371381 02: Track maintainer Gerry Boguse inspects a freight car from a model Union Pacific freight train June 21, 2000 at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, IL. This train is one of seven “G” scale model railroad trains that navigate 12 small national parks and six historic sites in a new exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Gardens called “Junior Railroad: Model Trains in a Model Garden.” (Photo by Tim Boyle/Newsmakers)
Here's a new term to learn. Millennials and older gens are "kidulting." If you haven’t heard of kidulting, it’s exactly what it sounds like. The Huffington Post says it's taking part in childhood activities as an adult. It’s not just millennials trying to bask in this nostalgia, older generations are kidulting too.
Jabbo runs a YouTube Channel called "Trains Tsar Fun." He's a great example of kidult. He loves trains as an adult. He says, “I have over 6,000 sets now. The most I’ve spent for a single set is $850 for the LEGO Grand Carousel,” he shares. “I get to do the things I could only imagine doing as a kid."
Here's more examples of millennials and older gens kidulting:
- McDonald selling out of their limited-edition adult Happy Meals that came with a collectible toy
- TikTok influencers dressing up in Y2K fashions and pretending they’re going out in the early ’00s
- Adult kickball leagues
- The huge popularity of Pokémon Go a few years ago
- Disney adults
- Anyone who’s overly invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
Founder of “GenTwenty” and author of “The Kidult Handbook” Nicole Booz says that the appeal is because “nostalgia is just comforting.” She goes on to explain, “Adults who reminisce [in] the nostalgia of childhood are looking back to a time in their lives where they felt secure when there was an entire lifetime of possibilities in front of them.”
I play Play Station online against kids... Is that Kidulting? Hahaha
