The Guardian ‘Lifestyle’ today.

[Claymoreiron]

Idiotic article about how to decorate your home for different life stages. For ‘empty nesters’ make sure you don’t have a slippery bathroom and have a seat in the shower kitchen organised so you don’t have to bend down much.

I get that people may wish to future proof their home but we need to encourage more movement not less! My grandma declined when she moved from a house to a flat. Her stair climbing was vital exercise.

anyway, just annoyed me!

You might jest but "bungalow legs" is a known issue but is a wilder problem with being less mobile as you age but especially noticed in people who moved from a house with stairs to a single level house. One of the most important things to help maintain mobility is keeping mobile, so continuing to go up and down stairs and walk places where you can as you get older. That's a tip from my mum a former gerontology nurse who specialised in post hospital rehab.

I had my dc in my 30's and I was 49 when she went to university. Not exactly in my dotage then.

The Guardian is talking out of its proverbial.

We know. The point we are making is that if you're well under 60 and fit & well, it isn't something you need to consider quite so soon. Most so-called empty nesters won't even have become grandparents yet.

Or even well over 60, thank you.

I've read the article and not sure what is patronising about a non-slip bathroom floor. Nor is having a built-in bench in a shower anti-movement, though you'd need a big shower to do it.

To me the purpose was, if you're at X stage and want to make a change, here are some ideas.

None of it was related to a specific age at all, more to a time of life, e.g. no children = an opportunity to please yourself more.

It was just Saturday magazine filler. You're overthinking it.

Probably written by AI, or someone who's never actually done a great deal other than plonk out dire copy for The Guardian! Ageist and sloppy claptrap, oh and slips and trips can kill at any age!

Because most ‘empty nesters’ are only in their 40s and 50s and don’t want to live in a house that looks like a nursing home.

I’m 49 so easily old enough to be an empty nester (although I don’t have kids) and I can’t think of anything more fucking bleak than installing modifications aimed at infirm 85-year-olds into my home. My DP and I (and all our friends) go out to gigs, have nights out, go running, work full time, have exciting holidays and generally do most of the same stuff as we did in our late 20s.

Why the hell would I be acting like someone elderly and frail who ‘has falls’ and can’t bend over to get something out of a kitchen drawer? If I need handrails in my shower or something when I’m 80 I’m sure I can one installed then. No need to do it 30 years in advance.

But if it was advice for ‘a stage of life’ and about ‘pleasing yourself more’, why is it all about measures to avoid having falls, bending over and standing up? If it’s about pleasing yourself more once the kids have left home, why aren’t they suggesting space for a wine fridge and a shower that’s easier to fuck in?

None of the actions mentioned in the article would result in any house looking like a nursing home. No mention is made of handrails in the bathroom.

It wasn't all about avoiding falls. It wasn't advice either. Many of the ideas would fit any time of life.

My 89 year old mother spent the day reading the Guardian so I hope she’s taken some of this advice onboard and she’s yet to make any adjustments due to her declining mobility. She’s never had a fall and insists that she has absolutely NO need for a tea trolly. She’d rather think of herself as an “empty nester” than elderly. Maybe the article was aimed directly at such people. I might be grasping as straws here.

I'm over 60 as well. I had my dc in my 30's. I would no longer consider myself an empty nester. The nest has been empty long enough for me to have passed that stage.

Tell me, at what age do you think people do need to start thinking about this sort of thing, and preparing for later life? My whole reasoning for posting on the thread in the first place is that it appears the journalist who wrote the article erroneously thinks that all 'empty nesters' are in their dotage.

There's no "hatred" for bungalows 😂!
It's just there hasn't been as much space available for single storey properties in the UK, so they are less common.

I understand that plenty of empty nesters are mid-late forties/early fifties and hardly in their dotage.

I think my point is that there is no specific age at which we should be told to prepare for later life. Some people are old by 50, others fit and well at 80 and beyond. Perhaps I'm just more aware of ageism than I used to be, but I don't feel it is helpful to be told that we need to be making specific changes at a certain age. I suppose I just feel that it is a personal choice most of us make when the time is right for us.