to want to scream at my friends "WE ARE NOT OLD!!!!"

[BalletCrystal]

We have been a group of friends since school, we are all now currently 23/22.

At least three of them constantly keep saying - "God we're so old now"

Aibu to think actually 23 is still young? I mean I know we're not 18 and clubbing every night but we also hardly have 5 kids each, a divorce and second marriage behind us.

I retort to them "well I feel sorry for you if you actually consider yourself old at this age"

Lord knows how they will feel when they hit 30.

(Disclaimer being 30 isn't old, but the way these girls state so often that they are old now I dread to think what they will be like in just 7 years time - probably assume they can ride for the bus for free or something.)

These young people and their manners < wobbles>

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Crap? It's a good point! The only person who gets away with calling me 'girl' is my elderly neighbour, who also calls my landlord in her 40's/50's girl!

Kind of proving that you aren't 'old' in a negative manner though, OP.

'girl' made my teeth itch too. As did the rudeness.

She was extremely rude with the "jog on to the feminist section....comment", but my school friends and I still refer to ourselves as girls simply because we grew up together. We're 37. My mum goes out for lunch with the girls and she is 65.

No need for the rudeness though.

OP, no you are not old, but I remember marvelling at our advanced age at twenty.

Awww Ballet

you are all just children

Ha, I'm (whisper) 51 but don't feel old!

Actually, that's not entirely true - I do feel old when I hear of local MN meet ups but don't go (even though I'd love to) cos I feel I would be the oldest of the group.

Ok well I apologise countrykitten

I was writing without thinking and didn't really mean to write girls, but I guess when some of us have known each other since primary schools you will always think of them as girls

I've just witnessed other threads start having a the girls/women debate and it just detracts from the thread.

I have friends who do it too. Or say things like "Oh god everyone here is soooo young" when we go to clubs. Yes, the 18 year olds will seem young to you, you're 10 years older than them. But it doesn't make you old! It's a weird kind of mourning for teenage youthfulness, I find.

I am 25 and I feel old at times because we have two kids and no money.

I see my peers out at gigs or going on holidays and think that my life is quite shit. Cant remember the last time we went out.

But I know that I am young. Just not living a typical "young persons" life.

I'm 27 and starting to feel old. I think I'm just knackered out by toddlerhood though .

thing is once you are approaching 40, you don't talk about getting old any more.

it's the elephant in the room

You talk about how you are thinking about going to Glastonbury this year without the kids (because you're not old)but you are a bit put off because you need a good 8 hrs sleep and will be back at work next day etc etc

Ballet your making us all look bad! You were rude for no justifiable reason and that shows your immaturity.

I'm 22, own a house, have a toddler a husband and am pregnant. I sometimes remark that I'm 'getting old' with my friends as we're moving in to the next stage of our lives - the ones that seemed really big and grown up when we were younger which is why it feel like we're older all of a sudden now.
Some are finishing uni (end of education perhaps feels like end of an era as most of our lives that we remember are school years)
Getting new and fancy jobs or even have been working for 5 or 6 years and are realising how quickly time passes.
Getting married/engaged/moving in - all big commitments that we associate with being 'grown up' or 'adult'
Etc
Perhaps your friends are realising how quickly time passes and have moved onto the next stage.
Of course they're not actually old. Just feel different somehow - I'm sure they don't actually think they're decrepit now.

Anything past an age when you start gaining more responsibilities is "old". At 23/24 I was married, pregnant and with a house and bills to pay and a job to go to and work hard. I felt older mentally.

Now I'm going to be 30 in a few weeks I feel older physically.

It goes a round in cycles. I remember going on about being old at in my very early twenties. But it was really just very old teenage melodrama. Then you do get older and start feeling younger. I am 38 now and can't believe I am about to be in my 40s soon. I remember thinking that 40 is ancient and I am kicking and screaming in my head that I not ancient!

Am I sounding patronising? Don't mean to but the truth is that you are still maturing in your early twenties. It takes time to gain perspective.

I also remember some girl I used to know who claimed to have commitment issues at 22. Used to get right on my nerves. So OP I share your irritation.

oooer i'm nearly 41

i remember how i felt when i was 23. like i fucking knew everything.

YABU.

I'm only 24 but really feel old when I meet up with my friends from school. Its the sudden realisation that we are not 16 anymore and haven't been for 8 years.

Everyone jokes about being old. I doubt they mean it.

I'm 47 this year and I feel young... until I hang around with actual 20-somethings and they treat me like I'm their mum - then I feel ancient!

I'm 30 this year and I actually feel pretty damn good about it to be honest.

That said, I'm always in pain with my joints and have been grunting whilst getting up for years (I blame the Sciatica)

Makes me sound old though

When I'm with the friends I've known since I was 17, we remark that we feel so old. It's just because we remember when we were much younger, with different priorities, sniggering at the thirty-something's wearing naff shoes ( the Gold Shoe Brigade)

Now we're the thirty-something's, in reality, I don't feel very old at all really.

IME at 23 you are in between. Not 18 anymore, everything is old hat, you've been to the same clubs 50 billion times, shagged everyone in your town you are interested in shagging but still feel too young to settle down and get mortgaged up and babyfied.

I think that peaked for me at 26. I had the 1st baby at 27. :)

Well I'm 52 and I'M NOT OLD ( I don't feel old all the time , just sometimes )
And feeling old at 23 ??
wanders off shaking head with an old gimmer emoticon

I'm 27 nearly 28. I don't think I'm old, and 90% of the time I feel quite young, worlds my oyster and all that.

I do have the odd moment though when I think bloody hell how did that happen. Might be time to think about becoming a proper grown up.

DP and I haven't got kids but we certainly don't live the life of a 'young person'. We live in a houseshare with people 20+ years older than us and spend our free time playing board games, camping and going for walks. I'd much rather that than clubbing any day We refused to live with people our own age as we didn't want to put up with drinkers and people waltzing in after midnight instead we have a 36yo teenager living with us

Saying that though, we won't have children, get married or get onto the housing ladder even in rental until we're in our late 20's as DP doesn't finish uni until he's 27/28.