Let’s be real: It’s hard being a parent in 2026.
There are so many expectations on our shoulders and every possible distraction for our kids.
Moms are told to hold on to the small years, but those years are also so busy, so stressful, and often so lonely.
It’s easy to get caught up in the everyday tasks of cleaning the house, feeding the kids, and then doomscrolling to feel some type of connection with other families that we forget that there was a time it wasn’t always like this.
Do you remember the ’90s?
Do you remember how it felt to listen to CDs, watch VHS tapes, and go to Blockbuster on Friday nights? Didn’t everything feel a bit . . . calmer?
As parents, sometimes all we want is to just slow down. To sit down, to connect with our kids, to get away from our nagging responsibilities.
And it seems like we are always expected to work at the speed of light. Tackle the dishes, do the laundry, manage your self-care and skincare routine, get in some cardio, don’t forget to make sure the kids are also dressed and fed and loved, and don’t forget to minimize that screentime.
Where’s the dang pause button, am I right?
I decided that I needed a break from modern-day life, and I needed my family to join in. That’s where my ’90s summer came into play.
I was very much inspired by this TikTok by @sharon.a.life. (Please go see it, if you haven’t already.) The creator in that video basically chose to ask her family of six to live by “rules of the ’90s” for one week. The results were awesome. (Please go see the update video about her teen’s reaction to ’90s week here.)
I wasn’t sure how I would get my kids to give up modern conveniences for a week out of the blue when it hit me: I could make it part of our upcoming summer break.
I started talking to my husband about my plan shortly after spring break, and then I started bringing up little things to my kids:
“Did you know that when we were kids, cameras weren’t attached to our phones?” I asked one night. My kids had seen my Polaroid camera before this, so this wasn’t as mind-blowing as I had intended.
“Did you know that you couldn’t talk on the phone and use the internet at the same time?”
Their faces grew puzzled, so I explained.
“There would be this awful sound in your ear if you even tried; it sounded like a robot was screaming into the phone,” I said.
This is where the curiosity stuck.
“Wait, what?” My 9-year-old asked me.
I smiled and explained how in the ’90s, the cables for the internet and the phone line connected through the walls and were usually just one cable, so you couldn’t use them both at the same time.
“Oh, wait, wasn’t the phone supposed to be connected to the wall?”
I nodded, and now my girls were asking questions:
“What do you mean, connected to the wall?”
“Why would it sound like a robot screaming?”
I knew I had them hooked with curiosity.
So how do I really plan to pull this off?
Firstly, I want it to be known I’m putting in a lot more effort than I have for other summer breaks. I’m definitely a Type C mom, and so I fly by the seat of my pants 99% of the time.
Planning and implementing a schedule at home?
Yuck.
But I know it’s possible.
Plan #1
I bought a VHS player off Facebook Marketplace back in 2023. My husband and I have been slowly collecting our favorite VHS tapes.
Netflix and Disney+ could be replaced with this, I thought.
I also realized that I could give the impression of a Blockbuster experience to my kids with our local Vintage Stock store.
I visit the Vintage Stock off 33rd in Edmond, which happens to be next to a Dollar Tree.
Plan #2:
Arts and crafts!
I remember that in the handful of summers that I went to a summer camp, I did a lot of art and crafts. In an effort to bring that summer camp vibe into the house, I’ve bought tons of supplies from Dollar Tree, from construction paper to paint, and everything in between!
Here are some of the activity bins I have made for the kids for “arts and crafts” time:
- “Junk” Journal Bin
- Paint Bin
- Beads for Bracelets & Fairy Bottles
- Drawing Bin
- Coloring Sheet Bin
I’ve also made a reading and math bin with fun activity sheets for them to choose from. No summer slump in this house!
Plan # 3
A schedule for weekly activities for Monday-Friday.
Monday – Go to the park after lunch (check out our fave parks with shade)
Tuesday – Recuperate and stay home (let the kids be a little bored, it’s okay!)
Wednesday – Whimsy Wednesday (spontaneous adventures await)
Thursday – Thrifty Thursday (check out the best thrift stores in the metro)
Friday – Family Day (we buy new VHS tapes, plan an outing like a day at the OKC Zoo, and eat pizza for dinner)
Also, ’90s Rules don’t apply Saturday & Sunday; I figured I have to give them a little modern tech to avoid mutiny amongst the ranks! (Jokes aside: it’s also so I can catch up on my work, which heavily involves the digital world!)
I’m pretty sure this summer break is going to be full of core memories for the whole family.
Do I expect it to go 100% as planned? Not at all, but so far, I’ve been having a blast with getting my kids to detach from screens, tap into their creativity more, and learn how to be bored a little bit more.
And that’s the whole point: to have fun with it.
