Too Young To Feel This Damn Old

I’ve realized something recently. I’m getting old.

There’s not one specific event that has led me to this revelation but rather, a bunch of little things that slowly but surely have made me face the cold, hard truth. And trust me, it feels cold.

It started off innocently enough. For example, I am a high heels sort of girl. I’ve worn them since about the age of five. Which, coincidentally, is when I stopped growing. Anyways, so when I got married I bought my first pair of flats. I thought they were cute and I could wear them occasionally. Occasionally turned into most of the time. Most of the time has now become all of the time. Recently, I tried to wear high heels and had to take them off after a couple hours because my knees couldn’t take it anymore. Oh, my knees. That’s basically like verification that the aging process is in full effect.

And then there’s the slight problem with my back. The slight soreness that I adamantly try to ignore in hopes that it just isn’t real. You know what back pain means to me? It means I’m old in a really, really, really old way. I remember being a kid and my mom would always complain about her back. And you know what I thought about that? I thought she was old. In my childish world, back pain was only for the old. And well, that’s become my reality now.

How did this even happen? It’s like it just crept up on me. One minute I’m dancing and young and foolish. The next I’m the mother of two children with real world responsibilities. Not that I would trade it for anything. I love my life as it is but why must these little annoyances of aging be the tradeoff? I could do without the wrinkles, the aching knees, the sore back.

I’m telling you, youth is wasted on the young. A mother could do with the endless energy and stamina that teenagers have. The teens are just going to sleep it away anyway. Share some with us mothers who really need it. And it sure would be nice to walk out of the house without those pesky under-eye circles. The young have time to get all dolled up so let them worry about perfectly trying to conceal circles. Mothers just want to get to where they’re going on time and without spending time trying to hide tired eyes. Not to mention the aches and pains that I have no use for. The young would probably be able to handle them much better than me with their boundless energy. I bet they wouldn’t even notice.

Seriously, this just makes me realize those country songs have it right — I’m much too young to feel this damn old.