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"No, Mom... that's not how you do it!" Most of us have said something along those lines at least once. Maybe it was about the way our parents cooked, how they used to do household chores, or one of those old-fashioned habits we were convinced made no sense. Every generation likes to believe it's found a better way of doing things. And while we've certainly made progress in many areas, it's also true that some of the "old ways" were actually pretty smart.
That's exactly what people started discussing when someone online asked, "What's something older generations got right that we've quietly stopped doing, to our own detriment?" The answers came pouring in. From stronger communities to healthier routines that made everyday life a little better, people shared plenty of timeless ideas that might deserve a second look. Keep scrolling, Pandas—you may find yourself agreeing with more of them than you expected.
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#2
They understood that not every feeling deserves an audience, and we've somehow turned every passing emotion into public content.
StrangeOne 16 hours ago
I'm getting the sense people are lonelier than ever and can't find anyone to relate to close to them.
#3
Willing to sacrifice being your kid's friend so you can be their parent first.
StrangeOne 15 hours ago
Parents these days are so scared their kids will hate them, put them in a senior's home and stop contacting them if they discipline them at all. They also think discipline and punishment is the same as corporal punishment. It is not. Discipline is the showing a child the errors of their way, teaching them how to get up and prepare for school in the morning, teaching time management, emotional regulation, anger management, health and diet management, how to take accountability of their actions and make apologies when needed, etc.
The world is changing faster than ever. It feels like every other week there's a new gadget, a smarter app, or another piece of technology promising to make life easier. And to be fair, many of these innovations really do. We can work from anywhere, order groceries in minutes, pay for almost anything with a tap, and stay connected with people across the globe. But as we've embraced all these modern conveniences, we've also quietly left behind a few everyday habits that may have been doing us more good than we realized. Sometimes moving forward doesn't mean leaving everything behind—it means taking the best lessons from the past with us.
#4
Teaching your own children basic life skills instead of assuming they'll just figure it out themselves or someone else will do it for you.
StrangeOne 15 hours ago
If you don't start teaching them young to help around the house, clean, cook, garden, and all the other skills they'll need in life, the harder it will be to get them motivated to learn to do all that.
#5
I would say being comfortable with boredom. Many people have a lot of struggles with that, but it seems like that the older generations are more comfortable with it. And that’s a great thing in my opinion.
marianne eliza 15 hours ago
I would amend that to being comfortable with your own thoughts for 15 minutes instead of needing outside input i.e. phones, constantly.
#6
Shame. A baseline sense of the concept of shame. To create a massive spectacle of yourself for no reason but entitlement and attention was severely frowned upon. A little shame and humility goes a long way for a civilized society.
Take the way we spend money, for example. These days, many of us hardly ever carry cash, relying instead on bank cards, smartwatches, or our phones to pay for almost everything. It's incredibly convenient—but convenience can sometimes come at a cost. When you hand over physical cash, you actually see and feel the money leaving your wallet, making each purchase a little more deliberate. Swiping a card, on the other hand, feels almost effortless. Research reflects this difference. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the average cash transaction is around $22, while non-cash purchases average roughly $112. Other studies have found that people can spend up to 83% more when paying with cards than with cash, showing just how much our payment method can influence our spending without us even noticing.
#7
Failing people in school. Now, if you don’t understand your course material or don’t bother doing your homework, you get passed through every grade and end up with a high school diploma that doesn’t guarantee that you have any real skills or knowledge.
PS: I understand and support the idea that some students need accommodations for disabilities. What I’m talking about is that we now have a system where students are not really accountable for their learning.
TotallyNOTAFox 16 hours ago
Big problem here in Germany, too - "Nobody should be left behind". We had a system with three school paths a student could take: One for those that need support, one for the average guys and one for the smarter ones. But no, that would promote classism so the first two got put together and the smarter kids get slowed down by those they are supposed to support... Hell, even the same degrees have different worth depending on the state they were handed out by. Anything comming from our capital has noticeable less worth than a degree from Bavaria on the job market (and for good reasons)
There's actually a fascinating reason for that. Researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management found that paying with a credit card activates the brain's reward system differently than paying with cash. In simple terms, swiping a card makes us focus more on the excitement of getting something new than on the fact that we're spending money. Psychologists often refer to this as reducing the "pain of paying." That's why it's so much easier to add one more item to your shopping cart when all it takes is a quick tap. It's not that cards are bad (they're incredibly useful) but understanding how they affect our decision-making can help us become a little more mindful about our spending.
