Did you have a big reaction to any certain birthday?

[mommyoffive 8,332]

Did you react to having a certain big birthday?  I am hitting a huge one this week and I think I am.  Not a positive one.  

Did you feel like you hit a midlife crisis or anything?  

Rush to do things on your bucket list? 

[hjffkj 21,295]

Not really but I'm only 31 so have I even hit any big birthdays yet?  A lot of people seem to think 30 is a big b-day but I don't understand why.  I don't seem to understand a lot of things many people do, ha.

[happysmileylady 29,322]

I turned 40 in December.  It wasn’t any bigger deal to me than any other birthday.  DH has a hard time with his 40th.  I don’t really understand why.  He turns 50 I. About 2 yrs, I suspect he’s going to really struggle with that one.  

[Homeschool Mom in AZ 16,702]

At 40 my brother and I sat down and decided to get in some hikes we'd always wanted to do.  (He's a year older.) Each of us had recently started having knee problems, so it was a combination of the two that got us focused. 

[mellifera33 3,717]

No difficult birthdays so far. Maybe 21, but for different reasons. lol Middle age suits me, and I suspect that old age will too, so I don't foresee any issues, but you never know. 

[TCB 4,709]

I think 30 was the most difficult birthday emotionally for me. I'm not sure why,  but 40 and 50 were not as difficult. Maybe I was more mature by then and able to deal with it better lol.

[Carol in Cal. 24,728]

35 just about killed me.

I didn't mind 30 at all or any subsequent ones after 35, but 35 felt like the transition from being youngish to being middleish in age, and completely nondescript, and sort of DONE.  Oddly, again, subsequent birthdays weren't like that.  60 was fabulous, actually.

[FuzzyCatz 19,169]

I had my first baby at 30 so that year just felt tough.  I had a very difficult pregnancy and scary birth (emergency surgery, blood transfusion) and then had PPD, so that time period was all around difficult.  I was only married for 3 months when I got pregnant.  That was too many changes too fast.  

I'm in my late 40's now.  I am LOVING my 40's and I'm not at all worried about 50.

[KrissiK 65,357]

I turned 50 this year. It was more difficult than the others, but not devastating.

[Bluegoat 28,606]

I found 30 a bit difficult.  I suddenly felt like others had accomplished things, and I hadn't, and it was getting too late to go back and do certain things.  

I also found 38 weird in a way I think others feel about 40 - as was said upthread, like somehow I was becoming a little invisible, I was no longer a "young person".  

[Night Elf 9,899]

I cried like a baby on my 25th birthday because I was a quarter of a century old. I thought I'd feel even worse on my 50th birthday but it was just another day. So now I'm 50 and I'm not bothered at all. My mom and I talked about this once and she said it was her 74th birthday that affected her. She knew she was old and was only one year from being three quarters of a century. She felt like she was catching up to her mother, who she cares for. She sees her mom as being old and has never thought of herself as old but somehow her 74th birthday made her feel old.

[sassenach 13,683]

Not yet. Dh is a big baby about ALL of his birthdays, so I think I have always balanced him out by not caring about any. It's not just repression, I really haven't been bothered yet. Maybe I will someday, who knows. (I'll probably never admit it to dh ;-P)

[unsinkable 24,078]

When I turned the same age as my mom was when she died. It has about wrecked me. 

 

[SparklyUnicorn 70,572]

Not yet. I'll get back to you at the 50th though.  LOL

[Selkie 23,593]

Thirty-five was the only time I flipped out a little bit. I remember thinking that I wasn't young anymore and how could I possibly be closer in age to 40 than 30?? Lol. 

I'm 48 now and no birthday has bothered me since. Now, I'm just glad to get another year!

[AmandaVT 6,226]

For some reason, 25 freaked me out. I will be 41 soon and none of my other birthdays have bothered me. Not sure what it was about 25. DH is turning 50 this month and is currently an existential mess. 

