This was a writing prompt at the Christian Journaling Group that I belong to…
When is a person considered officially old? And not just by some people when they’re too young to know what they’re talking about (like my then 9 year old brother who said that anyone 18+ is old)…
I’ve struggled with being old since I was 20 — when I had my son.
Suddenly, to others, I no longer wanted to go out and have fun and I was always walking around with a kid attached to me.
So, I started acting younger. That just got me in trouble.
Around the age of 25, I became “old” again and my best friend (13 years my senior) began calling me the “oldest 25 year old on the planet” and in many ways I was old. I stopped having fun. Period. If I didn’t have fun, I couldn’t get myself in trouble. After all, I was a mother, and a single mother at that. I needed to be responsible and provide for my children.
I’ve been through quite a bit, most of it all happening before I hit 25, but now I seem to have found that balance — or for the most part can keep the balance. Sure, it gets out of whack every once in awhile, but I can normally check it (or have my mother check it) and I’m good to go again.
People always assumed that I was older too… so I just deemed myself a newer model with a lot of miles…
But I think I’m outgrowing that. 
I also told my mother that I was having a mid-life crisis when I turned 30 (this past January) — she said I was too young to have a mid-life crisis. I told her that if I only lived to be 60, I was right on target. However, after dinner out with a friend Friday night, she said that she plans them and has them every few years… and they always make her feel better. Her next one is planned for this April.
In the end, it’s all in how you feel, I guess… Some days I feel young and some days I feel old. Alot of times, it has everything to do with what the kids are in to and not feeling young and hip and “in”.
But the teens at church love me… so I guess I’m still a little bit young, hip and “in”… and that’s a cool feeling…
Until next time…
Heather
Heather, I can so totally relate to this. When I was twenty, I was a married mother surrounded by single girls having “fun”. I felt like such an old woman. Ironically, when I turned thirty, I was working with a lot of older women, so I felt like a young pup by comparison. Isn’t it funny how we can be so influenced by the company we keep?
These days, I spend most of my time with my children. And since they range from infant to 18, I get to run the gambit from responsible mother to childish to “hip”.
Yep, I’m down with that.
Please take a look at:
http://www.christian.lifejournal.com
It may be a wonderful resource for you and you group.