Teacher Uncovers Real Reason Millennial Moms Lug Around ‘Emotional Support’ Water Bottles

Kids have it easy these days. Yep, we said it, and we believe it. It was much harder for us to get by in school way back when. Nope, we aren't talking about having to use the library and actual books to look things up. And we aren't going to complain about their fancy smart boards or the fact that we washed chalkboards and used vacuum cleaners on the erasers. Or even the fact that no one really cared about our "feelings" at school. That is all child's play. We want to talk about real classroom torture.

Do you remember how freaking hot it used to be in those school buildings? Plenty of them didn't even have air conditioning, and we felt like we were being baked in brick ovens. If you were lucky to have class in the computer lab, you might get 45 minutes enjoying the cool air. But the rest of the day, you were just hot. And did we mention thirsty? So darn thirsty. Former teacher Jess Smith gets it and shared her hot take on the @boredteachers TikTok page, and it's hilarious.

Water was a big treat in the good old days.

Our kids might be begging for Stanley cups to take to school, but Smith rightfully asks in the viral TikTok, "Does anyone over the age of 30 remember being allowed to have a water bottle in their elementary classroom?"

Um, nope, we sure don't. We barely remember the water she mentions at lunch and snack time. For real, was snack time a thing, too? Nope, that memory is pretty vague, but we digress. We're back to water. We don't remember much, but her next musing did open a core memory.

There were a few sips a day.

Do you recall the "three seconds at the water fountain that they would give you after recess? You were like gulping for your life at that water fountain while the kids behind you we like obnoxiously counting down or being like, 'she's getting more than three seconds,'" she says in the clip.

Ugh, we hated those kids. But she is so spot on. Then the teacher would give you a tap, and you were on your way.

Talk to moms about mom stuff. And make money doing it.

And what would parents do today?

Smith says that emails and calls would flood in with complaints, and she is probably right. In those days, we were hardly allowed to bring anything at all into our classrooms. But now, our kids have all sorts of freedoms.

"I'm just imagining them," she says with a laugh.

People would be losing their darn minds. Can you even imagine? And yet here we are all these years later, having survived on about 8 ounces a day, and we're just fine, although maybe suffering a bit of scarcity mentality.

But our children? Don't you dare let their tongues become dry.

The comment section had no memories of water.

It wasn't just us. It appears no one drank water before the year 2000. Not at school or at home. It was milk, juice, and soda for us '80s and '90s kids.

It wasn't pushed at home, that's for sure. "I'm 42 and I don't remember ever drinking water except at the fountain at school," someone wrote.

And teachers certainly weren't letting kids leave the classroom.

"That's so true! I am almost 55. We never got water. It was too bad. So sad if you're thirsty," another comment reads.

"I'm in my early 50's & 9 times out of 10 requests to go to the water fountain were denied b/c the teachers thought we were just trying to get out of class. Umm.. no- dying of dehydration!!" 😂 one person chimed in.

But hey, we all made it.

One TikToker made a great analogy. "Is this my generations' walking to school up hill both ways' scenario? 🤣 When my daughter and I forget her water bottle, I always tell her how her dad and I never had water bottles at school and only drank at snack and lunch. 🤣I hear all the time that behavior issues have risen since we were kids; my theory is we were too dehydrated to misbehave 🤣."

She's probably right, and that's OK. All of us moms are making up for it now.

"And this is why we all carry our emotional support water bottles as 30 year olds ..." someone commented.

Yup, we literally take our "emotional support" water bottles everywhere we go.

Gotta run now. Have to fill up the Stanley for the fifth time this morning, and it's not even noon. Between that and trips the bathroom, we’re not sure how we get anything done!