The Highs and Lows of a Mom in Her “Mid-Thirties”

Today is my birthday.  I’m now 33, which is not a big milestone by any means. It actually takes me a beat lately to remember my age. Nonetheless, it feels like I’m entering that interesting age range titled “mid-thirties.” On one hand, I welcome my new sophisticated age category with pride! On the other hand, I’m cringing because somehow “mid-thirties” sounds much older than “thirty.” These high and low conflicting feelings go along well with #momlife right now.

Need more examples?

High:

Getting carded.  Because – heck yeah! I look so young! Woooo!

Low:

Getting carded.  I don’t want to look like I’m 19 years old.  As the comedian Jen Kirkman says, “I don’t want to look like I have four roommates and sh*tty towels.”

High:

I no longer feel guilty about spending money on treating myself to something.

Low:

I now feel guilty about… everything else.  Literally… everything else.

High:

I now have enough money that I can go out to eat at an actual restaurant!!

Low:

My Yelp search has diverged from “trendy foodie finds” to “family-friendly” restaurants that serve dinner at 5 pm and offer free kids' meals (because they won’t eat it anyway).

High:

My Google search history no longer includes questions like “Marcus Theatre movie schedule,” “best curly hair products,” and “When is Shark Week?”

Lows:

My Google search history includes “How to tell if your toddler has a concussion,” “natural laxatives,” “spaghetti squash recipes” and “TSA guidelines for breast milk.”

High:

I am far enough removed from high school that I no longer care what high school classmates think of me, and I have wise advice for current high schoolers.

Low:

I just realized my toddlers are closer to high school age than I am…

High:

I can totally pull off a mom bun.

Low:

I never have time to do more with my hair than a mom bun.

High:

I’m officially old enough to swear in front of my parents without thinking twice.

Low:

My toddler just repeated a swear word in front of my in-laws. Whoops.

High:

One of my 4-year-olds just guessed my age to be 7.

Low:

My other 4-year-old guessed 46.

High:

My kids go to bed by about 8 pm every night, leaving the rest of the night to my husband and me!  Some nights we open a bottle of wine and relax on the deck!

Low:

No less than 5 nights per week, once the kids are in bed, my husband and I do sexy activities like making peanut-free lunches (harder than you think), folding laundry (So. Much. Laundry.), and watching Netflix re-runs before diving into bed as early as we possibly can.

Overall, I’m choosing to welcome my “mid-thirties” with open arms, because even with highs and lows, this is a truly awesome time in my life. My perfect birthday plans are not what they used to be, but I’m 100% okay with that. This morning, my kids sang to me (adorable)!  Then I treated myself to a latte.  Other plans include having an early dinner at our favorite “family-friendly” Mexican restaurant, actually doing my hair (which I will regret later when it’s lying in bean dip), and cheering loudly for the Packers from the comfort of my own couch (on which I will fall asleep around half time).

And, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Original post by Jolene on 10/5/17