More Stress? Gen X vs Gen Y

While reading my twitter feed and catching up on my news I saw this tweet...

I was born in the earlier 1980s so I'm not sure if I fall into Generation X or Generation Y because they overlap, but my mother is definitely Generation X so I would say I am the Gen Y. In comparing what I believe her situation to have been and experienced as a kid versus my situation now as a mom of two wonderful children, I would say motherhood stress is higher as a Generation Y.

And here's a couple of reasons why I think this.

Family Involvement 
Then
When I was a child my parents lived 30 yards from my great grandma (when I was 5 years of age she was 65) and only about two miles from both of my grandmas. I am very fortunate to still have these grandmas in my life.
I remember being at my great-grandma's house a lot of my life, who didn't want to go to grammy's?! I also remember spending a ton of time at one of my grandma's because my cousin was always there. We are very close in age so we were the best of playmates. Fortunately for most of my life, my mom stayed at home with me but I also remember being with family, whether she was there or not.
Also, we lived in a small town and for better or worse, everyone knew everyone. So kids played outside with the neighbor kids. I was outside and while my mom or dad checked on me, I was not under constant supervision. A certain level of trust comes with familiarity.
Now
My kids have the closest family about two hours away. Yes, my husband and I made the decision to move away for work and to hopefully provide a great life for our kids. But family isn't close, and while they are not halfway across the country like a lot of other families, it's too far to just have my kids drop in for a couple of hours. The time has to be scheduled if they visit.
We live in a very nice neighborhood and our son goes outside to play but there aren't a ton of kids his age around so mommy and daddy play outside too.

Financial Situation 
Then
As I said my mom stayed at home with me as did a lot of other moms at that time and being from a small town the cost of living wasn't as high as other places. We did fun things and sometimes went out to dinner, but it was a treat. And dinner out wasn't all the time, my parents watched what they spent. I do need to tell those reading that my parents didn't talk a lot about anything financial in front of me, they didn't want me to worry or know about their financial situation.
Now
Now more than ever both parents work outside the home, I am blessed and right now get to be a stay at home mom with my two, but a lot of people can't or don't do this. In order to afford expenses both mom and dad get up and go to work while the kids go to school or childcare of some sort. When we first moved away from family, both my husband and I worked so our son went to daycare. The daily drop-offs were stressful. Was the lunch and snacks packed? Did I give the daycare enough diapers, wipes, and clothes? And we hoped our son didn't catch a cold from another kid because mom was taking off work to keep the little one at home. Thousand of moms do this every day, I did too, it's different from when I was little.
And let's not forget - because dad and mom may both work, no one wants to make dinner so let's pick something up or go out. This was me - definitely!

Competition
Then
I have never felt I had to go without something growing up, my parents always provided for me, I had toys, clothes, fun things to do, and I never felt deprived but they also knew how to say no. They knew I didn't need everything in sight and they didn't spend like crazy, it always seemed to be in the range of normal.
Now
I have a hard time not getting something for my son. (The baby is just too little to need material anything beyond  warm clothes, diapers, and a couple toys.) We go to the store and he asks for a drink, or a toy, or something to eat, and the list goes on. I am working on saying no more often but I want to get him something. If I get a drink at the gas station, I feel like I should get him one too. I know that's a simple example but it's true and my husband, while not as bad as me at this, likes to pick up something for him too.
Our son now and then will come home and tell us a kid at preschool has this or that, and then asks if we can get him the same toy or whatever the item is. Some kids at school have iPads and he wanted one. (Both my husband and I quickly said NO). While I don't want him being the only one to not have something, I refuse to always get him something just because everyone else has it, especially at five years old!
I feel like competition to keep up with the latest thing is more present now than when I was a kid which causes a lot more stress.

I've given a couple reasons why I think it's more stressful now but I'm interested to read your thoughts. How do you feel about the tweet? Please respond in the comments. Thanks!

Fall Pictures

Taking great photographs and capturing those great moments with a camera isn't my strong suit but I try to remember to take as many pictures as I can when I remember my camera. I love looking at actual printed photos of my kids but I seem to keep the majority of them on my computer and generally when I send pictures to the grandparents or extended family they are sent as a picture message through the phones. Printing a picture I've taken with my phone...well those never turn out. 