#11
Dressing appropriately for the occasion.
I too enjoys being comfortable but showing up at a restaurant in pj pants is pathetic.
Deannamite 16 hours ago
I've noticed this most at funerals. I see a lot of casual shorts and tees - it isn't necessary to dress expensively to dress respectfully.
#12
Learning to behave in public and speak with strangers.
DrBronxx 15 hours ago
This is a major focus for us right now. Our three-year-old is learning to regulate, but of course she loses it a bit sometimes. We'll pick the battles we fight at home - sometimes she's just tired and needs a vent, usually about minor things and other times she loses it because she doesn't want to follow the rules. We address the latter fairly strongly, but the former we try to make her a bit more comfortable. However, in public we have a much lower threshold. Now she's old enough to understand the rules more, we're teaching her what she can do in the home and what she can do in public - we'll listen to her, talk to her and help her if she needs it, but if she tries to have a tantrum, we have strong words and/or leave. We tell her this before we go somewhere. In the car we'll say "remember, we are not at home," and make sure she knows how to behave. She's three, so the success is limited, but it's working.
Food is another great example. After a long day, ordering takeout can feel like the greatest invention ever. Few things beat having dinner arrive at your door without lifting a finger. But for many older generations, eating out was an occasional treat rather than a regular habit. Most meals were cooked at home, partly because restaurants weren't as common and partly because dining out was considered expensive. Interestingly, that hasn't changed much. Consumer spending data highlighted by Forbes found that the average restaurant meal costs about $20.37 per serving, while a home-cooked meal averages around $4.31. Beyond saving money, cooking at home also gives you more control over ingredients and often brings families together around the dinner table.
#14
Phones that don't come with the societal expectation that you will be available 24/7/365 to answer calls, texts, messages. Call my Millennial views Boomer, but I refuse to be guilted or bullied into using the device and service I pay for when someone else finds it convenient instead of when I do
We were not designed to be "on" all the time and people tend to get really pissy when you point that out and that this is a recent phenomenon that people have such easy, on demand access to eachother.
Edit: the people I said get really pissy about this being pointed out seem to have found this post.And proven the point better than I ever could 😂.
Older generations also exercised their memories far more often than we do today. They remembered phone numbers, birthdays, addresses, shopping lists, and directions simply because they had to. Today, our phones remember almost everything for us. While that's undoubtedly convenient, researchers have started looking at something called digital amnesia. Surveys suggest that 91% of people use the internet as an external memory bank, while nearly half rely entirely on their smartphones to store important personal information. Some neurological studies suggest that outsourcing so much of our memory may change how deeply we process information. Of course, no one is suggesting we throw away our smartphones—but maybe remembering a few phone numbers isn't such a bad exercise after all.
#16
Valuing privacy.
Tabitha 14 hours ago (edited)
YES to this! I may read some stuff online, and comment too, at least on a couple favorite websites, but I don’t post my of my life on social media. I am not on any of the popular sites. I tried Facebook years ago a d didn’t like it. I prefer to live in the moment instead of take a video to the point where I don’t even touch my phone when I’m doing something that might be interesting. If it’s really important I might take a couple pictures, but I don’t go OTT with it. Same with stuff that’s boring or pretentious, like posting pictures of my meal at a restaurant. No one else actually cares about that, unless you and your friends are big time foodies, and most of us are not. I like my privacy, and I like my own time to be just that, my own and no one else’s. I don’t answer the phone after hours, and I don’t share my location with anyone but my husband, unless I’m traveling to see family, which is when I include them in my location updates—-and I do it by phone and text, not tracking software (except for tracking my phone’s location in case I lose it, but that’s just on my devices). I am not a Luddite, I use technology. I just don’t let it take over my life.
#17
Writing stuff down. My dad had notebooks for every job and I used to think it was old man nonsense, now I run a shop and half my life is scribbled notes so I don't forget who needed a call back.
#18
Teaching social expectations and how to speak to people. Kids aren’t explicitly taught how to act and speak in specific scenarios, so how can they learn what is and isn’t normal if they’re not exposed to it?
