contraptions that would give today’s safety inspectors a heart attack. Everything was either handed down through generations or cobbled together with whatever was lying around. If it worked, it worked!
