Millennial mom struggles to explain old-school TVs to curious Gen Alpha daughter — and now we feel ancient
A millennial mother's attempt to explain pre-streaming TVs to her Gen Alpha daughter took a hilarious turn.
Technology has advanced so rapidly that tasks that once seemed impossible have become part of everyday life. With innovations like smartphones, laptops and televisions, it's hard to imagine how we managed without them just a few decades ago. The pace of these inventions has been so swift that the past now feels distant and almost unrecognizable. Tobi Gilmore (@thegirltobi), a millennial mother, had a similar experience when she tried to explain to her Gen Alpha daughter how television worked before streaming. Gilmore posted the hilarious video on TikTok where it amazed over 100,000 viewers.
When the mother told her 7-year-old daughter that they couldn’t pause TV shows when she was a kid, the little girl was baffled. “So, could you just restart it or turn it off?” she asked. It was clear she had no idea what life looked like before modern TVs with streaming services came into existence. “You don’t turn the show off. The show just kept going, all day long. There would just be shows running, 24 hours a day,” Gilmore explained, as her daughter laughed in disbelief. The mother went on to give examples of popular kids' channels like Disney. She explained how they followed pre-set schedules, airing shows one after another.
"'Halloween Town', the movie was coming on at 7 'o'clock on Thursday night, if you did not get there in time at 7 'o'clock on Thursday night to start 'Halloween Town,' you missed it. Like that was it, you just missed it," Gilmore revealed, making her daughter's jaw drop. Judging by her daughter's baffled reaction, the mother could tell she didn’t believe her. When she further explained that bathroom breaks had to be timed around commercials, or else they’d miss part of the movie, her daughter seemed skeptical.
The whole concept was so alien to the Gen Alpha child that she kept asking if there was any way to turn the TV off. With a lot of patience, her mommy-dearest tried to explain that even when the TV was turned off, the shows kept running. "Just because the TV is off, did not mean that the shows were not still going. I just could not see or hear them but when I turned it back on, they would still just be playing," she added. Hearing this, Gilmore's daughter burst into uncontrollable laughter. "I did not realize how old this would make me feel," the mother said at the end.
@thegirltobi Explaining to my 7 year old how TV worked when I was a kid was an interesting experience. She has only ever known streaming and I didnt realize how hard this would be to explain. #millennial #millennialmom #millennialmoms #genalpha #genalphaparent ♬ original sound - Tobi
The TikTok video quickly gained popularity on the platform with many netizens resonating with the struggle of explaining old-school concepts to the new generation. For instance, @nplusv09 commented, "My daughter didn't understand what a commercial was so I explained it. She said 'That's called an ad mom,' Lol!" Similarly, @chris wrote, "Crazy to think we have to explain this. And it just blows their minds. I had the radio on one time and my nephew kept begging me to replay the song. lol!"
Meanwhile, @meganalbritton commented, "Tell her it’s like when someone goes live on TikTok, just because you aren’t watching them live doesn’t mean that the live isn’t happening." On the other hand, @dana wrote, "Explain it as if you went to the movie theatre now to see a movie. You have to be there when the movie time is and if you’re late you will miss it. If you get up to go to the bathroom you will miss it."
You can follow Tobi Gilmore (@thegirltobi) on TikTok for more parenting content.
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