Parents Did Stuff Before AI: A Reminder That We Weren’t Always Helpless

There’s a strange narrative floating around these days that modern parents would crumble without AI, apps, or a device telling them what to do next. It’s as if daily life used to be impossible before we could fire off a prompt like “make me a meal plan that doesn’t involve cilantro.”

The truth is both simpler and funnier: parents used to do absolutely everything without any of this technology. Life wasn’t smoother, but it still worked. Kids got raised, jobs got found, dinners got made, and somehow everyone survived using tools like paper, memory, and pure improvisation.

Can you tell I am getting close to being an old man on the porch?? (Please don’t look at the photo on my homepage)

Tech helps. AI is handy. But parents were never helpless. Here’s a look back at how things actually got done before ChatGPT, before smartphones, and even before the internet.

Quick reference guide: Cooking temperatures for perfectly grilled meats

Achieving the perfect doneness for your favourite meats is an art, and mastering the right cooking temperatures is the key. I swear I Google this information every time I cook or grill chicken, beef or pork. Whether you’re firing up the grill or using your oven, having a quick reference guide can make a world of difference. In this post, I will quickly break down the recommended cooking temperatures for various meats, ensuring your next meal is cooked to perfection. I also won’t bore you with some story ahead of time as I know you are here for the straight goods.

New TV Shows Premiering in December 2025

A new month, and the last of the new TV show releases for 2,025, ready to sabotage whatever tiny amount of free time you have left. December knows you have a lot of holiday plans, and that’s why it’s pretty slim pickings for shows worth your time. But you are here to be entertained, so here’s what I’ll be watching as 2025 wraps up.

When Will 6-7 Actually End?

If you’ve spent more than five minutes around a pre-teen or teenager lately, or dared to open TikTok without body armour, you’ve probably encountered the unstoppable force known as 6-7. At this point, it feels less like a meme and more like a gas leak slowly filling the house. You don’t see it at first. Then suddenly your kid is muttering “six-seven” while pouring cereal, entire classrooms are chanting it like it’s the national anthem, and some poor teacher is Googling “how to manage children possessed by numbers.”

The real question for those of us in the trenches is simple: when does this actually stop? As a dad who has survived the dab era, the flossing era, the Skibidi Toilet era, and whatever the hell was going on with “griddy” for three years too long, I’ve earned the right to ask.

How Are We All Doing?

Yep, that’s the question. How are we all doing? For me, November is one of the tougher months to get through, so I figured I’d do a check-in. Drop something in the comments if you’re feeling it too. Honestly, I think November might be a harder month than the usual poster child for feeling down: February.

February gets all the blame for being grey, miserable, and never-ending, but November quietly sneaks in with its own brand of heaviness. The days get shorter in a way you can actually feel. One day you’re having dinner in daylight, and the next you’d swear midnight starts at 5:07 p.m. You step outside, and the air has that sharp edge that reminds you winter is auditioning. The first snow shows up uninvited, wet and clingy, just to remind you what’s coming.