“Ok Boomer”
I have to admit that in my basic boomerishness, I did not initially understand the intense appeal of this phrase for my kids.
They enjoyed using it on one another. And of course it can be gleefully applied to any older person (parent) who might be trying to tell you something useful or offering any implied criticism.
It is a verbal eye roll...an offhand dismissal of age and authority.
Of course our kids have been dismissive since toddlerhood. Arguably, even since infancy.
I am not sure how we managed to produce such bizarrely empowered small people.
(Though I do have my theories about the difficulties of parenting without fear or the threat of physical pain in the toolkit....and then there’s the genetics of it. My husband and I used to often joke about where on the chromosome was the default no setting?)
When both kids were quite young, strangers and educators often remarked on each one’s abilities to say no to adults.
One son told his nursery school teacher that he could not do what she asked because he was too “dehydrated.” On another occasion, he could not comply because he was “too depressed.” She was quite effectively derailed by these statements.
And they have always been particularly good at saying no to their parents. I am not sure what the evolutionary advantage of constantly verbally antagonizing one’s parents might be while one is still totally dependent upon them even for basic toileting and nourishment, but there is it.
In one memorable incident, as my husband was haranguing our younger son, age three or less, for some terrible toddler crime, our son replied casually, “Oh, take a shower, old man.” “Ok boomer” is an improvement I guess.
(These are the kids’ infant heads on their teenager bodies, if that needs to be said. We don’t own the shirts, but there seem to be widely available online)
