Is anyone else totally shocked by their own age?

[Darkdiamond]

I feel like the last time I checked, I was around 29. I'm now 41 and feel like I've lost a decade! I've young kids, including a toddler so have spent the past 9 years pregnant, breastfeeding and in the thick of nappies, potty training, Paw Patrol and all things Young Kids. It has kid of blindsided me to the fact that I'm actually middle aged. In my head I'm late twenties and feel like things have been on pause since then (in a good way). I have friends around the same age with teenagers, kids at uni etc and I honestly don't think I'm old enough for that to even be possible, but it is? I was brushing my hair and caught sight of my hands and noticed they have aged a lot. Then I thought, yeah but you're in your 40s now! I'm still having regular periods, just stopped breastfeeding 6 months ago and I just don't feel any different!

Anybody else?

I'm 47 on Friday but I actually feel my age

I had a nasty shock this weekend when I saw a happy 60th birthday post for a young footballer who's poster I had on my wall as a teenager. That can't possibly be right, as I only recently turned 19!

Definitely! I'm 47 & I've just started a new entry level job. I'm being trained by. 21 year old who treats me like a stupid old hag. All I can think is just yesterday I was the 21 year old training people in my last industry, travelling & having amazing adventures. Where did the time go? When did I become the oldest person in the office?

I still think I'm about 30. Unfortunately we're now talking more about retirement than festivals & I'm gaining weight without eating anything. It's quite depressing.

I have already done 16 years of school runs with my eldest 2 DC, my twins are only 2 and not due to start school until 2026, my DC3 will still be in primary…the school run seems endless 😂

My daughter is 51, how ridiculous is that 😩

Yes and no. I’m 41 but my DC are late teens so getting more independent which gives me more time to do things I’m interested in. I feel like I became a parent at the same time as becoming an adult and this is the start of a whole new chapter and even though I am technically middle aged I don’t feel it at all.

I’m intending to make the most of my 40s (and 50s, 60s etc. but we’ll see about that later!) and do all the stuff I couldn’t do as a skint single mum in my 20s.

Edited because my post makes it sound like I’m not interested in my DC. I meant I can do things without worrying about being at home in time to cook tea, and not having to take them with me everywhere etc.

My daughter is 40 next year.. it was only yesterday l was 40 and enjoying it in Dublin.
( I'm 66).
Ouch. It's frightening.

My adult years have passed in such a blur of nappies and stress I feel like I didn't appreciate it was all precious, precious time.

Now I'm beyond 50, have had parental departures and major life events, I feel.... battle scarred.

Thank God I have my health. Doesn't stop me taking it for granted and make non healthy choices thinking I'm still 30.

When I think I've arrived at acceptance I get another shock like a new wrinkle, another birthday, or ache.

I’m 47 and can’t quite compute that as a child looking at my parents in their late 40s they looked like proper grown ups - and yet inside they were also feeling like I do now - like an overgrown kid playing at being adult!

I think it gets worse when I find myself saying the same things to my kids that they once said to me - it’s like a dizzying moment of vertigo in which I see endless parents and endless children stretching out into the past and the future, all going through that same journey.

Succinctly put!!😂

I feel like this. Last time I looked I was 36 now I'm 51. Where has the last 15 years gone?
I mean I had another child at 42, so I guess that's where they've gone. Absolutely flown by. I've been a lot more spontaneous this year and last though and started to travel to places I've never been before and booked lots of mini trips including a 24 hour trip to another country. Feel like I need to hurry up as loads to see and do.

I had the vertigo feeling when sorting through old family photos, going back to the 1920s. All those Christmases and birthdays and holidays and christenings and by the time I looked at the pictures everybody in them was deceased. It took me a couple of days to cheer up after that.

I turn 50 this year. In my mind I have a strong idea of what 50 year old women are like - nothing negative, just very mature, sensible, sorted.
I am nothing like how I imagine 50 year olds to be! I still feel like an awkward 15 year old.
I have certain colleagues I look up to. I've always assumed they're older and wiser than me. Found out they're all about ten years younger and it just makes me feel weird. It's all about how I see myself and how I see others.

A bit… I was fine at 45/46. But perimenopause hit at 47 & now I’m a fat old hag. I can’t relate to my age 35 or even 40 year old self…

Apparently I'll be 60 soon. I can't get my head around it. I'm in total denial and trying to pretend it's not happening. I still think I'm 25.

I'm 50 and still feel like I'm 20. Then I see 20 year olds and realise I'm very, very different to them.

I’m fifty next month.

Just typing that is like having an out of body experience. It makes no sense. I’ve done fuck all in half a century.

I'm going to be 65 in a fortnight 😮. "Kids" in their 40s! What the hell happened??

I'm 66. It is outrageous. My body is convinced I'm 80, my mind that I'm 18. My own child is 41. My granddaughter is 12 and the tallest woman in the family. I remember asking my grandma (in her 50s) what it was like to be old. She thought for a minute and said 'In your head, you're just the same.'

I'm 40 this year and honestly can't believe it at all. Especially as I'm not a mummy yet, we're trying to conceive after losing our baby, and for some reason this is making the age 40 even more upsetting for me xx

Saying or thinking about my actual age (47) is fine.

But thinking about spans of time terrifies me - it's 30 years this year since I went to university. 20 years since I got married (and 10 since exH left). My DD is now neatly the age I was going to university but that is too confusing as I'm still that age, in my head.

It is frightening how quickly 30 years have gone by & I take a big gulp when I think about where I will be in 30 more years (if I'm lucky, of course).

The last decade has been a painful challenging one following an abusive marriage. Thinking about my age is giving me a bit of a kick in the ass to get on with stuff, with what I can do, instead of waiting for some Nirvana where all might be perfect & sorted out & easy.

Yes. Happens to us all.

💔

That's tough & very understandable. Sending many good wishes for a happy outcome for you.

I'm 44 and I find it actually quite distressing

Yes a lost decade (of sleep deprivation, pandemic and all sorts). Gutted I'm turning 42 this year 😨