THE AGE YOU ARE NOW
Could it be the best?
Milestone shopping … that’s the name I’m giving to my recent expeditions for baby clothes and storybooks.
I had forgotten that baby clothes were sized according to age, and that with each size there are corresponding design elements specific to a baby’s needs. Like onesies with snaps for babies who are 3 to 12 months, to make changing diapers easier. And rubber feet in footed jammies for babies 24 to 36 months old, so the new walkers don’t slip!
And the books! Remember the wildly popular Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? I think those lessons could start even a little earlier—at the picture book stage.
Shopping is something I’m enjoying as a new Gigi. And thinking about baby clothes is leading to other questions like, “What is the best age to be?”
My husband swears he can remember being in the womb, which I think is a little nutty … and I’m not sure that dubious fact fits into a discussion about the best age. So, let’s just talk about what the best adult age is.
Eighteen, when one is officially an adult—in most states, anyway. It did seem strange when the drinking age got bumped up to 21, but the age to enlist in the military stayed at 18. Anyway, at 18 most of us were sure we knew more than the majority of the adults around us and had no qualms telling them so. So much confidence!
Or how about 25, when you graduate from college and earn a real paycheck? That was certainly an exciting time. Even if it was also a time when nobody really knew what they were doing! Book smart was sure different than street smart, and spending money wasn’t nearly as much fun once you had to earn it. Even so, a trip to Target was likelier than going to a house party. Wearing a bikini was definitely a high point. If you’re 25 and reading this, go put on a bikini right now!
Turning 30 was a time of full-on self-critique for my friends and me. It seemed like everyone else was more successful, and no one was where they thought they’d be in life. Besides that—regardless of whether you had kids or not—it was time to admit that there was no way you were ever going to have the figure or the social life of Kate Moss. You were likelier to be invited to a baby shower than a swanky art gallery opening. And that bikini … forget about it.
By 40, the self-loathing stage was finally coming to an end and was replaced with musings like, “It’s better to be done than perfect.” I still like that one. At 40, Botox was as popular as bleaching your teeth and coloring your hair, so nobody had to look her age. Kids, if you had them, were grown up enough to do most things without your help. And if you were lucky, they did so without too much argument. Life at 40 had a nice calmness to it.
Here’s a fun fact about 50-year-olds. Did you know the Golden Girls of the popular television show were supposed to be in their 50s? Rose, Dorothy, and Blanche—played by Betty White, Bea Arthur, and Rue McClanahan—were in their 50s when the show first aired in 1985. They seemed so old … then and even now! I’m older in real life than they were supposed to be on the show. Isn’t it amazing how different our view of “older” women has changed?
My friends in their 60s tell me how much fun they’re having. I think it’s because they have retired from their day jobs, but maybe it’s not just that. I’ll have to find out!
No matter what age we are … we will never be as young, as thin, as wealthy, or as wise as we are right now. So therein lies the answer.
The best age to be is the age you are now.