My husband and I tossed around the idea of getting a photographer to take photos of the kids outside in the fall. However, when I started looking into some of the ones I found online, I saw the cost associated and because the baby is only 4 months, I didn't know if it would be worth it. What if she screamed the entire time, how long would it take before both kids melted down, and with not knowing a trusted photographer, well we decided against it. 

Although we decided against getting them professionally taken this year, I still wanted pictures. I decided I would try to take some staged photos, knowing that I couldn't take any that would be extraordinary by any means but I wanted some to put into frames in the house. I set up the little scene below and tried my best. And for our purposes, they turned out just fine. I figure having really cute kids helps my photographer ability. ~smiles~

Fall 2013

Baby is starting to scream and
my son is doing his version
of smiling.

Really screaming now
and still fake smiling. 

The baby is now in my arms
and I asked my son to think of something funny.
Finally a real smile. 

Fun Fall Things To Do For Families

I've mentioned in a previous post that my favorite season is fall, my husband's favorite too, and we try to do all sorts of fun fall-like things. I'd love to hear some of your favorite things in the comments, so please feel free to share. Below are some of things we try to do each year.

1. Jumping/Playing in the leaves.

2. Going to a pumpkin patch.

3. Attending a fall festival.

4. Carving our pumpkins. 

5. Winding our way through and beside a corn stalk maze. 

6. Trick or treating...well just the treating. 

7. Joining the class for the farm field trip.

8. Baking something with apples. (I have a delicious Apple Crisp recipe that I plan to share in an upcoming post. Simple and delicious.)

Wanting the Best for Them

Our son in 2008

When my son was three days old, I remember lying awake in bed crying because I was worried and scared. Even terrified. My husband had asked what's wrong and of course the crying became worse as I said, "what if I do something wrong, what if I mess up?" Yes, I was a little hysterical and I had some of the baby blues but I was still scared that I'd not be able to do enough. My husband quickly realized that nothing he could say would entirely make me feel better at that moment so he made my laugh by making a joke. He said he wasn't worried about the now, he was worried about the future, when our son would be a teenager and doing all the things that we did or our friends did. Our poor parents. He was able to lighten my worry but I realized that I would spend the rest of my life trying to do the best I can. 

Summer 2013

Yes there are days that I feel like I'm failing miserably, I'm yelling too much or even I'm sick of hearing myself say "no, stop it." But my son knows he is loved unconditionally and my daughter will too. I tell them often, I show them, and I think hugs are crucial. It's such a simple thing to do, hug your kids. I encourage you right now, to stop whatever you are doing and hug your child. Trust me, they'll love it, they may think you're crazy but they'll still love it, and you will too. A simple motion that packs so much emotion.

We provide for our kids, we give them whatever we are able, but most of all kids want to be loved! They need to know they are loved. Our family is a tougher family, we expect a lot of each other so I try to remember to be patient and remember he's only five years old. But some days tempers flare and kids don't listen all the time, but mine always knows I love him and want the best for him.

Baby Girl 2013

Am I still going to lose my patience, I can almost guarantee it; however, each day is a new day and I will do the best I can for each one of them. Yes, I will still worry, it's part of being a parent. God has blessed my husband and me with two wonderful kids and I want to raise them the best way I know how. 

Completed Insanity

Two weeks ago, I finished the Insanity Program and it took every bit of everything I had to complete it. That last week was a killer, I think because being done seemed so close but yet so far away when you popped in the dvd and saw the time it would take to do the workouts you know are tough. But...and here's the big but...I wanted to say that I completed it, I wanted to prove to myself that I could and would do it.

I didn't lose any weight because I just ate worse than normal, which is too say, what you put into your body seriously matters. I do plan to do the program again and I think the next time, I will try to eat right. Or at least better.

So for the past two weeks, I've taken it easy by walking on the treadmill, doing 20 minutes of Pilates, or doing absolutely nothing. I say my body needed a rest but I just wanted to rest. Today, I thought I'd try one of the easier first month exercises and see how well I could do. Let me just tell you, I got a pretty big reality check, it wasn't how well I was doing, it was get your butt moving because you aren't keeping up...at all! Now I didn't think I'd be killing it but I also wasn't prepared for how winded I would be, how exhausted I would be, and how much I would struggle. It wasn't easy!

I haven't decided when I'll try to do the program again but I know it'll be tough no matter what.