The Millennium Babies Come of Age: What has changed in 18 years?

I’m sure the millennium was just a few years ago.  You can probably remember how you spent that momentous evening.  The start of a new 1000 years was widely looked forward to although there were also some fears.  The fears included electrical appliances refusing to work because the clocks would fail! However, I was about to become a mum for the first time – I was having my millennium baby aged 23.

My fear though was about childbirth! I welcomed in the new millennium at my parents home. I had spent the days before heading in and out of the maternity ward with Lee in tow.  My millennium baby was due Jan 6th and all along I had been hoping that she would put in an early appearance.  On New Years Eve 1999 I was being monitored again and my consultant decided to induce the following morning. I was told to go home and enjoy the celebrations first! I’m sure I was sent home as there were so few midwives working!

Therefore whilst most were nursing their first hangover of the millennium I was preparing to meet my baby.  The first millennium babies were born whilst I was there but I had to wait until 7 am the following morning to meet ours.  Poor Lee was totally neglected as no food was available for partners / new dads and the shops were all closed.  In fact, within minutes of Chloe being born, he was being ushered home by the nursing staff to get some sleep!

The last 18 years have flown by.  We have gone through many rites of passages including first days at primary school and the first day of secondary school. We have had sleepovers, school trips where I wondered how she was, and questioning whether she was homesick.  There have been many trips to A&E with broken bones including a broken ankle requiring surgery.

Last year Chloe passed her driving test and has loved the independence of having a car.  I have loved not having to drive her to hockey training and matches three times a week!

However, those millennium babies are now crossing into adulthood.  I saw a great meme being shared and it blew my mind:

My millennium baby, my firstborn is becoming an adult, she will be one of the first adults with the birth year of 2000. When I held her in arms back in 2000 I whispered how much I was going to love her.  I promised her a whole host of things and now we are planning how to spend her 18th.  It is crazy to think 18 years have passed already.

I bet many are surprised to realise that those millennium babies are becoming adults.  There have been so many changes in the past 18 years. I enjoy knowing where the age cohorts are now and how they are culturally different.

What Has Changed Since the Millenium?

• There was no Facebook, so I was not able to post those first pictures online.  In fact, I have fewer photos of Chloe as a result. I was still using film and getting my photos developed back then and they were still blurry!
• As Chloe turned into a toddler she watched her favourite programmes on a video! I would rewind things for her to watch! There was no YouTube where I could capture Chloe’s first steps or anything else either!
• We had dial-up internet and I was only allowed to be online for a few minutes at a time as it was expensive and we didn’t have much spare money!  I remember also getting the engaged tone lots of time.  Chloe will never experience this and has had a smartphone for all of her teen years!
• Projectors, even when I started teaching I was writing notes on acetates ready for my lessons.  We did not have computers to plan lessons on. Chloe now does all her homework on her iMac.
• My way of notifying Lee that I needed him to ring me was a pager! I made him wear one to school so if I went into labour I could let him know.

Life has changed so much in the past 18 years and I am not sure I am totally fine and ready to be the parent of an adult!

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