[TKDmom 958]

I'm turning 40 in a couple weeks, and it's a little surreal. I'm applying to grad school at the same time my oldest is applying to college, and I feel too middle-aged to be starting a new thing. But then, I take a long view and see that I have years and years left. I might as well do things I enjoy (which means learning new things for me).

[craftymama 342]

26.  The day I realized I was closer to 30 than 20 was not pretty.  Then when I hit 39+1 (thank you kids) I forgot how old I am.  I have actually had to to ask my children how old I am.  It's just a number and I am very much a kid at heart. 

[Quill 61,701]

Not so far. My SIL had a crisis over turning 30 because it was, “the death of youth”. But I liked turning 30 because I finally felt like a real grown-up that people would take seriously. I hated it when people would say, “You’re very young.” I haven’t been bothered by any age milestone so far. DH just turned 55 yesterday and I don’t think he is okay with that. 

[Lawyer&Mom 3,216]

I felt very ready to turn thirty.  I felt like I had accomplished what I needed to in my 20s (education, job, messy romantic relationships) and it was time to start a new chapter.  I’m getting close to 40, but I’m not worried.  I have a husband and two kids now.  I’ve already accomplished everything I needed to in my 30s.  So now I can just coast, right?

In all seriousness, it’s an interesting time to think about my life goals now.  The things I knew I had to do are done.  What’s next?  (Besides raising the kids, and keeping the house clean, of course!)

[BarbecueMom 6,611]

I'll be 35 next month.  I can't say I feel anything different about this one yet or any other multiple-of-5 birthday.

However, next year will mark 20 years since DH and I began dating.  For some reason, that anniversary is a bit sobering.  I still feel "less qualified" than older people, no matter how long they've been in a relationship.  I'm wondering if we'll hit that 20-year mark and finally feel like adults and not just living out a cheesy high school romance movie.

[Junie 50,943]

6 hours ago, unsinkable said:

When I turned the same age as my mom was when she died. It has about wrecked me. 

 

Hugs.

I had a hard time with age 32.  My grandmother died when she was only 31 years old -- my dad was just a baby.   I realized that I had lived longer than she had.  It was kind of surreal to realize how short her life was.

[Heathermomster 4,898]

My eldest turned 6 months old the week leading up to my 30th birthday.  I developed a terrible headache that lasted for nearly 5 days.  I could not bend over to change son's diaper or handle bright light.  DH took me to ER where I had a CT scan for a potential blood clot.  My mother drove across the state and took care of the baby and me until my headache finally ended.  By the time I turned 30 yo, I was thrilled to be alive. 

I'm a wee bit of a downer today.  Sorry about that.

[Ottakee 17,275]

I found 45 the hardest.  40 was easy.  At 45 though you have to start checking the box 45-54 in forms for your age.  That hit me.  46 and 47 we're no big deals.

[Targhee 3,452]

I had a hard time starting at 38 - I was at my cousins wedding in the mountain resort town he grew up in and I spent much time in.  It was full of happy, high energy, outdoorsy/athletic people - all things I used to have as self identifiers.  And I realized that aspect of my character was gone, or buried so deeply I wasn’t sure how to dig it out.  And that I still wanted those self identifiers, or any really that were positive.  At the same time I hit the stereotypical existential malaise.  This lasted for several more birthdays. Throw in a major move (to a place we weren’t planning on), kids entering public school (some part time some full), some health issues, some family issues... what a train wreck!!

I sated some of this with my mid-life crisis purchase of an accordion :O) But I think I’ve come to the realization that this wasn’t just about a birthday, but the birthday made me recognize the beginning of a new phase of life.  I’m not wholly satisfied with the last phase, and very disappointed on a few fronts, so I better make this one better.

[Rosie_0801 38,031]

9 hours ago, Bluegoat said:

I also found 38 weird in a way I think others feel about 40 - as was said upthread, like somehow I was becoming a little invisible, I was no longer a "young person".  

