Tag

age

Countdown to 40 – Bucket List For The Second Half Of My Life

befunky_artwork.jpgI talk often about how quickly time has flown by since the birth of my daughter. In 1 1/2 weeks she will be turning 2 1/2. It seems almost impossible. Almost stranger than that is on that very same day, I will be kissing my 30’s goodbye & turning 40. Ouch! This has been a hard realization for me. For me entering my 40’s finally signifies to me the end of my youth.
I look in the mirror & the face looking back is different than the one I remember. There are more lines. The grays from my head seemed to have spread & set up new residency in my eyebrows. My skin is now much looser and things that once were higher… well are not quite so high or perky anymore. It makes me sad, but is reality.

We all grow older. Our faces & bodies age, our looks fade, things begin to ache for no reason & you wake up in the morning feeling hung over even when you don’t drink. You become more forgetful. You become more forgetful. Oh & you tend to repeat yourself. I am certain I have told the same stories to my husband about 101 times. Sex symbols from your youth begin to grace the covers of AARP & even worse than that people now call you ma’am.

My first 40 years on this planet have had their ups & downs. In my life I have made a lot of mistakes. I have been good and been bad. I have had my heart broken and also broken a few hearts. I learned that soul mates are real & married mine. I have seen people I love die & I have brought life into this world. I have laughed, cried & felt utter joy.

I’ve been lucky enough to have seen many places & have done many things…

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But there is still so much left I want to do. What things do I still want to accomplish, see or learn? It seems as if there is so much. My bucket list is a long one. Here are a few highlights of an otherwise long list…

1. Be there for my daughter’s wedding

2. Go to Cambodia

3. Learn another language

4. Hike Macchu Picchu

5.Write a children’s book

6. Hold my grandchild

7. Learn how to fence

8. Visit all the U.S states

9. Grow old with my husband

10. Go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan

11. Run a marathon with my husband

12. Go to a masquerade ball

13. Learn to belly dance

14. Pay off our home

15. Get a tattoo that represents my mother

I have not lived a perfect life, but I have lived a pretty good one. I can’t wait to see what the next half will bring.

What’s on your bucket list? I would love to hear.

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The Pros & Cons of Having a Child Later in Life

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As I have said to you all often before, when my husband & I first started dating we did not want to have children. Somewhere along the way I started rethinking it slightly. Did we want to or didn’t we. I just wasn’t sure, but as my age was quickly advancing (Ahem), I began to think that I might regret it one day if we did not at least try and see where it took us.
We discovered we were expecting almost immediately after we began trying to conceive.
I was 37 when I found out I was pregnant. I was so excited that my one remaining dusty old ovary still worked. I turn 40 in a few months and there is still much debate in our house as to whether we should have a second child or not. I laugh when people tell me you still have time to decide and then I say “Well, I’ll be 40 this year” and they go “Oooohhhhhhh!”. More and more women are having children later in life, many into their 40’s.  There are definite pros & cons to having a child when you are older.

 

The Cons:

 

There are increased risks during pregnancy and childbirth for both you & your baby: The risk of birth defects is greatly heightened after 35.

 

Your body might not bounce back as quickly: As you get older it only gets harder to take off weight. It is even harder to firm it up if you do lose the weight. Saggy breasts and belly are sexy aren’t they?

 

Not as much energy: I was tired all the time before I had my daughter. Now I am a walking zombie. In my 20’s I had an abundance of energy, now I find it very difficult to keep up with my energetic toddler.

 

All of your friends already had babies…: They have raised their babies and are no longer in the same place as you.

 

Increased chance of not being around still for special events in your adult child’s life such as their wedding or the birth of their first child: My husband and I both lost a parent in our 30’s. Neither my mother or his father ever got the chance to meet their beautiful granddaughter. This breaks my heart everyday.

 

The Pros:

You have already lived: For me, I feel like I did not miss out on anything. We traveled, threw parties & went to sporting events and shows. We saw a lot and enjoyed our freedom. I don’t having any regrets like “I wish I had ________ before I had kids.”.

 

Being settled in a job, home & relationship: Babies are expensive and take up a lot of room. You need to be in a good place financially and you need the space to do it in. We barely have enough room for all of our daughter’s toys and books.

 

All of your friends already had babies…: Translation they have plenty of advice & hand-me-downs.

 

I think we all agree that being a mother is difficult at any age. This list is based off my own personal experiences and is no way meant to generalize other’s experiences.

 

When did you have your children? What were or or your experiences with being a younger mother or an older one?