Do you ever listen to your kids talking to their friends and come to the horrifying realization that you have no idea what they're saying? It's more common than you think. Generation gaps have always been a thing. It used to be that parents just needed to keep on top of a few slang words. Thanks to the internet, there's also meme culture, celebrities from social media sites you've never heard of, and viral terms to keep up with.
Asking your kids what any of these things mean can sometimes get you an answer. More often, you'll be met with mortification about how lame you are. Luckily, author and speaker Jon Acuff's teenage daughter is a little more sympathetic. Last Christmas, 16-year-old LE Acuff created a handy guide to help her dad understand what's going on in meme culture. He shared some selected pages from the thoughtful and hilarious guide gift with his Instagram followers.
If you're scratching your head trying to figure out why your teenage daughter is sksksksk-ing at her Hydro Flask, chances are you've fallen out of touch with the hottest online trends. The aforementioned are marks of a VSCO girl, one of the many new teenage personality types birthed from meme culture.
Confused? Thanks to author Jon Acuff's teenage daughter, we might all be able to get up to speed. He recently shared to Instagram a photo of the guide to meme culture his daughter gave him last Christmas. In it is everything you need to know about what's in online.
"My 16-year-old daughter made me a guide for memes last Christmas," he captioned the images. "It is the most amazing thing ever. The table of contents includes phrases I should know, memes I should know and even a special note about TikTok. She spent weeks making this and each page is funnier than the last. Swipe through the photos in case you need a refresher on the world record egg, the calm down lady, and Sponge Bob."
LE's guide is nothing short of masterful. She begins with a table of contents that covers phrases her dad should know, memes he should know, her own favorite memes, information about TikTok, important people and stereotypes, new phrases, new memes and trends, and an "About the Author" section. It's impressively comprehensive and really sweet, as she did all of this to keep her dear old dad in the loop.
"He can get a little behind on the current meme situation since meme culture is changing and evolving so fast," LE explained to Today Parents. "Typically my dad is fairly updated on internet trends, but it can take about five to 10 business days for the trends to reach his Twitter feed. I decided to make him a little book just so he could stay on top of some of my personal favorite memes and current lingo … memes that circulate in the Gen Z crowd."
LE covers all the memes that have been everywhere in the last few months. Next to each picture, she offers a full explanation of why the meme is significant. Some of her picks include woman yelling at cat, the world record egg, Tide Pods, and Area 51.
In the section on important people and stereotypes, she covers even more. She explains eboys and egirls, VSCO girls, Peppa Pig, and more. For JoJo Siwa, she writes, "She's just a meme because she's 16 years old and acts like a 6-year-old. She's got an iconic ponytail … also a car with her face on it."
LE's one page on TikTok is inspired. She explains some of the app's trends but admits her dad isn't into it just yet. "I keep telling him that Facebook and Twitter are over, but he has yet to make the switch," she noted.
If you didn't know, now you know.
Jon was thrilled that his daughter went to such awesome lengths. "Usually by the time I figure it out, it's already been retired, so her doing it was such a kindness to me," he said. He explained that he tries to keep up with what LE and 14-year-old daughter McRae are interested in.
Jon and wife Jenny think it's worked well for their family. "It's been a thing for us, asking 'How do we be deliberate and have fun with it?' I always tell parents you can fast forward childhood but you can't rewind it, so enjoy the moment," Jon said.
LE doesn't mind her parents trying to stay connected with internet culture as a way to stay connected with her and McRae. She also enjoys being able to keep to her same sense of humor at home that she does when she's with friends. She thinks more families would benefit from connecting this way.
"Share videos and trends you think are funny with your parents," she advises her peers. "They will love that you are taking the time to share something you like with them." She also has some advice for parents of teens.
"For parents try to stay updated but please, check your current lingo with your teen before you end up embarrassing them in front of their peers," she says. It can save everyone from being humiliated. "Trust me, no teen wants to hear their parent say something with words like 'shook.'"
Plenty of commenters were dying for a guide like this themselves. "Can she publish this in monthly emails for old people? (I'm 34 and including myself in that group)," wrote one commenter.
"As a parent of teenagers, I would pay good money for a quarterly edition of this," wrote another. "I need an L.E. newsletter!" Sounds like there are some serious opportunities there for LE!
