Old...a Realization? Just for Fun

I feel old when I find a young male clerk attractive and we exchange flirtatious remarks and I realize he's young enough to be my grandson. lol I also wonder why I didn't have this much fun when I was young.

Later: It is still a shock when I look in the mirror and see my mother.

You know you're getting old when....

...the police officer writing you a ticket is younger than you.

...somebody behind the cash register calls you mam or sir.

....you think there's no more good new music and switch to the oldies channel.

I'm 36 too, and hearing 80s music on the oldies station makes me feel old too! Beyond that, I felt ANCIENT when I realized that kids I used to babysit - as toddlers, no less - are now having babies themselves. Also, the fact that next year's graduating class will be composed of kids born the year I graduated makes me feel so old! Another thing that's always kind of depressing is reading entertainment magazines and noticing that the actors/actresses playing the parents of the main characters are my age!

I just turned 36. The day before my birthday my son says, "Mama I wish I was little when you and Daddy were little." My response is "Really. Why? So you could play with us? So we could be friends?" He says, "Nooo." In a very serious, almost irritated tone. His tone then changes to wistful. "Mom. I really want to pet a dinosaur". When I looked at him and explained that there were no dinosaurs around back then either he told me "But you said dinosaurs were around a long, long time ago. And you were little a REALLY long time ago". Sigh.

I feel old when.....
my teacher is younger than me
the kids in my class have parents my age
one of us old folks makes a reference to a movie like Ferris Bueler and get blank stares from the kids around us
you go to a museum and your toys are in there (this one hit me a couple years ago, went to the Henry Ford Museum and pointed out to my children the toys and phones I owned)
when you are at said museum and the kids ask you how to dial a rotary phone
when you realize your children will never know life without sooooo many things you remember being introduced (cds, dvds, home computers, call waiting, cable, cell phones, ect)
you realize not even drs have beepers anymore and you remember how great they were
you realize there are no pay phones ANYWHERE!!!!! but you remember phone booths and checking the coin slots at the mall for the forgotton dime
you know people that NEVER carry cash
I could go on but I need to go buy a walker ;-)
and I'm only 38......that is the other thing, I remember being in grade school thinking the teachers and my mom were SOOOOOOOOOOOOO old.......I'm older than they were :-(

thanks for a fun post

the music hit me hard too! but the worst was when i was checking my face in a handheld compact on an airplane, and glimpsed myself from an angle that showed under my chin..........
:X khairete
S.

Funny....pain I never had when I was younger, getting tired early and falling asleep on the coach.
Sounding like my mother now......
And the way I think, I'm calmer more thoughtful, etc.I like it better, minus the pain.................................

i realized i am getting old bec. my body is breaking down, arthritis pain here and there and I am in my mid forties. Also, loud music now bothers me def a sign of getting older, hmmm, the things I know now if only I knew then! It reminds me of that line in "Ten Things I Hate about you movie". You won't know what you really want until you're 45 and by then it will be too late LOL.

I am 46 and my hubby is 49. We have a 7 yo son. O. of his friends told his parents that he thought it was cool that our son's parents were "a little older" because then he gets to have "really cool stuff from the 90's"! I'm thinking, my husband has underwear from before the 90's! LOL

I have to agree with a PP about the vision thing. I have worn contacts for over 25 years and now I can't read ANY small print without my "readers" on. I had to ask a young girl to read something on a label at the store and she read it to me v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y like I was an doddering idiot! haha

And I hate when clerks call me ma'am!

We had a young intern in our marketing department a few summers ago and I asked him to type up a few labels to ship some material to a show and he stood in front of the electric typewriter for a few minutes and then said to me "uh--do you have to--turn this on or something?" He had NEVER used a typewriter in his life! I told him to think of it as a keyboard, no monitor and no spellcheck!

I think you always feel the same age inside, and truly believe that you are only as old as you feel, but, man, some days...

Loved the question!

Apart from body changes, children's age, etc.? Technology. Not just a reflection of age, but of how quickly time flows. Remember your family/school/library's first computer. Now my children watch DVDs on their computer, I can answer any simple question I have via google and I am discussing 'the realization of age' on the internet. My god. How things change - can you imagine twenty, forty or sixty years in the future!

