To be crying at this

[appledoors]

I saw it on TikTok, then noticed it shared on Facebook too. I usually hate soppy sentimental crap but the fact that I am that exact age (32) right now (and very PMS-y) and I don’t know it just hit a nerve 😭

…………….

I'm 80 years old, and somehow..

I woke up in my 32 year old body.

Just for one day.

I wake up to little hands tugging at the blankets.

"Mummy, wake up!" they shout.

I blink, and I sit up slowly.

My babies. They're small again!

I gasp. I cry.

They climb into bed giggling, wiggling.

I used to rush through mornings.. but not today.

I pull them close.
I hug them tight.
I kiss their messy hair.
I hold their little hands.

This time, I soak in every second.

I catch my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

No deep lines.
No grey hair.
My younger face...
I used to think I looked old at 41.

What a silly thought.

I stare for a moment and think, "You are so beautiful."

I find my husband in the kitchen, making coffee.
He looks strong, young.

I wrap my arms around him so tightly.

He looks surprised.

Maybe we didn't hug enough back then, I think.

We talk about the day nothing big.

But today, it all feels big.

I memorise the sound of his voice.

We pile into the car, kids arguing over seatbelts.
Someone drops a snack.
Crumbs everywhere.

I used to get so frustrated.

I soak in the noise, the chaos I know my car will be quiet and spotless for many years to come.

But I'll miss the mess.

Dinner is loud and unorganised.
No one wants to sit still.
There's shouting, giggling, a little arguing and so much life.

I don't clean up right away.

I just sit and watch.

Trying to burn it all into my memory.

Before bed, I pick up the phone.

I call my mum. And I hear her voice.

Mum..MUM.

I haven't heard this voice in so many years..
I close my eyes and let her words wash over me.
I tell her I love her again and again.
I never want to hang up.

This time, I don't leave anything unsaid.

At bedtime, I don't skip pages in the story.
Not tonight.
I read every single word.
Then I ask, "Can we read one more book?"
They say yes.
I don't want this day to end.

I got one more day.

And this time, I knew.
This was joy.
This was love.
Those little hands.
The loud, messy dinners.
Our strong, young bodies with no aches or pains.
Our parents who are still alive..

It all mattered so much more than we ever realised.

We get it, there’s precious
moments. But calm it with the sentimental memes making people feel shit for not living some insta fantasy where every bit of daily tedium is ‘making memories.’

I’m in my 60s. It’s gone so quickly. I would love to have one more day.

I find it mawkish. We’re all different I guess.

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

Those damn onions...

I'm 55 and yes it goes by all too fast.

It HUGELY naff to me.
But it made me tear up too

🤣🤣

I know I know. I usually hate this kind of thing but this shamefully has me sobbing 😭

This!!

Yes, I can’t be doing with that kind of mawkishness. If 32 year old me was frustrated with children being loud and didn’t jump my husband’s bones twice daily or thrill to the joys of reading Fireman Sodding Sam five times, then I think her irritation and tiredness were just as valid as 80 year old me rose-tinted view.

Though to be honest, I’m highly unlikely to be that kind of 80 year old. I’ll be more like a straight Maggi Hambling.

I saw this a few weeks ago and it made me cry then, and it’s made me tear up again.

I love it and think it’s exactly how I will feel when I get older.

I hate this sort of thing.

Its nice to have good memories but it also makes me think - why not enjoy the present? Instead of constantly reminiscing. Every chapter of life has its wonder and joy, why always hark back to only one chapter?

Just a crap way of subtly messaging that women are failing if they don’t feel like this when their kids are small.

I missed the bit in the story where the mother had to rush the morning routine in order to get to the office on time, to work a 9 hour day in a corporate job to earn enough to roof, clothe and feed the kids.

And then 12 hours later, bask in multiple bedtime stories?

Nice theoretical idea but bloody hell are you having a laugh?

YABU!

The underlying message is: women be grateful and shut up.

I’m late 70s, I agree.

I must be dead inside as that stirred not a single emotion

Nope from me, sentimental rubbish

Personally I hate these kind of posts. They make you feel a type of suffocation and anxiety, like a constant reminder that it is all so fleeting … I honestly struggle to cope with the thought and constant reminders of it. Maybe it’s helpful to some people but I think for lots of people, and mums in particular, it’s just too much. My social media feed seems to be filled with similar.

One more conversation with my mum would be the stuff of dreams for me, she died suddenly in my arms and there wasn’t time to say goodbye properly. So yes this touched a nerve for me.

I cried too.

I usually hate this kind of stuff.

I’m 61. My dc are adults. My dm died 19 years ago.

l often think about how I’d like to go back for a day.

This. I’m in my 60s and these are the best days of my life. DH and I are retired and carefree. I don’t want “one more day” of struggling ttc (and ultimately failing) or caring for my mum who had dementia thank you very much.

Yeah, just my luck if this happened to me, I’d get a day back where the kids were whinging, arguing and/or throwing up from the latest sickness bug, DP would be a twat with a hangover that morning and mum would be pestering me to come round and sort out her new laptop for the 70 billionth time.

Oh gawd. I’m 54. So true. 😭

I agree. I both acknowledge the futility of this narrative - we can all only exist in the moment we are in, with all the complications and challenges it presents, while always seeing things differently in hindsight - and the anxiety it can evoke in me, another example of ‘not living life right’.