 

I am finding 38 a bit weird too. I suppose I feel I ought to have something to show for myself after being alive so long, and yet I'm probably not even half way and that's just as depressing.

[Lady Florida. 55,332]

For the most part, no. I had a stronger reaction to 29 than I did to 30 because it was the end of my 20s and for some reason that bothered me. I'm long past 29 and 30 now and none of the other big birthdays bothered me. Actually what felt a little weird was that I thought I was supposed to have a big reaction to them and yet I didn't. 

[unsinkable 24,078]

3 hours ago, Junie said:

Hugs.

I had a hard time with age 32.  My grandmother died when she was only 31 years old -- my dad was just a baby.   I realized that I had lived longer than she had.  It was kind of surreal to realize how short her life was.

Thanks, Junie. Your poor grandma and dad! That is so young. 

[Mrs. Darinski 117]

Having a 'special'(turning 50 - Shhhhhhhh!!!!) birthday on Thursday this week.  (Half century!  Eeek!!  :(  )Don't know how it happened so fast.  I don't feel like I've accumulated that many years.  My plan is to stay young at heart, but there are times when I know my body missed the memo. 

[Corraleno 36,886]

Weirdly enough, the only one that really bothered me was 36 — since 36 is closer to 40 than it is to 30, I kind of felt like I went from 35 to 40 overnight and I suddenly felt middle-aged. I was also working long hours in a high-powered but very stressful job, and I hadn't had kids yet, so it just felt like life was whizzing past me at the speed of light. Then I got married, quit my job, moved to rural England, had kids, and life slowed to a crawl, lol.

[Lizzie in Ma 3,751]

nope.  It's just a day and my age is just a number.  Hugs

[Carrie12345 20,467]

40 made me happy, like I was finally a legit adult, lol.

41 is in a few weeks, and I'm kind of bummed. There's nothing exciting about 41.

[TravelingChris 11,662]

Big reaction-no.  Sometimes a small reaction in a positive way--I was looking forward to my 55th birthday to get discounts at Publix but they ended it less than a year before that happened.  Sometimes a small reaction in a negative way- no one cares what I watch on tv anymore because I am not the prime audience (I do not know why though- we certainly have more money now and I am always new things), though in reality, I like many others, no longer watch many tv commercials.  

 

[DawnM 28,846]

Big?  no.  I didn't like turning 40.  That felt old to me.  Then I turned 50 last year and yeah, that is old.  

 

But the worst for me is watching my kids become adults.  It means not only am I old, but they will be leaving the nest and that terrifies me for some reason.  I want them all right here, near me, forever.

[Mommyof1 2,635]

Next Bday I turn 50. It sounds weird to me and it's not how I feel but what can you do. You can't stop the falling of the rain. Time moves on.

[May 1,579]

I just turned 60 a couple of days ago. I'm still processing it all:)

Edited April 4, 2018 by May
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[KungFuPanda 33,493]

I turned 46 a few days ago. Birthdays have never phased me. I always FEEL young and have more things to do than I have time to do them. I just worry about my next phase of life and people viewing me as older than I really am. I might want to work in the next decade. My 93-year-old grandmother was active well into her 80s! How could anyone assume I’m gonna screech to a halt at 50 and not want to hire me? That’s really “middle-aged.”  I’m still in the dance studio 8 hours a week at a minimum! 

[J-rap 17,456]

I've been through 40 and 50.  Neither bothered me.  It always seemed like there were enough other things to worry about!

[Tina 385]

All the big 0s starting with 40.  50, and 60.  Oh my.  How did I get here??  What's left?  Luckily my parents both have some longlived family members- 90 and 102, so I shouldn't need to feel I'm near the end.  :)

[Lady Florida. 55,332]

While I don't have big reactions to birthdays I do sometimes think of my age and wonder how I can possibly be that old. I think about what I was younger and some of the beliefs I had about people who are the age I am now.  

[Ali in OR 16,772]

40 and 50 were easier than 30.