Despite living at the same time, no two generations are the same; and it’s especially clear when it comes to the way they interact with each other.

Bored Pandahas reached out to ‘kay.n.zee’ and she was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find her thoughts in the text below.

Generational differences can be especially evident in the way people communicate

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Image credits:Media_photos

“This is my formal request as a millennial mom for boomers to stop talking to children that you don’t know”

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Image credits:kay.n.zee

“Other than simple things like ‘hi,’ or ‘I like your shoes.’ My daughter and I were just at Target and this boomer came up to us. She looked at my daughter, and she says, ‘Oh, you are so pretty.’ And my daughter just looks at her and doesn’t say anything, because she doesn’t talk to people that she doesn’t know. And I said, ‘Oh, thank you.’ She just stands there for a few moments, like, waiting for my daughter to respond. And then she says, ‘Oh, look at those eyes. So pretty.’ And I say, ‘Oh, thank you. She’s shy. She doesn’t talk to people that she doesn’t know.'”

“She just stands there and says, ‘You don’t think you’re pretty?'”

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

“Just like that. I was like, Oh my God. And I said ‘No, she knows she’s beautiful. She just doesn’t talk to people she doesn’t know.’ Why would you even plant that idea into her head? My daughter is two and a half. She doesn’t know what not pretty is. She knows that everyone and everything is pretty, beautiful, interesting.”

“Millennial and Gen Z parents are working so hard to break the toxic cycles of self-loathing and self-hatred that boomers instilled in them”

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

“But it’s like, every chance that they get to puke it out onto an innocent child, they take it. So annoying.”

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

“And then another weird thing that happened, and this was a while ago. My husband’s family is from Bangladesh. His skin is brown and I’m obviously very white and our daughter is lighter than him and darker than me. And again we were out at a store and this boomer man comes up to us and looks at my daughter and he goes ‘Man, she is beautiful. Look at that perfect olive complexion. Where is her father from?'”

“Leave us alone. Please stop talking to us”

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

The woman’s video reached over 1.8 million views on TikTok

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Image credits:Vladimir Konoplev (not the actual photo)

The TikToker’s video caused quite a commotion online and seemingly split the netizens into camps; while some sided with her, others believed it’s important for children to communicate with the older generation, too.

“This is an important clarification because I personally enjoy interaction when we are out and about, I just didn’t like how the woman continued to push my two-year-old to talk to her when my daughter clearly didn’t want to and did not address me whatsoever,” she added.

Children’s comfort and safety should be valued and protected

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Image credits:Vlada Karpovich (not the actual photo)

“It is crucial for children to learn to be assertive and prepared for all social interactions, but first, when they are very young, they need to understand that their bodies, safety, and comfort need to be valued and protected.”

The woman believes it is difficult for kids to understand that when strangers touch them without their or their parents’ permission or lure responses out of them when children have made it clear they are not comfortable. “In my case, it was the woman who asked, ‘You don’t think you’re pretty?’ after my daughter didn’t respond to her first comment,” the OP shared.

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Image credits:Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

“If an adult is not respectful to our daughter, she does not need to blindly respect them simply because they are older than her. We know that these situations—like forcing a child to hug an adult when they don’t want to—can blur the lines of autonomy and consent. This applies to both people that our daughter knows as well as strangers.

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Image credits:RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know

Millennial Mom Goes Viral For Publicly Asking Boomers Not To Talk To Children They Don’t Know Monika Pašukonytė

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Parenting