Age Is Just A Number, Isn't It?

The other day I got a note from a collge friend on Facebook. He said his daughter had turned 13. I couldn't belive it. How could someone I went to college with have a 13 year old daughter.

But then I realized, I graduated from college almost 18 years ago. That's the age of a college freshman. Yikes! I'm old.

I know that I am old. I'm going to be 40 this year. That is no secret. And it doesn't bother me in the least that I am going to be 40. Do you want to know why?

Because I feel young.

And its not in the you're only as old as you feel kind of a way. Its a bit harder to explain than that.

Growing up, I was one of the younger kids in my class. I had a September birthday and the cut off was December 1st. So there were some kids who were almost a year older than me in my class. I was one of the last to start driving, one of the last to reach all the major milestones. I was always the baby of the group.

When I entered the workforce after college, I was clearly one of the "young ones." And I had no idea what I was doing so I felt young and naive. That feeling stuck with me. To this day if I am new to a situation and am learning the ropes, I always assume that the person showing me how to do it is older than me. Even if its clear they are only 18. They possess more knowledge of a particular subject therefore they are older.

Strange I know but its true.

When I went back to law school at 26, I was one of the oldest amongst my friends. But I was in school so I felt young. In school = young in my book (and I wonder why I want to go back to school now).

Now that I'm a mom, I feel young. I only have one child, a pre-schooler. I'm new to this game so I must be young. The more seasoned moms, with a few kids, must be older than me. I was with the wife of a law school classmate recently. She has three kids. She is sage and wise. She was giving me advice on preschools and dance classes. I started to have that feeling of being younger than her, when I realized that she is at least 8 years younger than me and I had to laugh

So here I am a young 39 and I'll soon be a young 40, but somedays I honestly feel like I'm only 25 (ok maybe 30).