You can tell you're in your 40s when

[MintyGreenDreams]

You're walking around B&M and a worker tells you your jeggings are inside out and there is a white tag sticking out of your arse and you thank her for telling you and give zero fucks.
This happened this morning and 10,20 years ago I would have been embarrassed and scarpered.

Are these the glory years?

I love this thread. Another thing I have found is that I am great now at expressing my needs and boundaries in a way I could never do before

Big, granny knickers, giving zero fucks about the opinion of others, being comfortable in my own skin, and listening to smooth or gold instead of capital.

You start telling strangers off, as you secretly always wanted to but didn't have the nerve for.

In the last month alone I've told off: two men for letting their dogs foul the pavement without clearing it up; screaming and shouting girls on the bus who were blocking the aisle and not letting an old lady past to sit down; someone (from France I learned) going on and on very loudly the day after the queen died, also on the bus, about how 'she wasn't a proper queen anyway, it would be better if we were a republic like France, and hopefully King Charles would die soon and have no successor'.

When you start your sentence with
"When I was a child, back in the last century"

yes to telling strangers off - I asked someone who was playing music off their phone very loudly in a packed but silent tube carriage the other day, to “turn that down, please”. Very firmly. He meekly turned it off. Ha!

… you are no longer prepared to put up with the other half snoring. I value a full night’s sleep. The second he starts, he’s off to the sofa. Why should I be tired because he sounds like a pneumatic drill the minute his head touches the pillow?

Big knickers, pull on bras and I have an entire drawer full of comfy lounge wear if I’m not going out. I live in elasticated waists.

Can’t be arsed with makeup I’d prefer to sleep for longer in the mornings!

No high heels ever! Sturdy comfy shoes only.

I have a shopping trolley bag.

I am loving being older and also being invisible to men now!

Oh god YES

Buying the new fashion in clothes that might be too young for you and being told kindly by the shop assistant that her mum likes these too. Bump back down to earth!

twitter.com/caitlinmoran/status/1280151777153859585?s=46&t=H5Y90HWpqc2ihJh8Uxp6ZQ

Love this column by the incredible Caitlin Moran on this.

Lunch over dinner every time!

Another thing I can't do now is bubbles. If I drink more than a glass of prosecco etc I have upset digestion the day after! Gin however is fine.

I found an internal mail envelope in the stationery cupboard at work yesterday and had to explain to the new grad what it was. He though it was hysterical and couldn't even imagine having to send hard copies of documents anywhere.

Love my shopping trolley, don't give a fuck what anyone thinks.

Magic trousers have overtaken my skinny trousers/jeans and short skirts. Wish I'd discovered them years ago.

What are magic trousers?!

@Hungrycaterpillarsmummy

nicheonline.co.uk/product-category/magic-trousers/

I sing along now in Supermarkets if they are playing a song I like. I have embraced leggings and big pants (well shorts, no horrible itchy elastic) I spent most of my 20-30’s wearing jeans in summer because of my cellulite, now I wear dresses all summer and I don’t give a fuck what other people think of my legs.

I did this a few years ago with a shirt. Had a cami underneath so just took the shirt off and put it back in the right way out. Was only me and the assistant in the place so I just thought, fuck it! 40s has been blissful for no longer giving a toss, and feeling confident in myself and knowing I know what I’m doing professionally (albeit clueless as a parent).

It’s not just for work! I only buy comfy shoes. Although to be fair, I did that years before I hit 40.

You are excited about an evening in, with the OH half out, so you can choose your dinner, wine, and tv shows with no discussion! (yesterday evening for me)

What's magic about the magic trousers?

@blackberriesaretheonlyfruit every online place I have looked at magic pants the photos show the hand in the pocket or the pocket completely covered by the top! Are the pockets baggy?!

I tried some magic trousers on. They were not magic on me!

Lol. Also do they make noise when you walk? I think I know the type of material and it sounds like swish swish as you walk?

Someone walked in on me on the loo today in Costa because I hadn't locked the door properly. I didn't bat an eyelid, just said oops, sorry, thought I'd locked it. Twenty years ago I would have been mortified for weeks!