What does Gen X know about parenting?
Well, since most of 'em are latchkey kids, making their own grilled cheese after school before mobbing with 5 other neighborhood kids on their bikes around town, I'd say that everything Gen X learned about parenting, they learned out in 'the field'. Our parents worked and therefore, we had to govern ourselves accordingly. Gen X instinctively became their own parents, in a feat of Lord-of-the-Flies-esque hierarchies. Each friend group had a momish and dadish figure, and everyone else in between was semi-feral.
That's part of Gen X's charm.
So if you're a Gen Xer looking at the parents of today and wondering why they're all gentle-parenting and letting their kiddos scream in the Target line, it's because the kids never learned consequences from their peers like you did. Be glad you grew up solo in the high-flying 80s, teasing your hair instead of playing Fortnite. Because although it wasn't a perfect childhood, it still beats the chaos of today.