Video Nails The Difference Between Moms On Halloween In The 80's -- And Now

How much has parenting changed on Halloween in the last 30 years? A lot. And it’s hilarious

As you prepare your children for a night of trick-or-treating fun, do you ever look back on how things have changed since you were a kid? If not, don’t worry, the moms from That’s Inappropriate and Juggling the Jenkins have gotten together again to distill the differences between a mom in 1988 and a mom in 2018.

The results will have you (and probably your parents) feeling deeply seen.

With comedians Meredith Masony and Tiffany Jenkins each taking the role of the a 1980s mom and a present day mom, respectively, the differences are stark — and laugh-out-loud funny.

The video opens by contrasting 80s mom costume ideas (a hobo, a ghost with a floral sheet) with modern-day mom costume ideas — like a Jurassic World costume that “I’ll sew tonight!”

It then moves to trick-or-treating rules — today’s kids have to be home before dark and can eat ONE piece of candy, as long as it doesn’t have yellow dye, while 80s kids are handed a pillowcase and told to go terrorize the rich neighborhood for their haul.

Finally, how is pumpkin carving different now? Growing up, 80s kids were handed a huge kitchen knife and told to scram, while today’s kids are aren’t allowed any sort of edge that could hurt themselves (or penetrate a pumpkin).

Masony told Scary Mommy that her inspiration for the viral video, which has netted over 5 million views, didn’t have to come from farther away than her own experiences growing up.

“As a product of the 1980s I totally channeled my Mom for this character,” she said. “We were always outside, no one ever knew where we were, and we definitely carved pumpkins with large knives and no adult supervision.”

Masony also said that the response has been epic, probably simply because so many parents can relate — and because so many of us feel the stress of trying to be a “perfect mom,” sometimes all you can do is laugh.

“Parenting today is so different from when I was raised,” she said. “I think it is fun talk about the differences between the 80’s and today. Raising kids is the toughest job on the planet and I think it’s even harder living in a world with social media. I like to use these opportunities to lighten the mental load of motherhood by cracking jokes and letting Moms know they’re not alone.”

Masony and Jenkins are already planning a follow-up video that covers the differences between 1980s moms and present-day moms tackling Christmas — and we can’t wait. In the meantime, you can check out the pair’s new podcast, Take It Or Leave It, which contains the same irreverent, too-true comedy that resonates with so many parents.