A Dad Perfectly Parodies How Different Back-To-School Season Is Now Compared To The ‘90s

Hate to break this to you, but back-to-school season is here. Yes, every store has now switched over cute patio set displays for notebooks and pencils and protractors even though it’s still the height of swim season. School supply lists will soon be arriving in parents’ email inboxes, bombarded with rules, time changes, spirit day details, and fundraising information.

One TikTok dad is longing for the simpler times when spirit days didn’t exist and neither did three different portals for parents to remember log-ins to. Dave “FitDad” Ogleton shared a hilarious parody of what it’s like to be a parent today during back-to-school season versus the simpler time of the ‘90s.

First, Ogleton pretends to be a ‘90s dad — carefree and laid back — relying mostly on his kid to do the work of getting prepped for another school year.

“Did you ride your bike up to school to see what teacher you got this year?” he asks his kid. “Okay, well when you do, make sure you grab the school supply list.”

Remember the days of just strolling up to school and looking for your name on the class printouts taped to the door? You’d run your finger down the list of names, hoping to see some friends in your class too? Ah, to be young!

And for our parents, there was a trip to the store for a short list of supplies, maybe a new lunch box or sneakers to purchase, and that was about it.

Then, Ogleton switches over to today’s parents who are inundated with email after email from their kid’s school with list, rules, log-ins, and a hundred other to-dos that will make parents actually wish summer lasted just a bit longer.

He begins to read a parody email, which makes fun of super-specific school supply lists and all the weirdly-named platforms and portals that parents have to gain access to just to keep up with their kid’s school work.

“Okay, welcome back. Your school supply lists include everything you already bought but in a different color. That's helpful. The supply list can be found in your ZableZoot account. Oh, and all students and parents got new logins and passwords for their ZableZoot accounts which can be found in your Zorkel app,” he reads.

“Did we ever figure out which one that was?” he seemingly asks his partner. “No?”

He then reads off an e-mail regarding pick-up and drop-off rules.

“Drop off time for this year is 8:30,” he reads. “Students arriving at 8:32 will be marked late. No exceptions.”

Moving onto every parent’s arch nemesis of the school year: spirit days.

“Great news...Spirit days are back and will be every other week, but feel like every day,” he jokes. “The first day of school will be ‘Wear your favorite salad dressing socks,’” he reads.

Then ponders to himself with a perfect pun, “What in the Hellman is this?”

He continues, “If you forget, don't worry, your child will remind and berate you for forgetting when they get home. Welcome back.”

Though Ogleton is clearly acting hyperbolically, were there any lies detected? School supply lists are intense, and spirit days do make every parents’ skin crawl.

The video resonated with thousands of parents who feel Ogleton’s pain and even added some other grievances to the back-to-school dread.

“Don’t forget: ‘along with all the other apps we will be adding a new one to make communication ‘easier,’” one user wrote.

Another imitated another type of back-to-school email and said, “‘Our first fundraiser starts on the 2nd day of school.’ 😂”

One user noted how she often wonders how her parents even knew what was going on during school without email and constant teacher-parent communication.

Another user said, “You forgot to add: ‘And we're not sure who their teacher will be, still hiring’ 😂” which is so spot on.

As of October 2022, after the school year had already begun, 45% of U.S. public schools had at least one teacher vacancy. That's according to limited federal data.

While Ogleton’s parody video was meant to bring some lightness to a less-than-fun parent duty, several users commented that his very real take on back-to-school seasons stirred up their anxiety.

One user said, “I did not need this anxiety this morning, it is still July! lol”

Another echoed, “I'm literally crying and laughing at the same time 😆🥺” May the odds be ever in the favor of every single parent who embarking in a new school season!