Another thing many people miss is how much easier it once was to focus on one activity at a time. Older generations often spent their evenings reading books, gardening, sewing, fixing things around the house, or simply listening to music without constant interruptions. Today, it's common to watch TV while scrolling social media, reply to messages during meals, or bounce between several screens at once. Our brains rarely get a chance to settle. Research has shown that constant multitasking can increase mental fatigue and make it harder to concentrate for long periods. On the flip side, spending even 30 uninterrupted minutes doing a hobby you genuinely enjoy can help reduce stress, improve focus, and give your mind a much-needed break from the constant noise of modern life.
#19
Self reliance? Whatever is contributing to "learned helplessness" and not even trying is doing y'all dirty.
#20
Allowing children some independence so they can learn how to behave in the world.
Laszlo Larthlanc 16 hours ago
And allowing them to get a little dirty is a good thing, too. It really is good for the immune system. I used to catch every little thing that was going around, and my mother asked our family doctor why this was so. He asked her how often she washed and bathed me, and she answered him honestly, thinking that he was going to tell her to double down. Instead, he told her to knock it off. Whether or not the change was the reason, I stopped being sick as much. I don't remember this -- my mother told me about it.
#21
Keeping albums with actual photographs. It's always fun to flip through them when we're together.
Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 16 hours ago
I much prefer this than trying to scroll through someone's phone looking at tiny photos.
#22
Having hobbies. Why does no one have hobbies anymore?! I'm a weirdo and a nerd at my workplace for having stuff I like doing in my spare time other than scrolling or watching shows.
Becky Samuel 16 hours ago
Lots of people have hobbies. It's just that those hobbies have gotten to be prohibitively expensive. Sewing materials, art supplies, yarn, all of these things are outrageously costly.
Of course, this doesn't mean the past was perfect or that everything older generations did was automatically better. We've made enormous progress in medicine, technology, education, and countless other areas that have improved our quality of life. The point isn't to romanticize the past—it's to recognize that some old habits still have plenty of value today. Sometimes the smartest approach isn't choosing between the old way and the new way. It's finding a balance that lets us enjoy modern conveniences while holding onto the simple routines that still make life healthier, calmer, and a little more meaningful.
#23
This may shock many Redditors, who by definition choose to spend our free time reading and writing ...
Most people now do not know how to read or spell.
#24
Unionizing and working for a collective good rather than an "I got mine" or "Every man for himself" attitude.
TotallyNOTAFox 16 hours ago
But division is such a good thing for those in power, you can get away with a lot of s**t if the plebs are busy fighting each other or some imaginery enemey (101 on how to establish a cult/ideology)
#25
My husband and I joined a weekly bowling league and it’s opened up so many friendships. It’s so interesting because you make friends with people your own age and then also have a 75 year old bestie name Arnold.
One of the best things we’ve done!
Bored Silly 16 hours ago
I hate that the cost of things like bowling are now out of reach for the average person. If you are someone working a customer service or warehouse job bowling leagues or base ball games were an inexpensive pastime. Now it's so overpriced the average person simply cannot afford to join.
#26
Holding politicians to higher standards.
Remember when Dan Quayle misspelled 'potato' and dropped out of the race in shame?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 16 hours ago
I don't believe that this is the reason he dropped out.
And that's exactly what today's collection is all about. The people sharing their thoughts aren't arguing that we should go backwards—they're simply highlighting a few everyday habits they believe are worth bringing back. Some answers are practical, others are nostalgic, and a few might even make you rethink your own routines. Keep scrolling, Pandas, and let us know: which old-school habit do you think deserves a comeback?
#27
I feel like dating was probably a little more serious in older generations.
It seems like dating now can be very exhausting because people move on at the slightest bit of boredom in a relationship.
I just don't get it...
Tabitha 14 hours ago
I think part of the reason that dating is such a fricking minefield today is that too many people who are only looking for a hookup are going on dating sites for people looking for a deeper connection and hopefully a relationship. The saddest part is that there are dating sites specifically for hookups, but too many people who don’t want to a relationship either aren’t on them, or are but are trolling the other (wrong for them) kind of sites too, and really hurting people looking for more than a one-night stand.
#28
Kicking the kids out of the house after Saturday Morning Cartoons until dinner time. Also, Saturday Morning Cartoons.
UnclePanda 3 hours ago
We used to be out the door early Saturday morning and didn't come back until dinner time, somehow always covered in mud, even during dry spells.
#29
The subtle art of sitting and chatting together for hours. Or just companionable silence.
