This Mom Told Her Kids to Play Outside like “It’s the ’90s.” Millennial Parents Are Loving It
Is your family time overscheduled and overstructured? It’s a pretty universal feeling in 2026, which is probably why one mom is going viral for embracing 1990s-style outdoor free play and fend-for-yourself parenting. Millennial parents can’t get enough of mom Maggie Dietert’s “We’re pretending it’s the ’90s” video, in which one of her kids plays outside on a wooden outdoor play structure, and she advises him, only somewhat jokingly, “You come in when you sleep, and you come in if you’re bleeding. Otherwise ya’ll are playing outside. We’re pretending it’s the ’90s, and that’s fine.”
She then serves up some apple slices with peanut butter on paper plates and asks, “Where’s your brother?” Her son replies, “I don’t know.” And, for the kicker that parents are celebrating online, she says, “K, that’s good, that’s how it is in the ’90s.”
The video, which has been viewed 4.9 million times on TikTok and liked 975,000 times on Instagram, has received a ton of positive feedback. “So we’ve collectively agreed that this is the new trend, right? ‘Cause I’m so ready for this!!” commented one fan on Instagram. “Let the broadcasting team know we need that commercial back: ‘It’s 10 p.m., do you know where your kids are?’”
The main bone to pick, for many, was the fact that Dietert brought out water bottles for the kids.
“They get snacks and water!? That’s a first-class ’90s experience,” wrote one commenter on Instagram. “You have water bottles on the table ma’am. Where’s the water hose???” asked another. “I survived off the nectar [of] honeysuckle plants and water from the spicket,” joked a third. But, as Dietert acknowledged in her caption, the provisions were a bonus: “Let’s get back to the pre-2000s level of parenting. I have already exceeded expectations by providing water bottles and a snack.” On TikTok, some commenters pushed for authenticity: “The water bottles need to be Capri Sun packets for historical accuracy. There were no water bottles in the ’90s. Everyone was dehydrated.” Another wrote, “That play structure doesn’t have enough splinters for it being the ’90s.”
Commenters also shared their own childhood memories dating back to the decade. “We would look for berries, and my brother ate a worm once,” a TikToker wrote. Another commenter on Instagram remembered “running as fast as I can back to the house to ask for money before the ice cream truck pull[ed] off.” Even Welch’s, the juice brand that millennials grew up on thanks to its perpetual TV commercials, got in on the joke: “Now all they need is some grape juice.”
The video creator and mom of four told People that her kids loved their day of screenless pretend play. “They just made up games all day! They played outside,” she said, noting that she may try a day in the 1970s or 1980s. “It’s amazing how a kid’s imagination grows when you let them work that muscle.”