I sat on the couch next to my teenage son. Growing cold, I reached out and grabbed the blanket next to him.
That’s when inspiration struck.
“Reach out, reach out and touch someone!” I sang as I leaned over him. “Read out, reach out, and just say hi!”
He looked at me as though I had purple spaghetti noodles coming out of my nose.
“What?” I asked.
He continued to stare at me with a bemused expression.
That’s when it dawned on me. While I had plenty of attachment to the phone company’s catchy jingle from the 70s and 80s, my fourteen-year-old did not. It was just another example of classic Generation X references I use that he and his tween sister, 11, just don’t get.
Teenagers today don’t understand a lot of what we think is hilarious.
Here are nine more Generation X references, aka Gen X gems, they’re missing out on:
Just say no.
I pull out this phrase, made famous by Nancy Reagan, every time I talk to my kids about drugs. Hey, it worked in the 80s!
Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
Yes, I say this at the dinner table when I want someone to pass the mustard. No, my kids have no idea what I’m talking about, especially because we don’t have any Grey Poupon.
Nanu Nanu!
Why be a boring mom who just says hello to her kids when I can be a cool mom who uses this Orkan greeting made famous by Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy?
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
This Almond Joy/Mounds jingle is perfect for when you are snacking on nuts and offer some to your teens. That’s because you can sing it whether they want some or not. Teens love it when their moms sing.
Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!
Sometimes when I’m walking down the street I break into this catchy phrase and start bobbing up and down just for fun. Laverne and Shirley would be proud, even if my kids are mortified.
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.
I whip out this Alka-Seltzer ditty whenever I pour a fizzy drink. It also works when I’m relaxing in the tub with a bath bomb. Mercifully, the kids are long past the stage of hanging out with me in the bathroom.
Here’s to good friends. Tonight is kinda special.
My husband and I crack ourselves up when we use this classic Lowenbrau line with a toast at the dinner table. The kids just tune us out.
Be kind, rewind.
There is an emphasis on kindness in today’s schools. Yet, perhaps Generation X really started the kindness movement, as we were encouraged to be nice to our VHS cassettes. Just a thought.
Wonder Twin powers: activate!
My kids are not twins. However, that does not prevent me from shouting this out when I want them to work together. They should just be thankful I didn’t name them Zan and Jayna after the original Wonder Twins.
Even though my kids don’t get any of these Generation X references (or the others I’ve mentioned before!), I don’t let that stop me from using them.
Like, totally. Gag me with a spoon.
This post originally appeared on Your Teen for Parents.
This is so funny! My kids think I’m an old dinosaur.
Be kind, rewind!!!!! Oh, they definitely don’t get that one! One of my favorites, “Danger Will Robinson!”, is so old that it’s new again. You are too young to remember the original Lost in Space but apparently, it is being brought back to life on Netflix. Will Robinson and his proclivity for getting into danger will soon be back in our lexicon.
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I do remember watching re-runs of Lost in Space! And the new incarnation on Netflix looks interesting.
I did watch the original then watched the movie they made in the 90’s and I got super excited when I saw the previews of the new one on Netlfix. I tried so hard to get my boys to watch it with me but neither of them were interested. I’m not giving up though. Even though I’ve already watched the season I’ll watch it again just to get them to watch it lol.
I’ve been known to nanu, nanu a few times at my kids and i thought the ‘just say no’ campaign was dreadful. thankfully my kids are now all adults so do get quite a few of my references when i often burst into song at them in response to something they’ve done or said #tweensteensbeyond
I will eventually wear my kids down and they will get all my references and laugh! Here’s to a bright future of me repeating my 80s references to them. 🙂
Ha Ha Ha so with you on this one! I too do silly things like this to my kids, who just roll their eyes and call me ‘weird’ they just don’t appreciate my sense of humour. I bit like everytime my teen daughter mentions her friend Sally, I can’t help but respond with ‘what Sally from the block’!!!
Worse still, when I asked them if they would come see Rick Astley with me they were like ‘who the hell is he’.!!!!
Lol. I’ll go with you to Rick Astley!!!!
How brilliant is this?! Although I dread to think how today’s teens are going to explain what they are saying to their kids! I hope I’m around to see that, it’ll be hysterical! Thanks so much for sharing with us at #TweensTeensBeyond
Just say no! That is the special one and the one I continue to recite on a daily basis. Thanks for sharing Katy. #TweensTeensBeyond
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Oh this was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Nanu, Nanu was my favorite! I remember when I was in kindergarten my mom let me watch Mork and Mindy during dinner time. I loved that show:) #TweensTeensBeyond
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May I put myself in the ‘young person’ category Katy as I didn’t know what lots of these were either!! Apart from Nanu, Nanu!! It really does come down to time and place doesn’t it and as funny as we think we are (and we blooming well are) – they just don’t see it, do they?!! Thanks for sharing with #tweensteensbeyond
Loved the rewind one, my kids would be VERY confused at that one. I don’t even think they have even seen a video…
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Mine *might* remember video cassettes. But if I pulled out my Bryan Adams cassettes they would look at them like it’s from outer space.
Oh there is so much good here that I need to share with my kids so they can look blankly at me 🙂
Ha ha! Enjoy their blank stares.
It’s so weird that we’re raising an entire generation of kids who don’t even KNOW what commercial jingles are!!
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#GenerationStream for sure!
Okay…I’ll admit that I didn’t recognize many of these…I try to reject the “Millennial” title but sometimes it sneaks up on. I was proud of myself, however, because I DO remember the “Be kind, rewind!” stickers on VHS tapes we rented from the “movie store” when I was a kid (my dad had a tape rewinding machine that looked like a silver car and made engine revving noises when it was rewinding a movie. Highly memorable for a young child, apparently). And I know about “Wonder Twin Powers, activate!” but that’s mostly because my mom is a twin and said it a lot whenever she was with her sister.
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That’s pretty fancy that your dad had an actual rewind machine–and a fun memory!