Millennials are calling themselves the “bridge generation,” caught between raising emotionally intelligent kids and re-parenting their own parents.
Featured VideoMillennial mother and content creator Poppy (@poppyspod) shared that as an adult learning to regulate her own emotions, she feels her generation is responsible for supporting the other generations.
“Being a millennial is weird,” she confessed in the TikTok video shared on June 26, 2025.
Like others her age, Poppy finds herself supporting the emotional development of her young daughter as well as an aging parent.
Advertisement“I am actively teaching myself how to regulate my emotions, while also teaching my 4-year-old daughter and my 65-year-old mother at the same time. We’re learning together; it’s a group project,” Poppy said in her video.
Poppy’s brief video accumulated over 700,000 views. It resonated with emotionally exhausted millennials who identify as a bridge generation, breaking the cycle of generational trauma caused by emotional neglect.
Among nearly 2000 commenters, many echoed Poppy’s experience and discussed the unique role millennials play as both students and teachers in a cultural movement that prioritizes emotional awareness.
Advertisement“Being everyone’s frontal lobe is NO JOKE! Solidarity friend.”
Millennials are “teachers leading the charge” as intergenerational healers
Poppy referenced her relationship with her 4-year-old daughter and boomer mother in the post’s caption. She wrote, “Millennials really do carry the rest of the generations on our mf backs fr.”
AdvertisementPoppy shares her most vulnerable experiences online in an effort to support others. She uses the term “cycle-breakers” to describe a commitment to emotional growth in service of breaking generational trauma.
“My role is to be a teacher and a shield for my daughter, navigating the challenging dynamics with my mother with grace and firm boundaries,” Poppy told Newsweek. “I am learning emotional regulation so I can be her best teacher, so she can feel supported in ways I never was. This is my focus as a cycle breaker.”
@poppyspod Millennials really do carry the rest of the generations on our mf backs fr. #millenialsoftiktok ♬ original sound – Poppy’s Pod | Cycle Breaking
Millennials say they’re carrying emotional labor across generations
Millennials’ replies in the comments revealed the generation feels it’s in a position to model a new way of processing and regulating emotions—for everybody—and it’s exhausting.
Advertisement“✨ The group project✨ none of us asked for nor want 😭 yet here we are 💀.”
“My dad: ‘Wow you’re so patient with your son.’ YEAH DAD YOU SHOULD TRY IT 😭🤣.”
Advertisement“My daughter is 10 and is doing amazing using her words and describing her emotions! My mom is 66 and hasn’t even started yet.”
“Love this for us…. ::cries::”
Advertisement“Being a millennial is exhausting.”
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