I know I know, I only look to be about 25, but it is the truth! I am going to be 39. There are certain aspects of getting older that I am completely in love with.
I love that I am completely comfortable in my skin. I know that I am far from being a super model. I am not even at my goal weight yet, though I am doing that to be healthy more than the superficial aspect of it. Who am I kidding, I want to look hot in a swim suit. I want to be the hot mom at my kid's school. So yes, by all means, I want to look better than I do. However, I am completely fine with the way I look now as well. I have given birth to 4 wonderful kids, the last of which was a complete Haas, at 10.3 pounds! I have earned these extra few pounds, and stretch marks! I am not self conscious of the cleavage I sport in my V neck T shirt like I did when I was in high school and college. I flaunt it! "Check it out world! I have amazing boobs! Gaze upon their glory!"
I also love that I like who I am as a person. It has taken me a very very long time to get to know this person whom I call 'myself', and now that I have gotten to know me, I think I am pretty fantastic. It was not always like that though. There was a long long time that I didn't like myself, and instead of being myself, I would try to be more like those around me, because that seemed to be better than who I actually was. I would be quiet and not voice my own opinions on things because I didn't want to offend anyone by disagreeing with them. Now that I am older, WHO CARES what other people think if they don't' agree with me! I am loud and not shy to say what I feel. When attending my weight watcher meetings I sit right up front, and am not shy to add my input to the conversation. I will talk to complete strangers. I will sing loudly with the windows down in my car. There is so much I just absolutely love about my 30's. You could not pay me enough money to go back to being a teenager, or a twenty-something. No way. Thirty has completely ruled! So all of you twenty-somethings out there about to be thirty, don't worry, it is amazing! You will love it!
There are, however, some things that have started to happen in the last couple of years though, that are just some gentle reminders that I am not quite as young as I once was. Here is my top 10:
1. Sitting on the floor for long periods of time have dire consequences.
My kids are little, so they spend a great deal of time on the floor. I mean, they are close to it, so it makes sense right? As a good mom, I spend a great deal of time with them, which goes without saying where I spend it. On the floor. If I spend too much time on the floor, getting up is a whole other event. My back, my knees, my ankles all sing the songs of their people with pops, and cracks and ticks as I rise. Wrapping Christmas presents last year resulted in me walking like Igor from Frankenstein for the rest of the day.
2. Eating certain foods that I love to eat too close to bedtime can be a dicey game.
I love popcorn. And we also watch a lot of movies at night after the kids go to bed. And I love to eat popcorn while watching movies. But if I eat that buttery salty goodness too close to my bedtime, I will be up all night with heartburn so bad, I could breathe fire and take out a small village. This also goes for pizza, buffalo wings, and ice cream. (tear....)
3. I tell great stories, probably more that once, to the same person
I have mommy brain. At least that is what I like to blame it on. But I can only fool myself for so long by blaming it on that. I have told my husband the same stories so many times, he has stopped reminding me that he already knows it, and just acts like he has never heard it before. That my friends, is true love.
4. I am no longer all that cool.
And really for the most part, I don't care so much. But there are times, like when I am watching the Today show or something, and there is a huge crowd of people outside to see a music artist, and I am like, "Who the hell is that? I have never seen that person before. Wait, he has like three #1 hits on the radio? How have I never heard of them?? Oh yeah, that is because I am too busy listening to Nirvana on the OLDIES STATION!!!" Also, to add to that coolness factor I have going, I also have a flip phone. A FLIP PHONE. Honestly it isn't because I can't afford to get a smart phone, I am stubborn. I am on my sister's plan, and I only pay like $20 a month for talk and text, and the phone I have has been dropped, flushed, chewed on, drooled on, stepped on, thrown, sat on, and almost garbage disposaled, and still works PERFECTLY. I have a hard time getting rid of something that works just fine, even it if is dinosaur technology. I will say though, my mom has a newer phone than I do, and she is 80 years old!
5. I go to bed alarmingly early.
I remember when I was little, my mom would make dinner, clean up, then sit down and fall asleep to the news. I always laughed because I was ready to party until late in the night. Now, I fix dinner, clean up, get the little ones in bed, and then fall asleep on the couch.
6. Things that are ridiculously mundane get me excited.
New appliances, WHOO HOO!! New curtains? YIPPEE!! Kitchen gadgets isle at Target? Let me at it!!! I will spend an hour in there! And don't' get me started with bedding and linens! I used to abhor shopping for that junk with my mom. Now it is my favorite. My younger me is shaking her head at me sadly, saying, "what happened to you?"
7. Large crowds are annoying
8.Thanks to my kids my I have no control over my bladder.
So I didn't realize that even if you do not have a V-back birth, you can still get incontinence. Did you? Well it was a shock to me as well! But apparently, if you have 10 pound twins sitting on top of your bladder, and then another 10.3 pound baby sitting on top of your bladder less than a year after that, it puts tremendous pressure on your body, so after the babies are born, every time you sneeze too hard, or cough too much, or laugh too hard, your body will just go ahead and pee a little, even if you try really hard to hold it! I know my friends who have had v-back births have the same issue, but I thought I was safe with a C-section for all 4 of my darlings. And now both God and my doctor laugh....
9. Awesome little surprises around every corner of my face
I recently made the mistake of looking into my niece's magnifying mirror. HOLY LORD!! What the what is going on there??? I have peach fuzz all over, small dark hairs growing out of any and every nook and cranny, and wrinkles! When did I get wrinkles?? I stay out of the sun, put SPF 1000 on my face, and basically act like a vampire for the most part of summer, but there is no denying it. The wrinkles are there! I had a girlfriend tell me that her child pointed out the other day, very loudly, in public "Mommy, you are getting a beard!" Awesome......
10. I can no longer sleep all night without some kind of interruption
I remember back in the day being able to sleep all night long, blissfully unaware of what was going on in the world around me. Now I am up at least once, if not more than once a night for various reasons. Someone had a bad dream, someone is afraid of the storm, someone is sure there is a monster, ghost, boogeyman in their room and needs mommy to take care of it. Unfortunately not all of them are due to the kids. Getting up to go to the bathroom, waking up because I hear a noise (of which I was never aware of noises in the night until I had kids and HAD to be aware of noises in the night), getting up because I remembered something I forgot, waking up thinking about something I need to do, waking up due to heartburn, or just go ole insomnia because I had too much caffeine, or sugar or not enough down time, or too many problems to think about....whatever the case is, I can't make it a whole night without waking up. I don't know what my body would even do if I had a whole night's rest.
I will say it again, I have loved my thirties. I do not miss the drama of teens and twenties. But if I could have the body (and sleep habits) of my teens and twenties, and the mind of my thirties....I could quite possibly take over the world....
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