What is middle-aged behaviour / mannersisms?

[Jeannne92]

DH (42) has started getting angry at things said on TV (e.g. news reports) and shouts at the TV. To me (43) this creates the impression of the stereotypical angry old man shouting at birds.

Then I think that I must surely do things or have started doing or saying things that are stereotypically middle-aged too. What sort of behaviour do you think of as middle-aged?

I love a pinny I have four - one for baking, one for barbecuing, one for cleaning and one for pegging out the washing.

My airing cupboard is a thing of beauty

I own one pair of heels - I got rid of most after covid because I always walked like Dick Emery in them and because my bloody hip was giving me gip.

Am going away with friends next month, and the first thing we checked out at the hotel was whether the room had a kettle. Not distance to bars, clubs etc...Was there a kettle!

Packing slippers for above holiday 🤣

Oh and teabags!

I take teabags on all holidays. Just In Case.

20s me would be horrified, since she managed perfectly well with a fizzy drink/cocktail for breakfast, but 55 year old me likes her Yorkshire Tea first thing.

And on the subject of holidays- looking (mostly in vain) for reviews that include the words 'really comfortable beds'.

Decent teabags are non-negotiable if I want to start the day right when I'm away.

And on the subject of holidays- looking (mostly in vain) for reviews that include the words 'really comfortable beds'

I need 'has blackout blinds.' DM and I could never share a room when we went away because she liked her curtains open all night and I like my room as dark as a crypt.

As one gets older, one often say, "in my time at your age/that age we did or did not do that

Make more comments about people that are older or younger about they way they behave

Be a lot more fussy

Be a bit more relaxed

Oh dear, I've found myself nodding along to most of these!

My ones are:
An obsession with feeding the birds/hedgehogs/foxes
Getting really cross about litter (I have a litterpick, and use it!)
A recent urge to iron. Until about a year ago, I rarely ironed anything

I actually love the not giving a crap part. Particularly in driving. Had a situation yesterday where if the young man who wanted to get past had pulled in to the passing place a meter behind him we would have not even seen each other's faces. Instead he came nose to nose and gesticulated at me winding down his window. I literally sighed, said to myself "oh great, we've got an arsehole" and slowly looked in rear view mirror and reversed at the pace of a snail - I had to go about 15meters. He sped past shouting obscenities and I went on my merry way smiling - he was probably pissed off for hours. I feel like all those years of over apologising and saying please and sorry in the same sentence are gone.

Loving these though, so many I'm nodding along with.

@MsMuffinWalloper good for you! We live on a very narrow road with parking and the amount of times there's problems is because of idiots not leaving room to pass.

Nothing wrong with slippers! Dp and I often buy each other Celtic & Co sheepskin slippers for Christmas 😄

female friends of mine are definitely into practical trousers and solid jackets. I can’t get there, I hate the way they look. Many of my friends have stopped colouring their hair and stopped wearing make up. No judgement from me. It’s just something I’ve noticed. I’m not there yet. I get my hair cut every six weeks, and my nails done regularly, I love makeup and I cannot go out of the house wearing sensible trousers.

pfffttt I’ve been falling asleep in front of the TV since I was a kid

Or just think "nothing I can do about it", so just crack on.

Reading a remark which mentions Dick Emery and knowing exactly what the poster means!

But why????

Having switched from Radio 1 to Radio 2 some years ago, you now find that you have no idea what the DJs are on about, and you don't much like their choice of music either.

Middle age is the best! Love all these.

@MsMuffinWalloper Loving your driving skills.

I now keep a spare pair of slippers at my dd's house. Not only that, it was her idea!

Whilst walking in the street and one of those loud exhaust-popping growling, thumping, pimped-up cars goes past, I no longer think "What a dickhead" as they disappear into the distance. I say it out loud.

I'm 55, mine have been:

• earlier and earlier bedtimes and corresponding dawn wakening
• weird joint aches
• horrified at the idea of a noisy restaurant or bar
• an increase in ugly yet comfortable footwear
• more freedom to be myself and not be uncomfortable about it. I like spending a lot of time by myself reading, walking etc but hated admitting when I was younger that I would prefer to do that rather than go out socialising
• becoming more assertive

Tutting at the way the recent Radio 3 changes have messed up a station I've been listening to since I was 15 and discovered baroque music.

😁😁😁

I shouted at the telly earlier. Storm Huntley and one of her devoid-of-any-sense guests got on my fucking wick.

Because hot water taps are ace and I’m in love with mine.

Honestly, I’ve had so much bad tea from boiling water taps, and never felt able to say ‘But can’t you taste the problem?’ because their owners were so evangelically loved-up about them.

I have a strong memory of sitting drinking bad tea watching someone reverently turn on the tap to fill a saucepan with boiling water with this ‘OMG, miraculous!’ look on her face, like something from a shopping channel. It would have been like telling someone their newborn wasn’t cute.

This genuinely made me laugh out loud as it was the conversation I had with my teenage son this morning 😂

Nodding and laughing along with the rest.

Ah that’s a shame. Bad tea is awful. No-one has ever mentioned it to me but maybe they are just being polite! I still think it’s ace.

We have a boiling water tap at work and it is okay for coffee, but tea? No. If I'm making tea I let it run for a bit until it's spitting mad, and then tea is just about tolerable.