I remember songs on the radio hitting me that same exact way about 20 years ago or so. When some of your old favorite songs have to be turned down because the music is annoying the hell out of ya, that's a good sign you are getting older!
I think you start knowing you are "maturing" when you find yourself saying things that your own mom has said, or when you look at a picture of yourself or in the mirror and you see your mom looking back at you, that always cracks me up. I'll give my mom a quick call and tell her "I was just talking to you in the bathroom mirror Mother"... she gets a kick out of it.

I realized I was the "target demographic" (read old) when the music in the grocery store is the stuff I actually like! I catch myself singing along to the music and possibly giving a little hip shake while I sing. I remember going to the grocery store with my mom and the music stunk on ice!!! Commericals on TV use music from my generation. I work with a bunch of kids (16 through 21) and I hear their stories of angst and I just shake my head knowing full well how that story is going to play out.

I couldn't help but laugh when I was checking out at the grocery store and Heart started playing. I looked at my 9 year old and said, "This is the first concert I ever attended." The checker stated, "Oh Heart, my mom likes them, too."

I haven't felt old yet. I'm 49. Sure I've noticed a few physical changes, but I'm the best I've ever been, in all ways. More patient, wiser, more kind, a better mom (at 41), more fit (working on a Black Belt), more educated (working on a PhD), and more attractive (based on the amount of male interest now compared to when I was younger). Every decade has been better, can hardly wait to experience my 50s!

Okay I have the opportunity to be made to feel old on almost a daily basis since I work with teens.

The most recent example? One of my students had blue dye on her hand. She was explaining to me that in the variety show last night, she was painting her friend blue for a skit they were in.

I asked, "Oh was she a smurf?"

She looked at me quizzically, as if she did not know what a SMURF was and replied, "Hmmm no, she was an Avatar!"

Also...the kids I teach were born in 1993-1997. In other words, had I gotten knocked up in college I would now have a kid in high school. That makes me feel old!

I felt really old when a employee came in to work and I said "your hair make you look like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's" and she said "who?" Mind you Audrey Hepburn was before my time too, but geez. The other time was when my son came home from school to tell me they have to dress from the past a different era. I'm thinking the 20's, 30's 40's.....He said " I wanna dress like the people did way back in the 1990's" my knees buckeled on that one. And god did I love Depeche Mode, The Police, The Cure........

I am 33 years old and last year the little girl jeans came out with the colored, embroidered with pretty designs on the back pockets...I wore those in elementary school! I remember being in high school and wearing some cool hippy clothes (that I thought were new) and my mom saying "I wore those in High School and I remember when my mom, your grandma told me that something I was wearing, she had worn in school...trends always come back around"! Total light bulb moment for me, that I was now her age when she told me that! Ahhh! I am getting old-er!!!!

I also vividly remember writing 1987 as a date on my school papers and having a discussion with my 5th grade teacher about having flying cars in the year 2000...and now my son is writing the year 2010!

To add insult to injury, I played with Strawberry Shortcake, My Lil' Pony, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Garbage Pail Kids and G. I. Joe...which are ALL back!

Mine are: 1) My eyes. I can't see things unless I have my glasses on. My son will try to show me something he drew or wrote, and I hear myself saying, "Hold on. I have to get my glasses." I swear, just two years ago I could see just fine.

And 2) Those darn teenagers and their crazy driving! I remember quite well being behind the wheel of a car in my teen years, and how I felt perfectly in control of my car. But now, I realize how much more careful I (and my friends) should have been. And we didn't have cell phones or text while driving back then.

My closest friends are all 12-30 years older than I am (save 1). I could be 90, and STILL not be old :)

Cheers!

I finally figured out my age was coming through when the morning of my 40th birthday I took a pregnancy test and BINGO, pregnant with #4. 4th and 40! Good grief. Needless to say, I am now 7 months pregnant, and I finally understand what ladies have been complaining about all these years. My legs hurt, my back hurts, my ribs hurt, I can't breath, can't get out of bed in the morning without help. I am a ridiculous display. = )

I can honestly say, I can't believe I am 40! before I was pregnant I didn't feel even close to 40. I have to admit I saw the new lines forming on my face and things sitting a bit differently on my body but still felt very young. Maybe God needed to give me a reality check that I am not in my 20's anymore.

