I'm Getting Old

"I'm getting old." I will say to my children. This phrase disgruntles my eldest child and always brings a protest. "Mom, you are not old." she will say. "You are only old when you are 100." Or she will say, "Mom, you are only as old as you feel." I tend to reply,"I feel pretty dog gone old." This gets a smile from my daughter and has become a little joke between us.

It is true I feel my body aging. My foot hurts here, I get a leg strain there, and I have to be careful with my back. Out of respect for my male readers I won't go into details, but being a woman who is getting older, there is a time in the month which just keeps getting uglier. (my female peers will understand) I truly enjoy my new bras which give me more lift in the right places and will NOT buy Spanx but understand the temptation. There is nothing to be done, you get older and your body changes.

I do not want it to sound like I am bitter or hate getting old. It is what it is and I do my best to embrace it. I try to stay healthy and take care of myself. I also see the good things about getting older. The experiences you gain and keep under your belt. When my father had heart surgery a nurse told us that younger patients often have more trouble with recovery. They have much more difficulty with the pain and discomfort. I think when you are older you have experienced both, more pain, and more pleasure. Perhaps you have more background knowledge to know it will end. The other thing that startles me about getting older is that my children are getting older also.

My eldest (who complains to me when I say I am old) is growing up. She is gaining more experience and strength as I watch. It has been hard to pick her up and move her away from her friends and familiar places. Quietly she has been growing and maturing though. She is handling things in different ways than I would have expected. An example is our visit to the doctor.

We had to go to the doctor for her flu shot, and to check her asthma medication. I was lucky enough to have a friend watch my other daughter. It was a doctor visit, but I actually had fun with her. We waited in the room and talked and laughed. I was able to tease her(She was trying to convince me there was an Indian tribe call the Mohican's who had Mohawks, I kept telling her I KNEW how to contact her 4th grade teacher and would!) She helped me figure out games with me on my new cell phone.

I was reminded of something my parents often tell me. They say that they enjoy talking to me and all my siblings. They love having dinner with us as adults. It is a pleasure to talk to us as adults and dinner companions. I saw a glimmer of that with my 12 year old, and it made me happy. I hope I am able to grow old and help her mature through her teenage years and still be at this positive point. I know it will have it's challenges but I hope it still happens. We can get old together.