Category: 40-Something
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Enough
The world tells me to just be me But then it says my shirt isn’t tight enough My skirt isn’t short enough My waist isn’t tiny enough. Politicians tell me to vote with my head and my heart Then they claim I’m not pro-murder enough I’m not woman-enough Not…
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Is It Fair That We are Judged by How We Look?
This is a question that I have asked my college students over the years. Inevitably, they will argue that it is absolutely “not fair!” and without my intervention, end up sharing countless examples of when they, themselves immediately judged by physical appearance. Therefore, determining that while “unfair”, it is unequivocally,…
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Stuff Mom’s don’t want to say out loud. Sometimes we do, but many times we don’t… :)
Well, our pre-Mom lives certainly didn’t always look like the photo to the left, and our post-Mom lives certainly don’t always look like the photo to the right. But, wow, sometimes it does get crazy, right?! (Photo courtesy momtastic.com.) Stuff Moms sometimes say out loud, but more often, we don’t: Is…
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We’re Taking Bad Manners to a Whole New Level
Remember when we used to think that it was rude if someone didn’t RSVP to a party but showed up anyway? Maybe more of an etiquette issue, but remember when your grandmother was aghast in the 1990s when people started wearing jeans to church on Sundays? How about a few…
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You’re More Than Your Looks, My Daughter, Friend, Sister…
(Photo:aliexpress.com) One of my daughters is a major fashionista. From the moment we said “yes” to makeup at 13, she wore it daily. Now 19, her wardrobe far surpasses anyone else in the house. I’m fine with it except for the now and then when she begins focusing too much…
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Paying for Other’s Bad Behavior Is Making Me a Little Cranky
Now in my mid 40’s, I’ve officially experienced enough of life where paying (in time or money) for other people’s bad behavior, no-show tendencies, and last-minute procrastination is making me cranky. Over my adult life, when I or my kids have received unfair treatment, I’ve definitely handled it firmly, but…
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Throw Back: The TV Show “The Middle” is Funny! Everything Else “Middle”… Not So Much
Sure we all like the show The Middle. But I like little else involving “The Middle”. How about you? Middle Age is surprisingly everything everyone older than me said it was. There really are aches and pains when you wake up in the morning. You really do notice that…
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Christian Differences
Evangelical Christians do not usually make the sign of the cross across their body. Catholics always do. My husband and I grew up doing so until we changed churches after we were married. Recently, as we prayed over a holiday meal, the people eating at our home thought it wasn’t…
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My Empty-Bucket List
Throwback Thursday 5/31/2013 For many years, I’ve conducted an activity with my college students, asking them to create their own version of the famous “Bucket List”. I warn them that the list should not include professional goals necessarily, but rather focus upon the “really neat”, “exciting”, “extraordinary”, places, events, activities,…
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Attention Brides-to-Be and those: “Serious about my Boyfriend”
Apparently, Christmas is among the most popular times for marriage proposals. I heard about a few of them over the holidays. Then, Valentine’s Day is just up ahead. That got me thinking… The following statements contain things that a few mid-life women I know wish they had asked themselves and…
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Choose My Battles?
Last week my husband suggested that I more carefully “choose battles” with my twin 16-year olds. Spending so much time together during the summer apparently had me criticizing them about “stupid things”. While I might have dismissed my husband’s comment ;), I was convicted while reading a statement from Ruth…
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10 Things I Believed at 25 That Proved False by 45
Ahhhh, to be 20-something… Like most during those years, I had very definite impressions about how my life would progress. I would eventually learn, and after serious resistance – accept – that life has a way of detouring, surprising and wearing down a person, leaving a few disappointments along the…
Tales from a Mid-Lifer 