Enjoy!

When I stopped getting "carded" when buying alcohol!!!!

Being called Ma'am instead of Miss!!

When now I have to dye my hair because of gray hairs instead of dying it just for fun!!!

Noticing how old all of the actors & talk show host look (esp. on HDTV!!!)

When we had an intern who didn't even know how to use a typewriter and mention that he didn't even think those were around anymore!!

Update: I have one more ... when you walk into a room and forget why you just walked into that room! Darn .. it just happened to me again!!!

I just turned 40 and I don't feel old. Maybe because I have 2 young children and don't have time! My realization was that I didn't understand how young I actually was when I was 20-something and the fact you will always carry around inside you that child and teenager you used to be. Wasn't 80's music great? I'm so glad I got to grow up in such a vibrant and interesting time period and I plan to make sure my kids know all about it just like my mom did with me. I grew up not only listening to 80's music, but the music my mom loved-The Beatles, Elvis, The Doors, etc. Great question!

I feel old when I remember a song from yesteryear like My Girl is playing and I flash back to getting ready to go to college. Or as one person mentioned Madonna the beginning of her career in her Shining Star costume and bare midriff. Fast forward Madonna now in her lean muscular look is it the same person? Or you get to see some of your favorite big time rock/band groups on the tour circut now that you couldn't afford then with a few exceptions like Tina Turner or Eagles or Starship. It takes longer to digest the emotional high you get from all the energy of the night before.

The other thing that makes me old is when you are in a college class room and most the students there could be your grandchild(ren) in age. Now that's something to think about and the instructor is younger than your youngest child.

But then again it's nice to not have all those worries and can look forward to the day you stay home and do your own thing without punching a time clock. Nice to go on a vacation and not have to worry about being home to make sure the kids are in bed to get to school the next day. It's nice to have your grown children worry about you and want to know why you weren't have by x time because they know how long it takes to drive home. Our answer is that mom and dad have no appointed time to arrive at home and get there when we do.

Oh flashback in the early 80s I worked in an office and one of the vendors came in and was explaining an older rock group to me that was on the radio. He was fine until I mentioned that I had x,y,z songs from them and I kind of bursted his bubble because he didn't think I was as old as I looked at 15 years younger.

Life is what you make of it and old is just a feeling in my thoughts. Age is only numbers not actions.

Enjoy being silly and having fun kind of think of your inner child as it will help you get through some ot the tough spots in life.

The other S. soon to be 63

I definitely don't consider myself old at 27, but remember what second grade was like and my daughter being there now almost makes me feel it! Or listening to music on the radio that my parents did when I was growing up (mainly Taylor Dane (spelling?), Michael Bolton, etc). Or at my job, I work on funding and program work of Navy planes...some of them the aircraft my dad flew when he was training to become a Navy pilot in the late 70's/early 80's! WOW! But I love to talk to him about that stuff. I guess I mainly feel old because time has flown since my first baby was born 7.5 years ago - thats when we really notice how fast it goes!! Great question :).

OLD??? At 36, you are a mere youngster! I became a grandmother at 40, and everyone thought she was my daughter. I think I began feeling I was old at about age 50, but now that I am about to have birthday number 65, 50 seems very young! The problem you will have is that in your mind, you'll feel you are whatever age you were at your best. Only when you look in the mirror, or try to do something physical that you can no longer do, will you realize you are old. Enjoy that toddler. They become teenagers too fast!

getting pregnant at the age 41. was alot harder than 21. also when kids you watch grow up are working with you. getting married and having babies. and when kids dont know who show characters are such as jr off of dallas. :) gave my age away huh. and they dont know what your talking about when you discuss who shot jr. :) and when jeff foxworthy talks about when the president come on he was on every channel and we missed flipper and the kids are like huh? or you talk about bell bottoms and the kids are like those are so lame. or the fact that I am now wearing bifocals and starting menopause. lets see is that it? hmmm what else. 8 track tapes the kids are like what is that. or all we had was atari no xbox or play station and you tell the kids that frogger was the bomb. and they say that game is stupid. or they tell you the movie airplane is an old movie and they dont want to watch old movies. I think that about sums it up

Oh its so fun reading people's answers! What a fun question.
I'm going to be 41 in just a couple of weeks, and I've had quite a few moments! Most of them make me laugh...but not all!

