15 Ways To Be A Cool 90s Mom

Hi, I’m Andi! I am a certified 90s mom living in the 2020s and here to be your guide to live more 90s which means a budget-friendly, unplugged, happy lifestyle. To me, it’s the antidote of the noisy, over-consuming culture we happen to live in. And I love it. Let’s get started on 15 small things you can do to become a 90s mom, today.

1. Keep a journal 📝

   1. My personal favorite is my Moterm leather cover, a Walmart journal inside and a Hobonichi planner. But I take this guy everywhere I go. It’s where I actually wrote down this list I think in the middle of waiting for my next pickleball game. It’s the notes app but on paper! Also so cute for grocery lists!

      

2. Get a library card

   1. It’s free, it’s easy and it’s magical because it unlocks worlds for you. I am currently on a “living wild” / “becoming self-sufficient by raising chickens streak and borrowing all kinds of books on this from the library and learning so much. It’s not just for your kiddos, but they highly benefit from going to the library too. Look up local storytimes and go to the library! It’s so 90s.

3. Join your local YMCA

   1. This is not free, it’s actually more expensive than I thought it would be BUT there is free childcare and the vibes here are sooo 1999. It’s so cute, honestly and like stepping back in time and the community (and pickleball open play hours) are sooo worth the $99/month. I go twice a week for two hours, they know my daughter by name and she watches AquaFit for 20 minutes like it’s her favorite Bluey episode. Highly recommend 10/10

4. Host Mahjong for Moms 🀙🀚🀛

   1. I grew up playing Mahjong as a Chinese-American girlie. My grandma taught me when I was 7 so I associate mahjong with the 90s, now in the 2020s it’s wildly popular and almost everyone knows about it and wants to play so host mahjong! You can get a set on FB marketplace or Etsy, learn the rules and it’s such a fun way to get moms together to socialize and eat snacks together while playing a fun game!

   

5. Do a digital detox (at least 14 days but I recommend 40)

   1. I am so passionate about this, it could be a whole series I share on Substack but for now let me just say this is the most bada** 90s mom thing you can do is just disconnect and disappear for two weeks. No one has to know lol, just ghost. It’s good for your mental health, well-being, connection to your kids, husband etc. Just trust me on this, more to come in a Substack series with statistics and all the goods but just try it out, or think about it!

6. Get an embroidery kit

   1. Over Thanksgiving this year, I decided to get a $1.99 embroidery kit from Hobby Lobby and it was so great to have something to do with my hands, it helped a lot with my anxiety. Shortly after I found my neighbor is really into it so we would stitch together at our houses and found a ATX Stitch Club hosting events and it was just such a cute, wholesome thing to do without our phones!

   

7. Pinterest the seasons

   1. At the start of every seasons, create a Pinterest board with inspiration for that season, include: outfits, crafts, decorations, bucket list things to do as a family! I just think there’s so much great inspiration on Pinterest so utilize that to set the vibes for the seasons.

8. Make an outdoor cart

   1. I repurposed my breastfeeding cart to be an outdoor activity cart! I have a boombox I thrifted from Goodwill, bubbles (of, course), sticker sheets, a remote-controlled car, a box of tissues, chalk and whatever else on there and I just roll it out for my trash truck parties (see next:)

      

9. Host a trash truck party 🚛🎉

   1. Start observing when your trash truck comes, if it’s at a regular hour — make it a whole thing! I set out a big blanket, some chairs and roll my outdoor cart out there and invite neighbors and friends out there and we cheer when the trash trucks come and the trash truck drivers honk their horns. It’s literally a mini parade every week and it’s the highlight of my week, not even kidding!

10. Shop at Hobby Lobby and Old Navy

    1. Every time I go to Hobby Lobby I find 90s treasures, like games that bring you all the way back and you forgot even existed. There’s also a lot of educational or DIY things you can get for $1! And Old Navy is my favoriteeeee place to shop for clothes. It’s 90s mom style on a budget, so cute.

    

11. Also shop at Goodwill, FB Marketplace and thrift stores

    1. see above!

12. Set up a “computer room”

    1. Dedicate one space to be where you use the internet, and don’t use it anywhere else. We have to re-imagine the recreation room now that internet can fit in a smartphone. We have to MAKE the boundaries, so that we use the tool instead of the tools using us. And the best thing I’ve done is decide I only use my phone for social media in one room of the house. Bring back the dial-up / landline days for free by just establishing new boundaries. You don’t need a brick for this! Just discipline.

13. Go to church

    1. Obviously, this is a personal one and I was debating putting this down but there is something so 90s about going to a church — being with community week after week and learning about the God who created us. Again, I don’t want to push my personal things on you but I guess look for spaces of community that remind of you of the 90s and be a part of that on a weekly basis!

14. Once in a while, ditch the GPS

    1. We are so reliant on navigation system that sometimes I embarass myself when I put down directions for somewhere that is 0.7 miles away. Once in a while, let’s just try to get somewhere on our own and if we get a little lost - that’s okay! We might find a coffee shop we didn’t know existed or see a restaurant we want to try now. It also just helps our navigation skills + memory keeping I suppose lol!

15. Go on walks everyday

    1. We must go outside, get Vitamin D like our ancestors did. There’s something about walking, being outside and exploring that is so so good for our soul. I’m not strict about this so you can listen to music, a podcast or whatever it doesn’t have to be a silent walk, although silent walks ARE so 90s. But just go on a walk :)

That was just a starter list, I could go on and on but these are some ways to become a 90s mom and some things that I do every week that I think make me a cool 90s mom!

Let me know what’s your favorite or what you would add!

Let’s bring back that magic of the nineties back in our day to days — I think it will be really healing.

xoxo

Andi