All those turning 40 this year, how do you feel about it? And those who already are, tell us how you felt/feel...

[WideWebWitch]

Well there seem to be a lot of us 1966 babies who will be 40 this year, how are we all feeling about it?

Do people feel this is 'half way' or do you just not think about it in those terms? Or do you think it's the new thirty (which is what I keep telling myself) and therefore nothing to worry about at all? And is there stuff you thought you ought to have achieved by now and haven't or stuff you feel must be done before the big birthday?

And is anyone having mid life crisis moments? I am considering going back to my natural brunette once I am slim and forty (I've already got my toy boy in dh, who is 29 and will be 30 in July but we met when I was 33 so when I thought 40 was a loooong way away!) Any and all thoughts, moanings and ranting welcome...

I'm looking forward to it - I want to be slim again by then cos I know that will make me feel fab. I am also consdering going blonde - much more flattering for older skin . I think I am happier now, more contented and more at ease with being myself than I have ever been before, I also party hard when I can and Im sure it helps keep me young.

I have a year and a day left before i turn 40, but i plan to leave the country and leave my clothes in a pile on the beach a la reggie perrin, and start a new life pretending to be 30.

I love being 40 it is the same as any other age really although when you say you don't give a s**t you really don't

Oh, and i am embracing my mid life crisis. I just had a new tattoo done the day before yesterday, to go with the one i had done in march, and the piercing i had in june.

It really didn't worry me, if I'm being honest.

good for you Lou, when my tummy is flat Im having my bellybutton pierced.

They are all things i wanted to do for ages actually, but i only did anything about them this year.

I said the day before yesterday i thought 3 tats were enough, but i'm wondering if i should get another one now

www it's fine, honest.
I'm 42 next week (!) but I think that these days, with women having children later etc the concept of middle age has surely moved on. You are as young as you feel and I certainly have looked better since reaching grown-up-hood than I did when I was 18!
(Mind you, I do still think the 1980s was just the other year. Was shocked the other day when a colleague admitted she had not seen Field of Dreams (1989) at the flicks because she was only 7 at the time! aaaargh!)

I'm just turned 39 and will be hitting 40 at the end of next year. I feel ok about it. The most stressful thing is that it feels like a 'big' birthday and am already wondering what to do for it...party? weekend away with dh? Oldest friends have already suggested a big get together in a cottage....

I feel pretty happy with my life which I think has an effect on how you feel about the march of time....I have close friends the same age as me who are dreading it and think this is some reflection of what they feel they should have got/ achieved by 40.

I certainly don't think about it being half way or any of that nonsense - have had friends who have had serious health scares in the past year and as a result I try to live in the moment and relish every day.

I turn 40 in 5 weeks time. I'm looking forward to it. I think you're right www, 40 is the new 30 I think. I'm already starting to get more confidence, I think dd has helped with that. I hope it continues. Also, thanks to mn, I've been clubbing more post dd than I have for a long while . I'd like to be slim before my birthday but that isn't going to happen overnight but i'm pleased with what i've achieved so far. I feel that apart from the sad loss of dh, life is finally coming together.

Part of me is dreading it, but part of me just wants to get it out of the way so I can move on.

I also feel under huge pressure to mark the occasion in a meaningful way but am struggling to make up my mind how best to do that.

(It happens in April for me.)

Lou I'm also toying with the idea of improving on my dodgy tattoo from my hazy ravey days, but am worried I'll be throwing good money after bad as it were.

Spider I am thinking I'll just do LOTS of things through the year. My birthday is December so am thinking a new years eve away with some close friends for starters.
Slight hijack - how is your ds?

I'm 40 in Nov - 2 weeks after my DD turns 18. and by that time I will have a 10 month old DS too!! DD wants us to have a huge joint party and who am I to say no. I'm really looking forward to it,and being 40 but just hope I can get some semblance of a figure back by then !

MOst decent tattooists can rescue a disaster, spider. Where do you live?

I was 41 yesterday so have passed through the big four oh barrier. Honestly girls, there is nothing to it. I can't say I exactly like being in my 40s (don't we all feel as though we are still 20 something?) but there is something to be said for just getting passed that dreaded number. You spend your late 30s thinking "Only so many years until I am 40", dreading it like you dread a trip to the dentist or a smear test. But it isn't as bad as either of those things! Once through the 40 barrier, you don't have anything to dread anymore (well, I am not thinking about 50 yet anyway!)

One tip from personal experience: do something great on your 40th if you can. I went to Paris with dh and the kids on Eurostar and it was a great way to turn 40, and will be a trip I remember for the rest of my life. It only happens once so make it special if you can.

Honestly all you 1966 girls: I remember you when you were in pigtails and long white socks! I think of you as sweet little girls if that doesn't sound patronising.

I'm really looking forward to it as it is getting interesting becoming an invisible woman. I do feel that I am at least 'half-way' though, and that my energy levels will seriously start to flag from now on in unless I make a real sustained effort to get/stay in shape (hence imminent gym frenzy). In my job I see so many adults of 50/60 or less who are ill with one thing or another and life seems to telescope a bit because of that.
I also feel very lucky and fulfilled to have my healthy children and am looking forward to seeing them all become independant. I'm sure I would look at things a whole lot differently if I hadn't had any children yet.
I still feel about 27 and don't recognise my reflection in the mirror sometimes lol but am sure that 40 will be fab. Especially if I can get rid of some of the flab.

I'm 46 in a few weeks' time and couldn't give a monkey's, nor could I when I was 40.... not so sure how I'll feel at 50 though.

I have to say my 40s so far have been my best decade

I don't want to become invisible tho goosey

I haven't become invisible.

I'd like to be invisible

I feel loads better about it now as I just found out am pregnant. So hopefully if all goes well there will be no drunkness. And due to my lovely brother we are staying a night in a hotel; first night away on our own in nearly 3 years.

In lots of ways it will be way better than my twenties and most of my thirties.

Easily the best decade (of it's kind).
I was certainly in a pre-40 frenzy before it happened, and did all kinds of unsuitable things - just try not to do anything that will have permanent conequences!!

good for you mi!

i've started the new year with a brand new hairstyle, which i'm quite liking now i am used to it.

Maybe i'll just keep reinventing myself to divert my attention away from the numerical aging.