...When I looked at the list of CDs my husband was making that he wanted for Christmas they were all from the 80's! Don't get me wrong, I love 80's music as much as the next gal, BUT you know you're getting old when your depth of music is limited to what you listened to as a teen!

...I used to be able to flirt my way out of any traffic ticket, then suddenly about 5-10 years ago, not so much! Depressing!!

....You know you're getting old when you go from being on first name basis with the bartenders to first name basis to the pharmacists!! How in the world did THAT shift happen? I used to be cool!

....You know you're getting old when you're life goes to resembling Sex in the City to resembling The Sopranos! (I married a guy from a rough part of Jersey :) ) I'm exagerating - we're not that scary! Except maybe a couple of uncles up there :)

.....It took me literally months to figure out what or who Lady Gaga was - my 16 year old cousin found this hilarious.

....Then there are the Glory moments - I got carded at Blockbuster for renting an R rated movie. I was honestly dumbfounded - I couldn't imagine what this kid behind the counter was carding me for! When he said the movie, I died laughing, showed my ID, walked around the counter, gave him a big hug, and said "honey, you could be my son, and you just made my night!" I do look slightly young for my age, as I've been told many times, but NOT 16!!! At least there are those out there to give you a good chuckle!

I am an older mom . I met a friend of my sons mom for an early breakfast. They asked if she was my daughter. This has happened a few times. LOL! At the time I just laugh , but when I get home I realized it make me feel OLD!!

WHen you become a grandmother at 35. LOL!!! (stepdaughter's baby)

Mine was music too. Last night I went to a concert with my husband and BIL and it was three of their old metal bands, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. When we pulled up, it was like a time warp with all the guys with long wavy hair, leather jackets, black Tshirts, and spiked bracelets. Then their was a couple there who were probably in their 60 rocking! I giggled and told hubby that will be us in another 20 years still trying to go to the concerts.

The other thing is the mirror. I still think I'm going to get in shape one of these days.

Been old so long, I don't know when it dawned on me. Did not even have my first child until I was 30.

It seems really odd to think of retierment as soon...

M.

I'll be 36 next month and have three kids (6, 4 and 16 months.) I just joined a new group of stay at home Moms and am 10 years older than most of them. One just turned 26 and is pregnant with her third and another is 27 and pregnant with her fourth. One girl said she is the old lady of the group. She just turned 31! They don't know my age yet. I really felt old from that day on. Now I'm having baby fever too thinking I'll probably only be able to have one more before menopause!

I felt my age a while back when I had to explain to a 20 something year old that "its not that I DID'NT want a cell phone in high school, they did'nt HAVE cell phones when I was in high school".....

What about "Glee"? I saw Glee merchandise in Palais Royal yesterday...on one tee-shirt, they had tape cassettes printed on the front.....(I need'nt say more)

I am 50 years old and my daughter is 6. In 1st grade, she's learning about Christopher Columbus so she came home the other day and asked me if I knew him!!!

Looking in the mirror! (ha ha ha)

I am in my mid twenties but dang, these past couple years have been h*** o* body and mind! It's wild to look at myself and think - who's this?

The insurance commercial that says "If you are between the ages of" and we realized we are almost in that age bracket. Oh yeah, and when you go see a doctor who is like a specialist who has had to have many years of schooling and they are younger than you are! LOL!

I think I started to feel old when shows that I used to watch in prime time were starting to show up on Nick at Nite.

I felt REALLY old this summer when our babysitter (20 yrs old) didn't know a few really popular songs from our teenage years. We are in our early 30's, but that made me feel ancient!

I certainly don't feel that I am in my 40's, thankfully. I think for me, technology is it, I am clueless with almost everything beyond a cell phone and texting.

the same exact thing that made you feel old made me feel old too, im not even 30 yet, but when i hear bon jovi on my oldies station i want to scream. It makes me mad that they would take out things like elvis to play bon jovi or gund n roses

gimme a freaking break!

About three weeks ago when I finished my treadmill workout and my hip hurt!!

When I became a grandmother at 40.