At what age do you start thinking of parents as elderly

[Mumwithbaggage]

Just wondering, at what age do you start thinking of your parents as elderly? What age of person would you give up your seat on a bus or tube?

I see posts on here where people have very different views of what constitutes "getting on a bit and needing a bit of an eye keeping on them". Health issues aside obviously.

80+ I would class as elderly

80, in my experience with in laws and grandparents the decline from 80 onwards definitely made them seem elderly to me

80 is when my parents seemed to go quite rapidly downhill. Dad died at 85. Mum is now 89 and wanting to die - tells me every day

Depends on each person. I noticed a massive change at 75 years.

A seat id give up for anyone who needed it or looked older than me 🤣

I've noticed family members slow down a bit, going out less and, less interested in holidays abroad from around 75.

Around 80 seems to be when previously healthy, super busy and active people show the first signs of losing the battle with older age.

SmugglersHaunt · Today 23:15
80 is when my parents seemed to go quite rapidly downhill. Dad died at 85. Mum is now 89 and wanting to die - tells me every day

It was similar with my dad. From about 91, he'd had enough. Went from being fairly active to having had enough very quickly, though Covid really didn't help - his wife was stuck in a different country, They had their last two years apart - spoke every day but died within weeks of each other.

It depends. My MIL uses a stick and frequently tells me she is elderly (she is 65). But my Grandad was still very active until about 6 months before he died aged 97.

I think I thought of my mother as elderly from early 80s but it was late 80s before she really aged a lot.

60s
But this is MN we cant say old at anyage.
Right now im 40 and i feel 70, cant sleep dry skin and bloody hot.

My mum is 93 and still lives independently, does her own shopping and housework, can touch her toes etc. I would say at 80 she still seemed quite late middle aged; definite changes after 85 and again after 90. She doesn’t walk as briskly, takes ages to get into a car now, feels a bit nervous getting in and out of a bath.

Well my mum is currently 86 and living solo with no assistance and has a 70yo FWB 😱🤦🏼‍♀️ so despite the many moderate health issues I still find it hard to think of her as elderly (she also looks early-mid 70s so at least I have good genes to look forward to)!

I really noticed my mum aging once she reached her 70s, although still very active (walking, gardening). Then she had an accident last year aged 76which has had a huge impact - and in itself shows how much older she is, just by how difficult recovery has been.

Yeah after 70 if anything hits you it knocks you over. Of course it may be that nothing hits you, but that doesn't mean you're young or even middle aged (pmsl at the pp whose mum was middle aged at 80) - it just means you're very lucky.

My parents are 74 and 77 and definitely don't seem elderly. Both very active and independent.
My mother in law was very active (table tennis, ice skating lessons, swimming) until very recently, but turned 80 a few months ago and is like a different person. It's really sad to see. At her 80th some old friends of hers she hadn't seen in a while told me they were really shocked to see how she'd aged and asked me if I thought she'd "get better" - but there's nothing "wrong" with her, she's just getting old.
Similarly FIL is 79 and has aged a lot in the last couple of years, although he has been very unwell and basically can only stay awake for a few hours in the morning then has to go to bed until the early evening.

i think it’s 80+ my parents and a colleague are 80. My parents retired younger than I am now - and have been retired longer than they worked.

My colleague is trading on past glory and needs to retire as they are tired and ditzy. But goes on - when they should just stop. Opposing ends of a spectrum