Let me be honest with you – I used to be one of those guys who’d shake his head at “kids these days” with their phones glued to their hands. You know the type. But spending time with my five grandchildren (ages 4 to 14) has opened my eyes to just how wrong my generation gets things about millennials and Gen Z.

Last week, my 14-year-old granddaughter taught me how to edit videos on her phone while we waited for her younger brother’s soccer practice to end. The creativity and technical skill she demonstrated in those 20 minutes? It would’ve taken me a week of classes to learn what she figured out through YouTube tutorials. That’s when it hit me – maybe we’re the ones who need to catch up.

They’re not lazy – they just refuse to sacrifice everything for work

Here’s what drives me crazy: hearing my fellow boomers call younger generations lazy because they won’t work 70-hour weeks or skip family events for optional meetings.

Really? Have we forgotten what actually matters?

I spent decades missing school plays and soccer games, telling myself I was building something important. You want to know what I was building? Regrets. Mountains of them.

When I had my heart scare at 58, lying in that hospital bed, I didn’t think about the quarterly reports I’d filed or the overtime I’d logged. I thought about all those empty seats at my kids’ important moments.

These younger folks aren’t lazy – they’re smart. They saw what our “work ethic” cost us and decided they wanted something different. They want to actually live their lives, not just work through them. And honestly? Good for them.

Technology hasn’t ruined their social skills

Do you know how many group chats my grandchildren maintain? They’re coordinating study groups, planning community service projects, and staying connected with friends who’ve moved across the country. When I was their age, if someone moved away, that was pretty much it for the friendship.

Sure, they text more than they call. But have you watched them navigate difficult conversations through those texts? They’re thoughtful, they edit for clarity, they consider how their words might be received. That’s not poor communication – it’s different communication.

At the literacy center where I volunteer, some of my best teaching assistants are college students who found us through Instagram. They use social media to organize volunteers, share resources, and celebrate our students’ achievements. Their “screen addiction” is actually helping adults in our community learn to read.

Their mental health awareness isn’t weakness

When I was growing up in Ohio, one of five kids in a working-class family, nobody talked about anxiety or depression. You just pushed through. My father worked himself into an early grave, and we called it dedication.

Now I watch my grandchildren openly discuss stress, set boundaries, and actually ask for help when they need it. My generation calls this fragile. I call it evolutionary.

Since discovering meditation at a community center class, I practice daily. You know who encouraged me to try it? My 24-year-old neighbor, a millennial who noticed I seemed stressed after retirement. She didn’t see seeking mental health support as weakness – she saw it as basic maintenance, like taking Lottie for her morning walks.

They’re not entitled – they’re advocating for basic dignity

Remember when we were grateful just to have a job? Any job? We wore that gratitude like a badge of honor, even when employers treated us poorly. Younger generations expect living wages, healthcare, and respect in the workplace. How exactly is that entitled?

They watched their parents (us) get laid off after decades of loyalty. They saw pensions disappear and retirement ages creep up. They learned that company loyalty is rarely reciprocated, so they’re protecting themselves from the start. That’s not entitlement – that’s learning from our mistakes.

They haven’t destroyed dating – they’ve made it more honest

Yes, dating apps seem weird to those of us who met our spouses in pottery classes at community college. But you know what else is weird? Staying in unhappy marriages for decades because divorce was taboo.

Younger folks are taking time to know themselves before committing. They’re having honest conversations about expectations, boundaries, and deal-breakers. They’re choosing partners based on compatibility and shared values, not just proximity and timing.

Are some of them struggling with commitment? Sure. But I’d argue that’s better than committing to the wrong person and spending 40 years trying to make it work.

Their financial struggles aren’t due to avocado toast

This one really gets me fired up. When I bought my first house, it cost about two times my annual salary. Today? Young people are looking at homes that cost 10 times what they make annually. But sure, let’s blame their coffee habits.

I made a terrible investment in my 40s that taught me about financial humility. You know what I learned? Sometimes you can do everything “right” and still struggle. These generations are dealing with student loans we never imagined, housing costs that have outpaced wages, and an economy that’s fundamentally different from the one we navigated.

They’re not bad with money – they’re playing a completely different game with much worse odds.

They care deeply about purpose and meaning

When I retired, I lost touch with many work colleagues and realized how much of my identity was tied to my job title. It was crushing. But younger generations? They’re building identities around their values, passions, and impact from the start.

They volunteer more than we did at their age. They start nonprofits, create content that helps others, and choose careers based on meaning, not just money. We call them idealistic like it’s an insult. Shouldn’t we be encouraging idealism?

On my special days with each grandchild, I see their genuine desire to make the world better. They’re not naive – they’re hopeful. And frankly, after the world we’re leaving them, they have every right to try things differently.

Final thoughts

Here’s the truth my fellow boomers won’t like: younger generations aren’t doing life wrong – they’re doing it differently. And in many ways, they’re doing it better. They’ve learned from our mistakes, adapted to their circumstances, and created new solutions for new problems.

Instead of criticizing them for not following our playbook, maybe we should admit that our playbook had some serious flaws. I’ve learned more from my grandchildren and young volunteers in the past few years than I learned in decades of “knowing better.”

The kids, as they say, are alright. It’s time we stopped trying to convince them otherwise.