Parents weren’t always parents. They were once young and fun and wild. Then they became parents.
Sometimes it’s a big shock for kids to learn that their parents had a life before them. A life that was actually cool. A life that was cooler than theirs.
It’s a complete shock to them. Especially after all the dad jokes and mom jeans they’ve heard and seen over the years. But once they find photo proof, there’s little they can do to deny it.
Here Are 55 Times When Kids Discovered They’re Parents Were Cooler Than Them:
1) Smoking Your Way To Health
The 70s were a wild time. They allowed smoking in hospitals. Now they don’t even allow smoking outside of the hospital. This kid found a picture of her mom smoking in the hospital bed after giving birth to her sister.
2) When Your Mom’s A Bad Ass
This is a picture of someone’s mom in 1984. It was taken in Shreveport, Louisana. She was the only female in her welding class. Pretty damn cool.
3) Fishing On A Submarine
Some dad fish on a lake. This dad was fishing on a nuclear submarine in 1966. In dress shoes.
This kid’s mom flew helicopters in the Army. It was in the 80s. Wonder what the kid will grow up to do.
Parents make a lot of sacrifices for their kids. This mom stopped smoking/growing weed when she had kids. Or so she said…
6) Double Skateboard Handstand
Not many people can do a handstand on a skateboard. Or even a handstand by itself. This mom can do both.
Here we have a dad in the 1980s. A dad who was fighting Saddam Hussein’s army. He just stopped for a smoke break.
This dad didn’t even know this photo existed. It’s him serving in Vietnam in 1971. His kid randomly found it on the Internet.
9) Motorcycle Across Africa
This is another dad in the 1980s. Completely filthy and really happy. He was halfway into a motorcycle trip through Africa.
10)Dad’s First Job At NASA
This is NASA in 1986. It’s this dad’s first day on the job. He looks pretty official.
Now this is a family with a sense of humor. This is what a Bar Mitzvah looked like in 1972. The dad is the one with the Playboy, the uncle is making eyes in the back. The other two are grandma and grandpa.
You know your dad is a bad ass when he goes up against Chuck Norris. Not only goes up against, but it looks like he’s beating Chuck Norris. This dad is definitely cooler than his kid.
This kid has some creative parents. They are taking a picture reflected off a mirror. Parents were way cool in the late 70s.
Here is a dad with his vet mom. They had a pet lion for two years. It was 1959.
This is what a working mom looks like. She’s holding her kid while hard at work. She’s working on her master thesis on the macintosh Classic II in 1991.
This mom is one tough cookie. She fled Saigon in 1975. She was a member by the U.S. Air Force in 1975.
Just some guys diving off a submarine. From the starboard fin of the submarine. In the Pacific Ocean, in 1983.
18) Ghettoblaster Extrordinaire
For you kids who don’t know what you’re looking at, this is a boom box. Also known as a “ghettoblaster.” It plays music from things called tapes. This is a dad looking cool as hell at age 22 in Texas in 1987.
This kid’s parents have always been a cute couple. They celebrated their 47th anniversary last year. This is them in the 70s.
Not only was this mom stunningly beautiful, but she was also a DJ. Here she is spinning records at KWKH. It was a station in Shreveport, LA in 1977.
21) Fearless Homicide Detective
This kid’s mom investigated murders. It was back in the 80s. I bet she’s still a badass though.
22) Anything For The Allman Brothers
Here’s a mom at an Allman Brothers concert. She was gonna be there injury or no injury. Cigarette in hand.
People were hip in the 70s. Especially this kid’s parents. Look at those platform boots!
This dad looks like a P.I.M.P. But he’s not. It’s his 1970s graduation photo.
This is what a selfie looked like before selfies were a thing. This is someone’s dad in 1969. He’s flying in Vietnam.
26) Pregnant Woman At Gunpoint
This woman was just trying to get home. Instead she was held at gunpoint. While she was pregnant in 1969.
27) Know A Rhino By Its Name
This guy’s dad is a zoo keeper. He was the only one that could call the rhinos by their name. They’d come running like dogs for a scratch behind the ear.
28) Volunteering For The Red Cross
This mom was a Red Cross volunteer during WWII. She had her very own radio show. It was located in the Pacific Theater to counteract the Tokyo Rose in 1944.
29) At The Police Academy
Here we have the mother of a kid who probably didn’t get away with much when he was growing up. Here she is in the police academy. She looks like she means business with that gun.
This dad loves his motorcycle.This dad shipped his bike to England. Then he rode all over Europe in 1973.
Cars were way cooler back then. Just look at this grandpa sometime in the early 60s. His coolness inspired his grandson to take on photography as a career.
This mom is meeting some happy little celebrities. She’s meeting famous painter Bob Ross. I wonder if she got any painting tips from him.
Finally… an 80s picture. Look… at… hair. I wonder how much hairspray it took to get that hair so big.
When you think about time passing, you think of things getting better and people having more freedom. That can’t be said for Iran. This is a mom in 1975 before Islamic Revolution.
This is what a Canadian hippy looks like. This dad travelled the world in the 70s. Here he is in the Middle East.
36) NYC Subway Sysem in the 80s
You know your dad is cool if he can survive the NYC subway system in the 80s. It was INSANE. It’s like surviving a war.
This family is a Coors family. This is mom and dad from the 70s. They look super cool.
Oh to be young and in love. These are two parents from the 90s. Lookin’ carefee and beautiful.
Here we have the original hipster. This dad was a hipster in the 80s before there were hipsters. Complete with tiny cat and Miller gear.
This was mom in the 70s. She was getting her private pilot’s license. Does your mom even fly bro?
Do you think your dad is cool? Yeah, but did he save a child from a burning building? Is he hero level cool.
Another glorious photo from the 80s. This mom and dad are big winners. Just hangin’ with their trophies and a 7Up kayak.
Everyone loves a mom who loves America. This mom was so happy about becoming a United States Citizen that she dressed her child up as an American flag. It was his first Halloween in the 90s.
44) Florida State Champion
This is a mom from 1977. She had just won the Florida State Championship in trick water skiiing. She was celebrating with a nice cold beer.
Does your dad even lift bro? This dad must have. He was super buff in the early 1980s while serving in the Philippines and eating with a knife.
You know your mom was cool af if she had a car like this. Here she is standing next to her 1974 convertible Excalibur. If you didn’t know she was cool by the car, then you can tell by the look on her face.
Did your dad buy you, or himself, an original Nintendo? Then he was a cool dad. Here is a dad on Christman 1989… we’re not sure who the Nintendo belongs to.
48) When Bowling Was Cool
This is a picture from 1979. Back when bowling was cool. This dad bowled a perfect 300 game on mom’s birthday.
You would NEVER see this at Disney nowadays. Unless you’re in a designated smoking area. But this was in the late 70s or early 80s… they were different times.
50) Cowboy and His Cadillac
Here we have a cowboy and his Cadillac. It was the 70s in Texas. And that car was his pride and joy.
51) Fishing With Neil Armstrong
Now this is dad who probably has a lot of good stories. This is him on a fishing trip with Neil Armstrong. This was taken in the 1960s.
Now you don’t see chairs like that anymore. Here is a mom looking like a queen in 1979. It was her wedding day.
Here is dad in a sea of people. This was dad in 1985 at a Live Aid concert. Looks like a fun time!
It was 1972 and this one was rolling one up in Boulder, CO. A cigarette of some kind. That is one awesome 70s haircut.
55) Smokingg In the Name of Love
This couple definitely look like two peas in a pod. This was their wedding day in Vancouver in 1986. Have a smoke on their big day.
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