#30
Writing checks to pay for things and using credit cards for emergencies. Our checking account was our money. When the account was low we quit spending. If you went over the bank charged $35 per transaction. We didn't overspend and rarely used a credit card.
TotallyNOTAFox 16 hours ago (edited)
Depends on the culture, a cheque is something that was considered an antique methode here in Germany in the 90s already
#31
Living in small houses. you don't need that much space. You don't need that much stuff.
Becky Samuel 16 hours ago
'Shopping' should not be a hobby. The planet is drowning in cr ap. You don't 'deserve' a treat, and another polyester top/Funko Pop/tiny tube of grease paint is not going to improve your life.
#32
My grandparents bought most things with the expectation that they would own it for a very long time. Every purchase was a very methodical process to ensure they were making a good long term decision. My parents bought things like cars and appliances with the expectation that they would have them for 10 years or more. My generation (and now my son's generation) has been robbed of that. Nothing is built to last that long anymore. The things we buy have all become so technologically complex that they are either obsolete in 5 years or cost prohibitive to repair. In the past 5 years I've had appliances and TV's break to the point where repairing them was more than the cost of buying a new model. What's scary is that cars are quickly becoming that way. A friend of mine drives a pretty modest SUV that was about $45k when it was brand new. It was recently vandalized and required a bunch of new glass, plastic trim and rubber seals along one side of the car. The cost of just the parts was several thousand dollars (covered by insurance). After labor, it was $4400, almost 10% of the cost when the car was new. It's crazy...
#33
Using iodized salt. It's actually a huge problem for huge chunks of the world where iodine isn't naturally occurring.
Iodine deficiency results in painful goiters, and extended deficiency can lead to an extremely bad birth defect historically known as "cretinism" which is physical and intellectual stunting during fetal development.
We don't really remember life before iodized salt, but introducing iodized salt proved to be such an improvement it just became expected, and it alleviated the problem so well most people don't even know it was ever a problem at all.
So much of the influencer driven culture around food and home cooking has actively derided iodized table salt in favour of sea and rock salts that haven't been iodized. This is actually driving up goiter rates in some places and could lead to a resurgence in associated birth defects.
Now I'm as big a fan of fancy sea salt as the next person, but throw some table salt into your food from time to time as well, just to be safe.
#34
Forgiving your spouse and moving along, instead of divorcing over the smallest things.
#35
The it takes a village to raise kids thing.
Laszlo Larthlanc 15 hours ago
I grew up in a big city. People from small towns thought we didn't have the village thing going for us in our lives. Well, we did not live in our entire big city -- we lived on our street. We lived on our block. We couldn't get away with anything when we were kids without our moms knowing about it by the time we got home.
#36
House parties! Growing up as a child in the 80s we were constantly at house parties and it was so much fun. Sometimes there would be a theme, like Vicars and tarts (which I know is terrible by modern standards) but there would be a core of 50-60 people just socialising on a regular basis. My parents used to get 200-300 Christmas cards every year.
We just don't do these this anymore. The only house parties are when teenagers parents go away!
Vexed Panda 16 hours ago
We used to have Come As You Are parties. We'd call about 5 or 6 friends/families, they'd grab some leftovers and booze, and we would all just hang out and have fun.
#37
Having community (of many different types). Even as an atheist, I recognize it's really unfortunate that nothing replaced the community aspect of church this century for people who aren't religious.
#38
Reading the local >!newspaper!< and a national newspaper every morning, and watching the local and national news every night. And no, listening to Fox, MSNow, and other talking heads shows don’t count. The actual news- if you still have access to good, local journalism.
Tabitha 13 hours ago
I miss the days of tuning into Walter Kronkite, and the confidence of knowing you’re being told the truth as it is understood at this moment—-and a broadcast correction made if discovered to have been reported incorrectly once all the facts are known. No corporate interference. No entertainment gimmicks to increase viewership. No skewing of the facts to satisfy any particular group. No leaving out or minimizing important details and overemphasizing certain others that may be more titillating. No one telling us what to think. Just the facts as known, so we the viewers are able to draw our own conclusions. Treating us like we’re reasonable and intelligent adults capable of doing that. Exposing and calling out lies and liars instead of glorifying them. That’s what we miss, and that’s what we need to get back to.
#39
Using a clothesline to dry laundry in the summer. That electric dryer costs a fortune in electricity needlessly and brings in hot outside air to equalize pressure inside the home.
