The Millennial Mom

A millennial mom refers to a mother who belongs to the millennial generation, which typically includes individuals born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. Millennials have distinct characteristics, experiences, and values shaped by the technological advancements and societal changes that occurred during their formative years.

Millennial moms are often associated with certain traits and behaviors, such as:

Technology Integration: Millennials grew up alongside the rise of the internet and the widespread adoption of technology. As parents, millennial moms are likely to use technology for parenting advice, online communities, and to document and share their parenting journey on social media platforms.

Information-Driven: Millennial moms tend to be well-informed and seek information from various sources to make decisions about their parenting approach. They may rely on online resources, forums, and social media for advice on topics like child development, health, and education.

Work-Life Balance: Many millennial moms strive to balance their careers with family life. They may be more likely to pursue flexible work arrangements, such as remote work or flexible hours, to accommodate both professional and family responsibilities.

Sustainability and Health Consciousness: Millennials often prioritize sustainability and health, and this can extend to their approach to parenting. Millennial moms may be more conscious of eco-friendly products, organic foods, and other health-related choices for their families.

Parenting Styles: Millennial moms may exhibit a more collaborative and inclusive parenting style. They may seek input from their partners and other family members and are often open to sharing parenting responsibilities.

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Some millennial moms may have an entrepreneurial mindset, exploring side businesses or flexible work opportunities to complement their parenting journey.

Kena Carol is a millennial mom and talks about life as a single mom and being an art student.

Kena, welcome to my series on Millennials. Please tell my audience a little about you?

My name is Kena Carol. I am 28 years old and therefore a millennial. I have a five-year-old daughter. I am currently a student at Durham College studying Fine Arts.

Talk to me about your passion for art.

Art is a way of communicating, how or what you feel. You put your heart, soul, and emotions and share them with the world. I am not good with words. I have never liked English. I thought it was too complicated. I use art to express, and illustrate, how I feel or how I view things in life from a unique perspective. I love how there are no set rules on what art can be. Art can be anything and in any way, you project it to be. Someone said that when you do artwork, do it with confidence!

Art has always fascinated me from a young age. I feel a tree coming alive in a painting. I started to draw animals. My dad noticed my passion and bought me some books on how to draw animals and characters. I have tried different careers but have always been drawn to art and therefore enrolled at Centennial College for Art and Design Fundamentals, in that year of study, I learned the potential art has in the industry and discovered that I enjoy working with different mediums. I enjoy working with paint, sculpting, photography, and digital art using Adobe Software.

Who are the Millennials, what do they want and what do they want to change in present-day society?

From what I have noticed about the Millennials, is that they are very self-centered, impatient, lazy, and they want things easily in life. I understand how this can be offensive, but it is the harsh truth. I have also noticed that social media is a huge part of our lives. It is a powerful tool that can be used for good and bad. We use it to post pictures about our lives with the goal of how many “likes” we can obtain as if that determines our identity. Now, I am not saying that all Millennials do that, some use their tech-savvy and creative skills to make a difference in the world. They provide videos, vlogs, and blogs for entertainment, promotion, support and information purposes. So, despite the flaws, we do want to make a difference in our world in a unique way. As a millennial, I want to make a difference.

Walk me through how you processed your experience as a mother.

It took me a while to realize that I was a mother. Every time I looked at my daughter, I was like wow ‘I am a mom”. This tiny human being is incapable of taking care of herself, she needed me! Before I became a mother, I was a selfish person. But not the kind of selfish person that I was opposed to having kids. I did think about having kids in the future, I thought being a mom is a wonderful thing. And now that I am a mother, all I can think about is her and her well-being. It is amazing how my maternal instincts kicked in and how it has drastically changed me. I enjoy every moment of it, including the tough ones. I love being a  millennial mom!

Help me understand what food, faith, finance, and family mean to you.

Food: mmm.. food! We can’t get enough of it, but instead of cooking, we often eat out. The trend now in food is “vegan” and avocado (again, this is just something I have noticed. I may be missing out on other trends.) Food is what brings people together in fellowship. We laugh, share stories and spend quality time.

Family: There is a wide range of definitions of what a family is. They can be blood-related or not, but family is important in our lives. They are the ones who will be brutally honest because they care. They are the ones that will not judge you but have understanding. A family doesn’t always have to be the typical mom and dad kind, they can also be your close friends.

Finance: It is a subject that I think we all can agree we are not too good at. We tend to spend more than we can afford. And in this generation, the cost of living is increasing. Most millennials cannot afford to buy a house. We find roommates and rent a place, or we just end up living with our parents.

Faith: It is a topic that can be sensitive, people have their opinions on what to believe in. Whether it’ll be about having faith in themselves, scientists, facts, or in God himself. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with each other and it can be offensive and controversial. You will hear different answers and different possibilities. The Millennials are seeking. I believe and encourage that we should challenge our beliefs.  As a millennial, I believe in Jesus Christ.

What does trolling, blessed, bounce, phubbing, sorry not sorry or I can’t even mean in millennial speak?

I am not familiar with all the lingos. I am going to share with you the ones I am familiar with. Trolling means that you anonymously annoy or irritate someone simply for a reaction and in my opinion, it is usually in a bad way. Blessed is an expression used when something good happens in your favor, like “yes!” or “Awesome!”. Sorry not sorry, is said when you’re not genuinely sorry for something but you are saying sorry only because it is mandatory to be polite. My favorite one, I can’t even, basically means I cannot fathom or comprehend.

Tell me a good joke?

Why did the smartphone need glasses?

Because it lost all its contacts.