If you’ve spent any time scrolling social media this summer, you’ve probably stumbled upon the “Bring Back the 90s Summer” trend.
The sentence alone fills your head with imagery of half-melted popsicles dripping down kids’ hands while they chase each other with Super Soakers. Knees patched with Band-Aids from Slip ‘N slide adventures. Bicycles splayed haphazardly along the front lawn next to a sidewalk-chalk-filled driveway. Someone’s mom yelling, “Don’t come inside unless something is broken, bleeding or on fire!”
For so many of us, the nostalgia hits hard, and that desire to rewind the clock to a simpler summer, like it felt back then, takes over. What if that call for simplicity isn’t actually that simple at all?
Even a Trend Around Simplicity Can Set Impossible Standards
Every Instagram reel or Facebook post sharing the parents embracing the 90s summer magic with their kids can quickly have you questioning if your own children are spending enough time outside? Did you schedule too many camps because of work? Are you relying on screens too much? How many episodes of Bluey are too many episodes? What if your backyard doesn’t look like a 1997 summer throwback photo?
It’s Not the Sprinklers We Miss. It’s the Feeling.
When most adults who grew up in the 90s look back at our childhood summers, we don’t remember Instagram influencer level freeze-frames of life. We remember freedom, boredom and days that unfolded naturally into whatever they were going to be. Our parents weren’t busy trying to document every tiny moment of summer fun.
The 90s summer trend that needs to be leaned into isn’t the sprinklers and the Slip ‘N Slides (although, absolutely embracing these at our house currently), it’s the magic of how life moved differently; a summer without phone notifications, Pinterest boards or feeling the need to post every aspect of summer magic you’re making for your kids.
The Summer Landscape We’re Navigating
It’s too easy to feel pressure to make these few months of school-free sunshine extra special and packed with memory-making, but the truth is that it’s so much simpler than we make it seem. More than likely as a parent right now, you’re playing mental Tetris trying to make space to figure out work schedules, childcare, screen time, safety concerns and which kid has what when.
That’s why the real lesson in the 90s summer trend isn’t about trying to recreate all the nostalgia details. It’s about reclaiming space and freedom in your summer together.
Create Room for What Made 90s Summers Memorable
It’s okay to leave a weekend unscheduled – or even a whole week! Don’t try to fill every moment, and put the phone down long enough to cannonball into the community pool or draw a Hopscotch board for the kids. Let fast food be in charge of dinner for a night if it means more time in the backyard catching fireflies. Responsibilities can’t always be ignored, but let the time in the margins be where you’re inspired by the 90s trend; connection, imagination, independence and open ended time to let yourself embrace “whatever will be, will be.”
Enjoy the Summer You Have Now. No Time Machine Necessary.
Don’t get caught up in summer magic coming from a nostalgic activity or backyard toy. Instead, get caught up in hearing your kids’ laughter, letting them have some unscripted fun and being present whenever you can.
Remember that the goal isn’t creating a perfect 90s summer, it’s creating the kind of summer our kids will someday feel nostalgic about, too.