#40
Living within our means.
Not tolerating the nonsense corporations and politicians are subjecting us to.
#41
Writing thank you notes. I always sent cards to my grandma’s and such after holidays and birthdays.
Charlotte 15 hours ago
I appreciate a thank you (text, words, whatever) when I send a gift because I want to know that you received it. Yes, I know I get notifications that it was delivered to your building but I want to know it made it into your personal hands and that what was in the box is what I ordered. I don't think that's unreasonable
#42
Having a sense of communal good. Advertising then the internet have convinced everyone in the global west to put themselves first.
#43
The expectation that a help line will actually know something and try to help.
Instead you get someone following a script and working through trying a bunch of stuff that you know is completely unrelated but you MUST do this first until they pass you on to the next person who has a different script and then usually the third person actually listens to the issue and tries to fix it.
Laszlo Larthlanc 15 hours ago
Talk gibberish to the first computer. It usually gets you right to an operator who deals with difficult people. :-)
#44
Sitting and discomforting instead of immediately reaching for something to numb it.
#45
Dancing. Dancing with partners and steps as a form of socializing, not just Tik Tok dances.
Bored Silly 16 hours ago
Wait a minute. Why is this list being posted as new. Wasn't this same list posted a few days ago.
#46
Free college, government owned hospitals, socialized health care... gone.
They are now trying to do the same to public schooling.
#47
Home economics classes are no longer a thing. At least not 30 years ago when I was in high school in my place. I think that they kinda did away with it when people stopped really writing checks and you stop needing to be able to like balance your own bank account with the Internet, but there’s like so much more that goes in to being an adult and taking care of your “home.” Like personal finances, how to buy/shop for groceries, basics of cooking, etc.
My parents didn’t teach me that at home and I obviously didn’t learn it at school and now I’m useless and my house is a disaster. I’m trying very hard to learn how to stay within my budget. It wasn’t until I went to college and I had a finance class that the finance professor taught us so much more about the stock market and about how to pay down your mortgage faster, but like if it wasn’t for him, nobody would have taught me that.
#48
Stricter schooling and proper physical education in schools. I taught PE my whole career, and fitness really declined over that time.
#49
Being alone or apart and really missing someone.
We're all in each other's pockets. People text and call and track and watch their loved ones throughout the day. We broadcast our lives on social media and share opinions, photos, videos, memes, etc. etc. etc.
I'm tired of everyone in my feed even if we haven't seen each other in 20 years, because there's no chance to truly disconnect from them.
#50
Discipline. Time out is a failed social experiment.
DrBronxx 13 hours ago
Why does "discipline" feel like such a weighted word here? Maybe it's actually my inference, but it seems that this person is trying to advocate for hitting your children, which itself, aside from just being a s****y, s****y thing to do to a child, has been proven to not only not work, but also have a higher risk of negative outcomes: increased aggression, antisocial behaviour and mental health problems, to name but a few. Also "Time out is a failed social experiment" is utter nonsense, because overall, research shows that time-outs actually work. OP is grossly misinformed, and I am worried for their children.
#51
Visiting people without texting first. It sounds annoying now, but people were actually more connected when every interaction wasn't scheduled a week in advance.
Rick Murray 15 hours ago
No, no, no. Don't turn up unannounced, that's the height of rudeness.
#52
Joining and participating in civic clubs, social clubs, hobby clubs and other similar groups.
#53
No-one polishes their boots any more.
You have to feed the leather.
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What do you think ?
marianne eliza 14 hours ago
Parents actually being responsible for and taking responsibility for their children's behavior. Teaching things like social manners and graces, Please, Thank you, Excuse me, I beg your pardon, I'm sorry. These days they expect the schools to do all the parenting and the teaching.
Bartlet for world domination 12 hours ago
The thing that worries me is that children understand they can't be forced. My niece avoided an entire education by claiming headaches and stomach aches. What's a school to do, keep her there?
marianne eliza 14 hours ago
Parents actually being responsible for and taking responsibility for their children's behavior. Teaching things like social manners and graces, Please, Thank you, Excuse me, I beg your pardon, I'm sorry. These days they expect the schools to do all the parenting and the teaching.
Bartlet for world domination 12 hours ago
The thing that worries me is that children understand they can't be forced. My niece avoided an entire education by claiming headaches and stomach aches. What's a school to do, keep her there?
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