r/Xennials

Random thought I had today - anyone remember the movie King Ralph? It was a comedy with the premise that like 40 members of the British Royal family got electrocuted all at once leaving the heir to the throne as John Goodman.

This was a PG comedy movie shown to children that starts with showing 40 people, including children (comedically!) being electrocuted to death. It just kinda boggles my mind now that I think about it.

I would offer a poll, but I don't see that option.

Just wondering if there are any others like me who just abhor the "one space after a period rule" that all academic institutions have imposed on writers?

I have safely navigated higher ed and ignored this new rule up till now that I'm on the dissertation phase and I'm being forced into it.

I know we were the last generation that grew up having to put two spaces at the end of a sentence. Conversely, is there anyone who was actually glad that this changed in our mid-twenties?

Kind of a two-way question here. How much do y'all play with your kids vs how much did your parents play with you when you were kids?

Honestly, I feel like my parents were very present, one or both were always around, but I barely recall playing with them at all.

I'm not a full-blood Gen-X, I'm an elder Millennial, so I'm sad to say I missed out on the days of extreme free-range, but I certainly played all around the neighborhood without supervision.

My parents were almost never outside watching us. I was in the pool, on my bike, sneaking through the bushes with a super-soaker, trekking through the fields/creeks, making forts, disassembling my walkie-talkies, and cutting/sharpening sticks into arrows to use with my sling-shot.

The last time my mom pitched a baseball to me, I was maybe 6 years old. I eventually just threw the ball straight upward so I could hit it myself.

Also around the age of 6, I can recall my dad helping me with one of my first Lego sets on the dining room table. Just that one set though, and after that I was on my own for good.

Again, my parent were there all the time. They were just doing their own stuff.
I am sure this is very common for the rest of the folks in this sub. At my friend's houses, we saw their parents at lunch time, that's it. They brought out the hotdogs and Kraft Dinner, they weren't hovering any more than my own parents.

My own kids... I basically play with them, or directly supervise them all the time. I'm always pitching, biking, skating, helping with Lego, swimming, just watching them, etc.

Don't get me wrong. I love playing with my kids. I like playing baseball again, I like tennis, I like biking and skating, I like Lego more than my kids do, etc. ....but... why can't they do it on their own?

If I'm tied up, my kids just can't seem to play.

What are your experiences?

I thought perhaps this would go away naturally as I age, but every time I look at myself in the mirror, it just doesn't look like me, and I'm not even sure what I think I should look like. I have this weird thing where every time I look in the mirror and I felt this way my entire life swear it just doesn't look like me. If I think about it, I can remember pretty much any moment from my life back to the age of three or so but for some reason I seem to have no sense of identity? If we are the sum of our past experiences shouldn't I just be me? But what is me?

I have supposedly already had the early 40s midlife crisis I bought a Porsche have a six-figure salary and by pretty much everyone's opinion I " made it"

But it all feels very empty. My entire family from my childhood growing up has all passed on except an uncle or two. My own two children decided to take their mother's side in a messy divorce thankfully I am remarried and have three beautiful step kids. However I am constantly searching for meaning in this life.

I often times reflect on memories of the past, as a matter of fact it's where I spend most of my time, which I believe is making me miss out on things in the present. Why do I revisit the past so much? Am I trying to justify or validate something?

Is this the real midlife crisis? If so this sucks. The first midlife crisis in my early 40s was much more fun.

Edit: thank you to all the replies, including the negative ones. I've been seeing a therapist since 2018 (same therapist) and I've certainly not been a good person at several points in my life. I also call myself a Buddhist, which seems to be a pretty shallow assessment of what I think it means to be a Buddhist. I do read, although sadly it's all on the phone. I used to drink like a fish, but stopped that back in February. Also, I have certainly looked into psilocybin and it's benefits, without abusing like booze.

I've taken the approach in the past that I've always done whatever was needed to make people like me, and that usually involved buying material things for myself or others. I can now clearly see how that approach has back fired and blew up most things in my life.