I like to say I'm in that Oregon Trail micro-generation that is sometimes talked about. But per this list I'm a Gen X'r and yep, latchkey kid.
Baby Boomer ( always came home to my mother busy in the kitchen. She never did any paid work as she looked after her Dad from 18 years of age when her mother died. )
Yes...the half analog half mainstream tech bunch...I saw one article that described those born in the late 70's but before 1980 as Geriatric Millennials (uummm...and that would be me too ha!)
Xennials are 1977-1983. Xennials had an analog childhood, remember computers being special, and a time before social media, but have a digital high school/college etc. experience. That's a big part of why "they" keep breaking our group out. And it makes sense. I know cusps relate to both generations they are on either side of, but the digital divide is a really big change for those on either side. Anyway, I'm a Xennial, or a Millennial, by the original list. Fun Fact: By this list, my Boomer parents have Millennial, Generation Z, and Gen Alpha kids. They only missed Gen X!
I am supposedly a Baby Boomer, but I don't relate to them at all, probably because my parents were not part of the Greatest Generation but were in that Silent Generation. Born in 1962, I feel more like a GenXer. I have 2 Millennials and one GenZ kid. He keeps me young, so I had a lot of friends that were 10 years younger than me when he was growing up. Probably why I relate to GenX.
You not relating to being a "Boomer" is not unheard of because of the range of years and all that happened in those years in society. I have seen some breakdowns that list "Boomer I" as being 1946-1954 and "Boomers II" as being 1955-1964. Boomers born in the 40's certainly had different societal experiences than a Boomer born in the 60's. I fall right in the middle (1955) but my parents were also both from the Silent Generation (1928 and 1932). My grandparents (well 3 of 4) were of the greatest generation. One grandpa was born in 1899! The whole reason for the name "Boomer"... post depression and WWII baby boom!
Boomer ... my mom stayed at home, but both of my grandmothers worked outside of the home. I stayed home when my kids were young, worked both part-time and full-time so my kids were never latch-key kids. Currently working full-time.
I am enjoying reading peoples' comments. Although the shadow side is to stereotype, my brain likes to categorize in an attempt to understand "nature vs. nurture." I do feel each of us is a unique individual, but it is interesting to contemplate how technology and our societies shape and influence who we are today....and how we perceive ourselves. I do believe GenX is the best category for me. In my undergraduate years of college, I did not own a computer. I had to go to the Computer Lab...and often had to jump from a PC to a Mac...which ever was open at the time (and of course, what I started on, I had to finish on). I was well into adulthood before I got a "smart phone." I am not sure children of today (in the USA) can fathom a time without high speed internet, computers, wifi, and cell phones. The latchkey kid experience definitely shaped and influenced me too - so many stupid mistakes made from trial and error...because adults were not around to micromanage and tell you how to do something. But I did not die...nor did I get hurt. I read that Rap Music was "invented" in the 1970s - Bronx New York. But I'd make the argument it became really popular when I was a young teen. I went through the bright colors of the 80s as a child - into the Seattle grunge era as a teen (but with BIG hair in-between). In the USA, we went through the Crack Epidemic and it seemed like violence and crime increased around major cities. Children of today have to come to terms with gun violence and mass shootings - city living, country living, does not seem to matter where you live. I remember being in 9th grade science class talking about HIV (it was still kind of a new thing for heterosexuals to talk about)...and in college, listening to seminars about folks' experiences with AIDs (live classrooms...no Zoom back then). Today we talk about COVID. I would definitely say I grew up in a "box food" era - what was fast, quick, and easy to make. Fast food is epidemic today...but I can argue we are making a push towards FRESH and homemade. I was in elementary school when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up. Now, we have robots on Mars and a mission to get humans on Mars. We have not cured cancer. I seriously do not remember talking about Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorders...but these are common place now? IDK...I think it would be interesting to live 1,000 years from now...to see all the technological advances and observe how that society exists.
Yup Xennial - 1977. This definitely fits us the most I think. Still a latchkey kid, babysitting by 10/11yrs, half analog half digital brain! And yes @ArmyGrl - rap started in the 70s but definitely was at the height of popularity late 80s early 90s.