To worry people won't want to be friends with me because of my age

I'm 35 and my wife 37. We've got close friends in their 40's and older than that. We've recently struck up a lovely friendship with a former colleague of my wife's, and her husband who are both in their late 50's and they are some of the funniest, kindest people I've ever met and brilliant fun and we are organizing a weekend away together which we are both really looking forward to.

My eldest friends are in their mid 70s
Youngest - mid 20s

Don't think about it so much. I was 43 when I had DC. The average age mum at his first primary school was about 4-5 years younger. For me that didn't feel too different. 50 is a big milestone and I did feel a tad wobbly admitting it, but I knew I was younger at heart than many of the other mums.

When we moved the local school mums were generally younger. I was older than some of the grandmothers. During the first term, when I was meeting him at the school gates, DC came bounding out announcing that I was older than the head mistress. Said head mistress was lovely, but very stuck in the 80s styling. Think Laura Ashley red corduroy dress with tiered skirt. As we walked away, a parent said to DC, 'but your lovely mum looks much younger'. They were a great set of parents there. I'm still friends with one who isn't 50 now and I'm over 60 🤣

Hi OP, please don't worry about age gap! One of my best friends is 13 years older than me. She's 40 and I'm 27, she has 3 children, I have none. It works for us both although we live very different lives

I don’t screen potential friendships by age, it wouldn’t even cross my mind to 🤷‍♀️ If I like a person, and they seem to like me, if we have things in common, if we can have a bit of a laugh, if they seem like a decent, caring person - those are the things that matter 😊

Absolutely people will want to be friends with you!

I’m in my thirties and I have friends from their mid twenties up to their late forties and I love them all and enjoy their company hugely.

It sounds like these people already like you and enjoy your company and things are ripe to develop into deeper friendships.

I'm early 40s. My dh is early 50s. Kids are both pre teen.

Your age wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

We have friends of all ages. Some I don't even know their age.

I have friends of all ages , I’m 48 and my youngest best friend is 27 and my oldest best friend is 60, met both through work and just clicked.

I’m 56. I met my primary friendship group (6 of us) here because our children all went to the same nursery (19 years ago now!). I am the oldest and the youngest is 45. It has never bothered us for a second.

friendships grows out of commonality and shared experiences, which you have a lot with all these other ladies. You’ll be ahead of the game on menopause but that could be interesting. Just reach out and have those dinners and drinks. But maybe start off with the big reveal in the form of a 50th celebration?!

I had my first daughter when I was 23 and had the same fear as everyone was 10 years older than me but I made some great friendships with ‘school moms’. I was attending all their 40th birthdays when I was still in my 20s!
I don’t think age gaps really matter with friendships beyond the age of about 25/immaturity.

I’m glad other people have good stories, but I don’t.

I’ve moved around quite a bit though, which never helps. I moved to where I live now when I was pregnant with my 3rd at 40. I’m very friendly, I went to baby groups with her like I did with my older ones, but all the mums I met were under 30.

I live in an area now where people tend to have children very young. Most of the parents in dds reception class are early 20s, the same age as my elder child.

I don’t care, but they do see me as older. I mentioned a quote of the office the other week, which I’m pretty sure most people in their 40s would have got off the bat. But god lover her, my 29 year friend looked at me blankly and asked what I was on about. I told her and she said, “oh yeah, I remember my parents watching that when I was a kid”.

I’ve made it clear that I would love to be invited out but I never am.

I’ve had it the other way round too, though. I had my eldest when I was 22 and I lived in an area where most of the other first time mums were mid 30s. They weren’t keen on me for that, either.

where I live now, other women my age act like thier life is over to be honest.

Im 43. My DC are 11 and 9. I have parent-friends from 30 to 55. It's a total non-issue.

You're at the same "life stage" so as such I wouldn't think twice about it. Just enjoy the friendships without overanalyzing. Make light of it if you feel self conscious.

I went to uni last year (teacher training)
My best friends from the course were 22, 21 and 52. I'm 40.
No one cares about age, enjoy your new friends.

I think you are over thinking it OP. One of my loveliest friends is 20 years older than me. She is brilliant company and makes me laugh. I don't care about her age at all.

Also people have children at all ages. My DCs friends parents have a wide range of ages. I think it is quite normal and as long as you all get on well it isn't an issue at all.

I have a group of friends where the age range is from late 20s to late 60s. It would be quite strange to decide whether or not to be friends with someone based on their age.

I'm in a lovely group of mum friends, there are 8 of us. I am 39 and aged somewhat in the middle. 3 are younger and the rest older.

I am closest to one who is 36 and the other who is 50 in Feb! I dont care about her age at all. We went to IOW festival last year together!

Don't overthink it, I'm sure you are a lovely valued member of the group, reach out!

Please don't overthink it. I'm mid 40s and my closest friends range in ages from 38 to 57 - if you have things in common and get along it doesn't matter. My youngest/oldest friends don't always get my cultural / music references but who cares! I do different things with different friends. I regularly walk with mil and appreciate her perspective on things and recently had a great time meeting up on holiday with my parents oldest friends who unexpectedly were staying in the same resort - they are 25 years older than us but drank us under the table! Age is just a number, let your hangups go and if anyone does care they're not worth bothering with

As kindly as possible; this is utterly ridiculous. It won’t cross anyone’s mind.

Are you prone to anxiety and do you find friendships hard? If so it might help you to do a bit of work on this. This is so not an issue.

Yes you're totally over thinking op! I'm pushing 40 and would happily be friends with someone who's 50 if they were a nice and friendly person. I think as you get older she difference matters less in friendships as people's life experience evens out. I say go for it!

I have a few friends 10-15yrs older than me. I have plenty in common with them.

I had my one and only at 40, and as such all my “mum friends” are 5-10 years younger.

Sometimes I’m a bit conscious of it, but mostly I’m just glad I finally made it (years of miscarriages).

I can’t say I have ever given someone’s age a second thought. I have had close friends the same age as my parents and my current bestie is about 20 years younger than me!

Surely most people have friends of varying ages?